Old Man Coyote Takes His Time

A dinner is not yours ‘til eaten, Nor have you lost a race ‘til beaten.

Not since he was a very little fellow just venturing out into the Great World had Johnny Chuck felt so frightened as now. Here he was with his back up against an old fence post and no place of safety he could possibly reach. And there was Old Man Coyote coming straight toward him. By the expression of Old Man Coyote’s face Johnny knew that Old Man Coyote saw him.

Old Man Coyote didn’t hurry. He took his time. For one thing, he rather hoped that Johnny Chuck would try to run away. It would be much easier to catch and kill Johnny if he were out in the open. Johnny would fight; Old Man Coyote knew that. But he would be able to fight a great deal harder with his back to that old fence post. If he were out in the open Old Man Coyote might be able to get him from behind, so he hoped that Johnny would run.

But Johnny didn’t run. He stayed right where he was with his back against that fence post. He was shaking all over with fear, but he appeared very bold. His lips were drawn back, showing all his teeth; the hair on his back stood on end, and he snarled and growled as fiercely as he knew how.

Old Man Coyote stopped a few feet off and grinned. When he grinned he showed all his long teeth and they made Johnny Chuck’s teeth look small. “Hello, Johnny Chuck,” said Old Man Coyote. “I certainly am pleased to see you. I don’t know when I have been more pleased to see anybody. The fact is I was thinking of you early this very morning, but I really didn’t expect to find you so far from home. May I ask what you are doing so far away from the far corner of the Old Orchard?”

Johnny Chuck made no reply, save to growl and grit his teeth and try to make himself seem very fierce and unafraid. Old Man Coyote chuckled. The fiercer Johnny Chuck tried to make himself appear the more Old Man Coyote chuckled. It tickled him to think that Johnny should even try to scare him.

“Yes,” continued Old Man Coyote, “I was thinking of you this very morning. I was thinking how good a chuck would taste for breakfast. It is a long, long time since I have tasted one, and I am very fond of chuck. I wish you were a little fatter. There is nothing better than fat chuck. But a thin chuck is better than no chuck at all. I’ve had a hard winter, Johnny Chuck, a very hard winter. All the time you were sleeping so comfortably I had to hunt for a living, and it was pretty poor hunting most of the time, I can tell you. That’s why I am so glad to see you now. You don’t seem glad to see me.”

Still Johnny Chuck said nothing, but he had stopped shaking with fear. He was growing angrier every second. He knew that Old Man Coyote was simply trying to torment him for fun, just as Black Pussy, the cat at Farmer Brown’s house, torments a mouse she has caught. Johnny wished that Old Man Coyote would hurry up and attack him. He knew that he hadn’t much chance against Old Man Coyote, but it would be better to have it over with. Johnny meant to fight just as long as there was a breath in him.

But Old Man Coyote wasn’t in a hurry. You know there is a lot of pleasure in thinking about something you are presently going to enjoy. Old Man Coyote felt absolutely sure of a good breakfast, and he enjoyed thinking about it. He couldn’t see a possible way of escape for Johnny Chuck and so he wasn’t in any hurry to put an end to Johnny and his troubles. He made two or three short rushes at Johnny as if to seize him, and then backed away, pretending that he was afraid. It was very hard on Johnny Chuck, but it was fun for Old Man Coyote. But at last there was a change in Old Man Coyote. A fierce glare crept into his eyes. The hair on his shoulders rose ever so little. Johnny Chuck knew that Old Man Coyote was about to end his fooling, and just then, for the first time. Johnny remembered Jimmy Skunk and wondered what had become of him. “A nice sort of friend he is,” thought Johnny Chuck, bitterly.

Copyright, 1920, by T. W. Burgess.