After Major Monkey fled from Johnnie Green and his friends in the
picnic grove, his generals declared that they wanted no leader that
ran away from the enemy. And since they couldn't agree on anyone else
to take the Major's place, they disbanded.
So Major Monkey lost his army. But the loss did not seem to trouble
him greatly. He was almost too cheerful. And his neighbors even
claimed that his spirits rose higher each day.
There is no doubt that the Major felt very gay. He was fast losing the
lean and hungry look he had had when he first appeared in Pleasant
Valley. And he became freer than ever as to manners.
Nobody else could go about the woods with any comfort, because one
never knew when he would have to dodge a stone. For Major Monkey liked
nothing better than making a body jump--unless it was bowling someone
over when he failed to jump soon enough.
In time the forest-folk grew quite weary of that sport. And they began
to tell one another that something would have to be done to put an end
to Major Monkey's stone-throwing.
But nobody could suggest any way to cure Major Monkey of his
unpleasant habit. And at last Mr. Crow went to Aunt Polly Woodchuck
and asked her if she couldn't give the Major an herb of some sort to
eat, which would make him stop wanting to pelt every head he saw.
But Aunt Polly replied that it wasn't possible.
"The trouble with Major Monkey," she said, "is that he eats too much
as it is. And if I gave him still more food he would only throw more
stones at you."
Mr. Crow exclaimed that he didn't want that to happen.
"Then you'll have to make the Major eat less," said Aunt Polly
Woodchuck. "On what sort of fare is he living at present?" she
inquired.
Mr. Crow answered that he wasn't quite sure, but he thought Major
Monkey fed for the most part on cowbirds' eggs.
Aunt Polly Woodchuck shook her head.
"That's not possible," she cried. "There aren't enough Cowbirds' eggs
in Pleasant Valley to make anybody so fat as the Major is getting.
Unless I'm mistaken, he's taking the eggs of a good many others
besides Cowbirds."
Mr. Crow became greatly excited.
"Then he's a thief!" he squawked. "Major Monkey is an egg thief!" And
he flapped away across the pasture in a fine rage, to tell everybody
what Aunt Polly Woodchuck had said.
* * * * *
A little later in the day Major Monkey began to notice that a good
many of his neighbors looked at him very coldly. The birds,
especially, glared at him as if they were actually angry. And wherever
he went they set up a loud twittering. Some of them even flew at his
head and tried to peck him as they darted past.
At first he couldn't imagine what was the matter. But before the day
was done Jasper Jay let him know what made the bird people angry.
"You're a sneak-thief!" Jasper told the Major bluntly. "We've found at
last what makes you so fat. You've been stealing eggs from every nest
in the woods!"
"Tut! Tut!" said Major Monkey. "When a lazy Cowbird lays an egg in
somebody else's nest, the owner ought to be grateful to me for taking
the egg out and eating it."
"It's not that," Jasper Jay replied. "The trouble is, you've taken all
kinds of eggs."
"Well, well!" said Major Monkey. "To be sure, I may have made a
mistake now and then. But what's an egg or two, more or less, when one
has a half-dozen of them?"