“’If I could make myself into three, we could take that dinner away from Mr. Lynx!” thought he, and right on top of that thought came a great idea.  Why not make Mr. Lynx think he had a lot of friends with him?  It would do no harm to try.  So Mr. Coyote put his nose up in the air and howled.  Mr. Lynx looked up and grinned.  He had no fear of Mr. Coyote.  Then Mr. Coyote hurried around to the other side of Mr. Lynx, all the time keeping out of sight, and howled again, and this time he tried to make his voice sound different.  Mr. Lynx stopped eating and looked up a little surprised.  ’I wonder if Mr. Coyote has got a brother with him,’ thought he.  A minute later Mr. Coyote howled again from the place where he had howled in the first place.  ’He certainly has,’ thought Mr. Lynx, ‘but I’m a match for two of them,’ and once more he went on eating.

“Then Mr. Coyote began to run in a circle around Mr. Lynx, always keeping out of sight in the thick brush, and every few steps he yelped or howled, and each yelp or howl he tried to make sound different.  Now Mr. Coyote could run very fast, and he ran now as hard as ever he could in a big circle, yelping and howling and making his voice sound as different as possible each time.  Mr. Lynx grew anxious and lost his appetite.  ’Mr. Coyote must have a whole crowd of brothers,’ thought he.  ‘I guess this is no place for me!’ With that he started to sneak away.

“Mr. Coyote followed him, still trying to make his voice sound like the voices of many.  Mr. Lynx gave a hurried look over his shoulder and began to run.  Mr. Coyote kept after him, yelping and howling, until he was sure that Mr. Lynx was so frightened that he wouldn’t dare come back.  Then Mr. Coyote returned to the dinner Mr. Lynx had left, and ate and ate until he couldn’t hold another mouthful.  His throat was very raw and sore because he had strained it trying to make his voice change so often, but he didn’t mind this, because, you know, it felt so good to have all he could eat at one time once more.

“Now it just happened that Old Mother Nature had come along just in time to see and hear Mr. Coyote, and it tickled her so to think that Mr. Coyote had been so smart that what do you think she did?  Why, while he slept that night, she healed his sore throat, and she gave him a new voice; and this voice was very wonderful, for it sounded for all the world like many voices, all yelping and howling at the same time.  After that, all Mr. Coyote had to do when he wanted to frighten some one bigger and stronger than himself was to open his mouth and send forth his new voice, which sounded like many voices.

“So he had plenty to eat from that time on.  And all his children and his children’s children had that same wonderful voice, just as Old Man Coyote has now.  Chug-a-rum!  Now scamper home, Peter Rabbit, and see that you don’t let Old Man Coyote’s sharp wits get you into trouble.”

“Thank you, Grandfather Frog!” cried Peter and scampered as fast as he could go for the dear, safe Old Briar-patch.