sharp trick he was sure Chatterer had played on Sammy Jay, and partly at
thought of the good breakfast he was sure he would have one of these
fine mornings, for already he had thought of a plan to catch Chatterer.
But first he would find Sammy Jay. He wanted to see how foolish Sammy
would look when he found out that it wasn't a trap of Farmer Brown's
boy's at all that had frightened him so.
*XV*
*SAMMY JAY SPOILS THE PLAN OF REDDY FOX*
Reddy Fox found Sammy Jay in a bad temper. Sammy had missed his usual
breakfast of corn stolen from Farmer Brown's corn-crib, and it had made
him cross.
"Good morning," said Reddy in his politest manner, and no one can be
more polite than Reddy Fox when he sets out to be.
"Morning," mumbled Sammy Jay.
"I found out something this morning which may interest you," said Reddy,
taking no notice of Sammy's cross looks.
"It won't," replied Sammy positively. "It won't. Nothing interests
me."
"Not even traps?" asked Reddy slyly.
"What's that?" demanded Sammy, looking at Reddy sharply.
"Oh, nothing much," replied Reddy, quite as if the matter didn't
interest him especially, "only I found out something this morning that I
thought you might like to see, if you wasn't such a coward."
"Who says I'm a coward?" shrieked Sammy Jay, dancing about with anger.
"I do," replied Reddy. "You don't dare go with me to-morrow morning and
see what is going on at Farmer Brown's corn-crib."
"It isn't true!" Sammy shrieked. "I dare go wherever you dare go, so
there, Reddy Fox!"
"Then I dare you to meet me to-morrow morning at the edge of the Green
Forest at sun-up and go with me to watch Farmer Brown's corn-crib,"
Reddy replied.
"I'll be there!" snapped Sammy. "I'll have you to understand that you
don't dare do anything that I don't dare do!" snapped Sammy, though to
tell the truth he had felt his heart sink at the mere mention of Farmer
Brown's corn-crib, for you remember it was there that he had had a
terrible fright only the morning before.
"All right, see that you are on hand at sun-up sharp," replied Reddy and
trotted away grinning, for he was smart enough to know that Sammy would
risk a great deal rather than be called a coward, for no one likes to be
called a coward.
Early the next morning Reddy Fox and Sammy Jay met at the edge of the
Green Forest.
"Now," Reddy explained, "we will go over by the fence back of the
corn-crib. I will hide there, just where I hid yesterday morning, and
you will hide in the evergreen-tree close by. Watch the roof of the
corn-crib, and I think you will see something that may explain how you
happened to be caught by the bill the other morning. But whatever you
see, don't make a sound, not the least bit of a sound."
Sammy promised, and they hurried over to their hiding places. Hardly
had Sammy settled himself in the evergreen-tree when he saw Chatterer
jump to the roof of the corn-crib from the limb of the tree which
overhung it. Almost in a flash Chatterer had disappeared through a hole
just under the edge of the roof. No sooner was he out of sight, than
Reddy Fox ran swiftly across to the old stone wall at the edge of the
Old Orchard and hid behind it. Right away Sammy Jay guessed that
Chatterer had had something to do with the terrible fright he had had at
the corn-crib when his bill was caught as he pecked at the corn between
the cracks in the wall.
"It wasn't a trap at all, but Chatterer!" thought Sammy and right away
grew so angry that he could hardly sit still. But he wanted to see what
Chatterer would do next, so he bit his tongue to keep it still. Pretty
soon out came Chatterer with his cheeks stuffed full of corn. That was
too much for Sammy Jay. He forgot all about his promise not to make a
sound. He darted out of his hiding place and flew at Chatterer in a
terrible rage, screaming at the top of his voice and calling Chatterer
every bad thing he could think of. Of course Chatterer couldn't reply,
because his cheeks were so stuffed with corn, but he could run. Like a
little red flash he was in the tree that overhung the corn-crib and
dodging around the trunk.
Over behind the stone wall Reddy Fox snarled, for with such a noise he
knew it wasn't safe to stay there any longer.
*XVI*
*CHATTERER AND SAMMY JAY QUARREL*
When people lose their tempers
Oh what a sorry sight!
They call each other dreadful names,
And sometimes scratch and bite.
