One fine winter's day Fatty Coon came upon the queerest tracks in the snow. They were huge—a great deal bigger, even, than bear-tracks, which Fatty had sometimes seen, for once in a while, before the weather grew too cold, and he fell into his winter's sleep, a bear would come down into the valley from his home on Blue Mountain.  
But these were six times as big as bear tracks. And Fatty felt a shiver of fear run up and down his back.
 
He followed the trail a little way. But he was very careful. He was always ready to up a tree, in case he should suddenly see the strange animal—or rather, in case the strange animal should see HIM.
 
The great tracks led straight toward Farmer Green's house. And Fatty did not want to go there. So he hurried home to ask his mother what he had found. Mrs. Coon listened to Fatty's story.
 
"I think it must be the monster that almost caught me in the road last summer," said Fatty, meaning the that had given him a great fright. "Maybe he's come back again to catch Farmer Green and his family … Do you suppose he's eaten them up?"
 
Mrs. Coon was puzzled. And she was somewhat alarmed, too. She wanted to see those strange tracks herself. So she told her other children not to step a foot out of the house until she came back. And then she asked Fatty to run along and show her where he had come upon the monster's trail.
 
Fatty Coon felt very important, as he led the way across the swamp and into the woods. It was not often that he could show his mother anything. And he was so proud that he almost forgot his fright.
 
"I guess you're glad I have sharp eyes," he said, as they hurried along.
 
"If the tracks are as big as you say they are, your eyes wouldn't have to be very sharp to see them," his mother told him. Mrs. Coon never liked to hear her children boast. She knew that boasting is one of the most unpleasant things anyone can do.
 
"Well—maybe you don'............