as soon as ki-yi coyote started after doctor rabbit, chatty squirrel began scolding as hard as he could. ki-yi was running so fast he didn’t hear, but chatty scolded anyway. it seemed to relieve his angry feelings.

my! how angry chatty squirrel was! he was angrier than he had ever been in all his life before.

“the idea,” chatty squirrel scolded, “of ki-yi coyote’s coming into the big green woods to make a breakfast of doctor rabbit! and he would make a breakfast of me, too, or of blue jay, or of any of us, if he had a chance. i wish i were as big as the big brown bear for a minute. i’d show old ki-yi coyote!”

[pg 54]and chatty squirrel scolded so fast and so loud that presently his neighbors heard him and came flocking around to see what the trouble was.

“what’s that you say?” asked stubby woodchuck, running up to the foot of the tree.

“what’s that? what’s that? what’s that?” cried blue jay, and jim crow, and ever so many others as they came up.

“you’d better say, ‘what’s that?’” chatty squirrel chattered. “i just now dropped a stone on ki-yi coyote, who was lying right down there in those bushes. he was all ready to pounce on doctor rabbit and gobble him up!”

“indeed!” exclaimed blue jay in his shrill voice.

“indeed!” jim crow called in his hoarse voice.

“indeed!” said big uncle owl in his[pg 55] deep bass voice. “indeed! indeed!” he exclaimed again seriously, as he straightened his spectacles. now uncle owl hardly ever said more than one word, and when he said three words without stopping, it meant something very unusual had happened to him. he was almost excited.

all the little creatures of the big green woods kept a respectful silence, even chatty squirrel, and listened respectfully for uncle owl to speak. so big uncle owl (he was more than twice as big as little downy owl) cleared his throat and looked straight at chatty squirrel. then he said, “well, well, why didn’t you kill him?”

“i wish i could have killed him,” chatty squirrel chattered angrily. “but anyway i hit him. and doctor rabbit fooled him ever so much, because, you[pg 56] see, doctor rabbit was on the other side of murmuring brook and ran away from ki-yi as easily as anything. but what are we going to do?” chatty went on. “haven’t we got enough to do to live without having old ki-yi coyote sneaking around in the big green woods? i tell you, my friends, it’s an outrage!”

then they all looked at big uncle owl, and after a while he said in his deep voice, “my friends, i think we should have doctor rabbit call a meeting at once and see if we can’t get rid of this danger. it would be serious, very serious indeed, if ki-yi coyote should decide to live in the big green woods. he might make a meal of almost any of us. i’ve noticed that he is not at all particular what he eats, whether it’s a bird or an animal. only yesterday i saw him spring from some bunch grass in the prairie[pg 57] and seize a friend of mine, a small owl that had just come out of an old hole prairie-dog paddy-paws used to live in.

“yes, indeed,” old uncle owl went on, much excited for him, “yes, indeed! we must find doctor rabbit, and see what he has to say about it. i’ll not rest until this terrible ki-yi coyote is driven entirely away from our big green woods.” and with that, stately uncle owl waddled back to his hole in the tree, where he stood looking out.

the other little creatures of the big green woods then talked the matter over. blue jay said that if only they all could make as much noise as he could, he was sure they could drive ki-yi coyote away with noise alone. but since the others couldn’t make as much noise, this plan had to be given up.

gay red bird said he surely did wish[pg 58] he could think of some scheme to scare ki-yi away, but being a mere bird he couldn’t. robin-the-red said so too. stubby woodchuck and cheepy chipmunk both said they’d like to do it, but they didn’t know how, either. they all looked at one another, and each one waited for some one else to speak. and just then they saw doctor rabbit coming across the woods toward them.

he wasn’t running as if he were the least bit scared. oh, no, he was acting as if he were glad about something. there was no doubt about that, because every now and then he would kick up his heels and laugh. and the nearer he came the more he danced and laughed.