Unable to scent him, the horse stood still. Coyote mounted and urged it into a trot. But then, safely out of reach, old Coyote reined in the horse again, looked back at the denuded man, and grinned.

“Well, stranger,” he called. “Are you content? Learned your lesson?”

“Lesson? What are you talking about?”

“Look down at yourself, stranger. No clothes, no horse. Look down and admit: No man living can trick Coyote?”

The man’s mouth dropped open as he realized how he’d been fooled.

“Why you sly, no-good son of a—You come back here!” he raged.

But with a wave of his hand, Coyote rode away.

Josepha Sherman writes fictional articles and folklore-based novels for both
adults and young people.