as soon as he looked at o. possum doctor rabbit knew positively that he was not seriously sick, for he had seen him like that several times before. doctor rabbit said, “let me see your tongue,” and o. possum grunted and put his tongue out. it was badly coated. “i see!” said doctor rabbit, wisely. then he examined his patient by thumping his chest and his stomach and his back, and finally said, “friend possum, what have you eaten lately?”

“oh, i haven’t eaten anything to speak of,” o. possum groaned. “only a little piece of chicken.”

“was that all?” asked doctor rabbit.

“well, maybe i did eat two little[pg 44] pieces,” o. possum groaned again. “but that was all.”

“he ate a little pudding, too, doctor,” ventured mandy possum, timidly.

“how much?” doctor rabbit asked.

“just the smallest bit,” o. possum began, but doctor rabbit interrupted him with, “exactly how much?”

“oh, not more than a small bowl full.”

“i see! i see!” exclaimed doctor rabbit, smiling, and his bright eyes twinkled. “your bowls all hold a quart, brother possum. a bowl of pudding, two big pieces of chicken, some pie and some cake, and a plate of dumplings mrs. possum had left over from yesterday!” and doctor rabbit laughed, while o. possum looked very, very much surprised, because that was exactly what he had eaten, and he wondered how doctor rabbit could tell.

mr. possum, what have you eaten lately

“mr. possum, what have you eaten lately?”

[pg 45]“the fact is,” doctor rabbit said, “you have been making a pig of yourself, and you have acute indigestion. here, friend possum; take this tablespoonful of medicine.”

o. possum swallowed the medicine, and then coughed and choked, and said, “whew! that’s the nastiest tasting medicine i ever swallowed. mandy, my dear, i’ll have to trouble you for a drink of water.” after he had taken the water, he said he felt a great deal better.

“i can feel that medicine taking right hold,” he said. “yes, sir, i can feel it, and i certainly am better.”

doctor rabbit looked with a wise glance over his glasses at mandy possum, and said, “give him a tablespoonful of the medicine every hour until he has taken five doses; and he must not eat a thing for two whole days.”

[pg 46]“now, that’s pretty tough,” sighed o. possum. he was already thinking about a big fat hen that mandy possum was going to cook that very day. but o. possum said he realized he would have to do what the doctor ordered, and that ended it.

just then there was a knock at the door. sophy woodchuck was there to say that doctor rabbit was wanted at her house at once, for stubby woodchuck was feeling pretty poorly.

well, when doctor rabbit got over to the woodchucks’ he found poor old stubby in bed, and groaning just about the way o. possum had been doing. and presently doctor rabbit found out stubby’s trouble was about the same as o. possum’s. he had gorged himself with too many nuts and other things he liked, until he had acute indigestion.[pg 47] in fact, doctor rabbit had found out long before that most of the sickness among the little creatures of the big green woods was due to the fact that they ate too much.

so stubby woodchuck had to take a bottle of terribly bitter medicine, and he too had to go two whole days without eating a bite. he said he felt better after he had taken the first dose of medicine; and doctor rabbit said that he would have to be going. first, however, he took three bottles of medicine from his case, mixed them all together, and put them in one bottle. when it was mixed that way the medicine was terribly bitter, and doctor rabbit chuckled all the time. “i’m getting ready to throw this medicine right into tom wildcat’s mouth if he gets after me,” doctor rabbit explained, and then he slipped out of[pg 48] the door and went hoppity, hoppity, hoppity, as fast as he could go, toward home.

now and then as he ran, doctor rabbit would stop and sit up and look and listen. he knew that every minute he must be watching out for tom wildcat.