Rascal Page #2

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Why did the mother leave him?

She probably

doesn't know she has.

She won't find out till she

gets a chance to stop and count.

Well, then this one's

sort of lost.

Yeah. Looks like it.

Almost

without needing to say it...

Pa and I agreed we couldn't

leave the little fellow...

to fend for himself,

not at his age...

and not with the lynx

in the neighborhood.

Besides, we kind of

felt responsible for him.

After all, it was my dog that

had chased his mother away.

I guess Wowser

didn't realize it...

but from then on he was going

to have to share my affections.

So, that's how it happened...

on that special day in June...

a helpless little orphan

came into my life.

I didn't know then how much

he'd come to mean to me...

or the troubles he'd bring.

As it turned out,

I had met a character...

a personality,

and a ring-tailed wonder.

I called him...

Rascal.

Rascal.

That day

we came home with Rascal...

I remember Walt Dabbett

went sailing by...

in his Stanley Steamer.

Pa said he was

a bit of a blowhard...

but not a bad fellow at heart.

Cy Jenkins was

our neighbor on the back...

and I swear he spent

more time in his corn patch...

than in his drugstore

downtown.

Anybody home?

This was my sister

Theo as she looked then.

She'd come home on her vacation

to take care of us...

and for some reason,

she seemed to feel...

one of her duties

was worrying about me...

more than I thought necessary.

Our other neighbor,

Garth Shadwick...

was a horse lover.

I guess it went with his owning

the town's harness shop.

Afternoon, Garth.

Afternoon!

Settle down, blast you!

Come on, boy! Come on!

He had a trotting

horse named Donnybrook...

a nervous, fractious animal.

Pa always said

it might someday win a race...

if it'd ever put all four feet

on the ground at once.

How was the trip, Will?

Oh, never better.

Got a new member of the family.

Sterling,

bring him around here...

and introduce him

to Mr. Jenkins.

He's a raccoon.

-So I see.

Garth! You best come here!

Go! Ah, you show-off!

Bah.

Is something wrong, Mr. Jenkins?

Raccoons are varmints, son,

and varmints are trouble.

I'm gonna educate him.

Train the varmint out of him.

Ooh-hoo.

Good to see you back again,

Willard.

What's all the hollerin' about?

Look.

That's a raccoon!

Yes, sir. His name's Rascal.

Well, what about my chickens?

And my corn patch?

I'm gonna train the varmint

out of him.

Oh ho.

-Just what I said.

And there's another problem.

Hambone's a coon hound.

I suppose you know that,

Sterling.

Yes, sir, but, well,

I think he'll be reasonable...

as long as Wowser's around.

Uh, excuse me.

We don't want

to be unreasonable, Sterling...

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