Well, yes, said the Story Teller, Mr. Dog did have a good deal of
trouble, and it makes me sorry for him sometimes when I think about it.
He still kept good friends with the Crow and the Turtle, though, and was
on pretty fair terms with Mr. Robin and most all the rest of the Bird
family, besides living in the same yard with Mr. Man, who always kept an
eye on him and got him out of trouble when he could. Of course Jack
Rabbit and the Hollow Tree people mostly got the best of Mr. Dog, but
there was one time when they didn't. This is how it happened.
Once upon a time Mr. Jack Rabbit was spending the evening over at the
big Hollow Tree with the Crow and the 'Coon and the 'Possum. They had
all had their supper, and were leaning back and talking about the
weather and what a late spring it had been, and how bad the cold rains
were for young chickens. Mr. Rabbit didn't care for chickens himself,
but he usually kept some for his friends, and always had a nice patch
of young clover and some garden vegetables for his own use. He said the
late frost had killed his early lettuce and young cabbage plants, and
that his clover patch looked as if a fire had been through it.
Mr. 'Coon smoked a little and looked into the fire and said that he
guessed to-morrow would be a warm day, and the Crow said he knew it
would be because he could feel it in his leg, where a stray shot from
Mr. Man's gun happened to hit him once when he was taking a walk in Mr.
Man's cornfield just about this time of year.
The 'Possum put his thumbs in the armholes of his vest and leaned back
against the mantel, and said he had a plan he wanted to tell them about.
When he said that they all kept still to listen, because they knew when
the 'Possum had a plan it always meant something good to eat, and they
were always ready to hear about good things to eat, even when they'd
just got up from the supper table.
Mr. 'Possum puffed a few puffs of smoke, and then he went on to say that
after so much bad weather in April he thought it would be proper for
them to give an outdoor feast and a woods party on the first day of May.
All the others spoke up right off and said that was just the thing. Then
they all began talking at once about what each would bring and whom they
should invite.
Jack Rabbit said he would invite Mr. Chipmunk and Mr Quail, and that he
would speak a piece composed for the occasion. The 'Coon said he would
invite Mr. Fox, because he had the best chickens, and would bring a
basket of them along. The 'Possum said that would be a good plan, and
that they ought to try as much as they could to invite people that would
bring things. That made the Crow laugh, and he said if they wanted to do
that they might invite Mr. Man himself.
Of course all the others laughed at first when they heard that, and
then, all at once, they quit laughing, for speaking of Mr. Man made them
think of Mr. Dog, and they knew how he was always trapesing around the
country where he wasn't wanted, and just as likely as not would walk
right in on them at dinner time and make it unpleasant for everybody.
They all felt pretty lonesome when they thought of that, and then the
Crow laughed again and said he would send over a note by Mr. Robin to
Mr. Dog inviting him to go and see some friends of his that had just
moved across the Wide Grass Lands. He said Mr. Dog would be glad to go,
and that his friends would be glad to see him, and that it would take
all day to make the trip and do no harm to anybody. Then all of them
felt well again.
Mr. Crow wrote the note right away, and when he invited the Robin to the
May party next morning he asked him if he would take Mr. Dog's
invitation over to him and slip it under his door before he was up. He
said it was to be a surprise for Mr. Dog, and he didn't want him to know
just who sent the invitation. He didn't tell the Robin that it was an
invitation for Mr. Dog to get out of the country, because the Robin is a
good bird and wouldn't help to deceive anybody for the world.
[Illustration: HE FELT FOR THE INVITATION.]
Mr. Robin was tickled 'most to death at his own invitation, and slipped
Mr. Dog's in his pocket, and hurried off with it just as fast as ever he
could. He was so excited that he forgot he had a hole in the pocket of
his coat, and never thought of it till he got to Mr. Man's yard, where
Mr. Dog's house was. Then he remembered all at once, and when he felt
for the invitation and turned his pocket inside out there was the hole
all right, but the invitation was gone.
[Illustration: FORGOT HE'D EVER HAD ANY TROUBLE IN HIS LIFE.]
Mr. Robin at first didn't know what to do. Then he happened to think
that all Mr. Crow had said was that he didn't want Mr. Dog to know just
who sent it to him, so he went right up to Mr. Dog's house and rapped.
Mr. Dog came out yawning, but when he heard that he was invited to a May
party he forgot that he'd ever had any trouble in his life, and danced
and rolled over and wagged his tail, till the Robin thought he was
having a fit. Then when Mr. Dog heard that the party was gotten up
mostly on his own account, and was to be a kind of a surprise, he had
another fit, and said he never was so happy in the world. Mr. Robin said
he couldn't tell him just who sent the invitation, but he told him a few
of those invited, and Mr. Dog grew six inches taller and said he must
certainly have some more new clothes for a party like that.
[Illustration: AT MR. FOX'S HOUSE THE FEATHERS WERE FLYING.]
[Illustration: TOOK ONE MORE LOOK AT HIMSELF IN THE GLASS.]
Then Mr. Robin set off home to get ready, for there were only two days
more in April and everybody had to scramble around to be ready in time,
especially Mr. Jack Rabbit, who had to write a poem. Over at Mr. Fox's
house the feathers were flying, and at the Hollow Tree Mr. Crow had his
sleeves rolled up, baking all day long. The 'Coon sat in his room and
rocked and planned games, and the 'Possum followed Mr. Crow about and
told him new things to cook. Everywhere in the woods, and even out in
the Wide Grass Lands, folks were staying up nights to get ready, but
none of them felt as happy or took as much trouble to look well as Mr.
Dog. He knew there couldn't be any joke this time, because Mr. Robin had
invited him, and Mr. Robin wouldn't play a joke on anybody. Every little
while he would go out and roll on the grass in the sun and then go in
and put on his new clothes and stand before the glass. Then he would
march up and down and try to see if his coat wrinkled under the arms and
if his trousers fitted neatly around the waist. As he thought the party
was to be given for him, of course he wasn't expected to bring anything
except all the style he could put on, and when the morning came Mr. Dog
did put on all he could carry, and took one more look at himself in the
glass and started. He had never felt so happy in his life.