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them?
    Those were all interesting questions, but it suddenly occurred to me that Rip and Snort were fixing to make a meal out of her, and never mind the interesting questions. Unless someone took charge of the situation and . . .
    Gee, I sure hated to lose a friend like Madame Moonshine, but I wasn’t the kind of dog who made a habit of butting into the affairs of . . . well, hungry cannibals.
    I mean, it wasn’t my fight. I had problems of my own, and as a matter of fact, I had BIG problems of my own and . . .
    But on the other hand, the brothers were creeping toward her with a kind of evil lightning crackling in their eyes. I could see that Madame was afraid, but I kind of admired the way she held her head up and faced her destiny.
    She had spunk and courage, that little owl, and it was just a shame . . .
    I pushed myself up on all fours and walked into the middle of the gathering.

Chapter Eleven: I Manage to Save Madame Moonshine

    S ee, I’d come up with an idea. Whether or not it was a good idea remained to be seen. It was the kind of idea a guy comes up with on the spurt of the moment and on short notice.
    It was based on something Rip and Snort had revealed about themselves in their song: They were ignoramuses.
    With a cover of boldness that covered the terror in my deepest innards, I went striding into the clearing, took a stand in front of the brothers, and stopped them with a raised paw.
    â€œHalt!” They halted and stared at me with big puzzled eyeballs. “Rip, Snort, we don’t have much time, so listen carefully. That song you just sang released a cloud of deadly poisonous gas over this whole area. We’ve got to get you out of here before . . .”
    I pointed toward the wilted weeds. “Uh-oh, it’s already begun to work. You see? The fauna and floride have begun to die. The weeds will be the first to go, followed minutes later by trees and bushes, followed minutes later by animals, birds, and fish.”
    The brothers exchanged long glances.
    â€œGuys, I’ve got to put the entire ranch under Emergency Poison Alert and I’m glad I found you before it was too late. I’m clearing out this whole section of the ranch, immediately, at once.”
    Snort scowled at me. “Coyote brothers not wanting cleared out to be.”
    â€œI know, Snort, but this poison is like nothing we’ve ever encountered before.”
    The brothers went into a whisper conference. I counted my heartbeats, hoping . . .
    â€œRip and Snort just fixing to eat little owl, not wanting to leave good nourishment meal.”
    â€œHoly smokes, Snort, that would be the worst thing you could do. That owl has soaked up all the deadly toxins. Eating her would be like eating a whole trainload of poison, train and all. Sudden death, that’s what she is.”
    They whispered some more. Then Snort gave their reply. “Coyote brothers not believe stupid dummy ranch dog. Brothers not scared of poisum ’cause brothers make poisum with cannibal song, ho ho.”
    â€œAnd you think that makes you immune?”
    He stared at me with his brutish yellow eyes. “Coyote not a mune. Coyote a cammible, and proudest of it to be.”
    I had to think fast. “Snort, we don’t have time to argue. If you want to discuss this further, you can do it with the Wolf Creek Volunteer Poison Squad. They’ll be here any minute, with men and trucks and gas masks.”
    That opened their eyes. “Uh. People coming?”
    â€œOh yes, hundreds of them. In fact . . .” I cocked my ear. “Yes, I think I hear their trucks this very minute.”
    They held another conference. “Rip and Snort not believing dummy ranch dog, not hearing trucks coming and not scared of poisum.”
    It was looking bad. But just then the wind rustled in the cottonwood tree above us and—you won’t believe this—five or six dead leaves floated down between us. No doubt they had been