The Merry Little Breezes ran
And hid themselves away
When Chatterer his temper lost,
And so did Sammy Jay.
It really was too dreadful! It quite spoiled the day for all the little
people who were within sound of their voices. You see, when Sammy Jay
discovered that it was Chatterer and not a trap set by Farmer Brown's
boy that had given him such a fright at Farmer Brown's corn-crib, right
away Sammy's temper just boiled right over. Chatterer had his mouth so
full of corn that he couldn't say a word, but he could run; and run he
did, scampering across Farmer Brown's dooryard to the shelter of the old
stone wall at the edge of the Old Orchard with Sammy after him,
screaming "Thief! thief! thief!" at the top of his lungs.
"My gracious, what a racket!" exclaimed Farmer Brown's boy, as he opened
the door. "That Jay is making such a fuss that I should think there was
a fox about." He put his milk-pails down and stepped back into the
house. In a minute he was out again, with his terrible gun in his
hands. He went straight to the old stone wall where only a few minutes
before Reddy Fox had been hiding, and it was well for Reddy that he had
slipped away the minute Sammy Jay began to scream at Chatterer. Farmer
Brown's boy looked disappointed when he saw no signs of Reddy. Then he
went over to the little house of Bowser the Hound and unchained Bowser.
Bowser wagged his tail and yelped with delight when he saw the gun, for
he dearly loves to hunt. He ran ahead back to the Old Orchard, and
almost at once his great, deep voice told all within hearing that his
wonderful nose had found the tracks of Reddy Fox.
"I thought so," said Farmer Brown's boy. "I thought there had been a
fox here." Then he sighed, for he would have liked nothing better than
to go hunt for Reddy. But there were the empty milk-pails, and Farmer
Brown's boy is not the kind who run away for pleasure when there is work
to be done.
Sammy Jay had flown away as soon as he saw Farmer Brown's boy and his
terrible gun. Chatterer had hidden in the old stone wall, where he
safely stored away the corn with which his cheeks had been stuffed. As
soon as Farmer Brown's boy had gone to the barn to milk the cows, Sammy
Jay slipped back to the Old Orchard to look for Chatterer, and his
temper hadn't improved a bit. He soon saw Chatterer running along the
old wall and once more began to scream "Thief! thief!" And now that his
mouth was empty, Chatterer could reply, and you know Chatterer has one
of the worst tongues of all the little people of the Green Forest.
"Thief yourself!" he screamed back. "Thief yourself! You stole my
corn!"
"It isn't your corn any more than it's mine!" screamed Sammy. "I told
you about it in the first place. Thief! thief! thief!"
And from that, they fell to calling each other worse things. The Old
Orchard never had heard such a quarrel, never. It was dreadful! All
day long they kept it up. Twice Farmer Brown's boy came down to see if
that fox had come back, and scratched his head, and wondered what all
the fuss was about. At last Sammy Jay had a thought.
"I'm going straight over to the Green Forest to tell Shadow the Weasel
where you are living!" he cried suddenly. "When he finds you, you won't
steal any more corn or be so greedy that you won't let other people have
a share."
*XVII*
*CHATTERER AND SAMMY JAY MAKE UP*
When Chatterer heard Sammy Jay say that he was going straight to the
Green Forest to tell Shadow the Weasel that Chatterer was living in the
Old Orchard, a great fear filled his heart. He forgot his quarrel with
Sammy. He forgot his greed for all the corn in Farmer Brown's
corn-crib. He forgot everything but his terrible fear of Shadow the
Weasel. It was because of Shadow that Chatterer had left the Green
Forest to live in the Old Orchard. If Shadow should find him here, he
didn't know what he could do or where he could go. He knew that Sammy
Jay meant just what he said, for though it would be a dreadful thing to
do, people do dreadful things when they are angry, and Sammy Jay was
very, very angry indeed. He had already spread his wings when Chatterer
spoke.
"Please don't do that, Sammy Jay," he begged, "I--I--I didn't mean all
the bad things I have said."
Sammy Jay's eyes snapped. He saw right away that Chatterer was very
much frightened, and he knew that hereafter so long as Shadow the Weasel
was anywhere around, Chatterer would be so afraid that he would do
anything Sammy might want him to. You see, Sammy Jay is very sharp.
"Am I any more of a thief than you are?" he demanded.
"No-o-o," replied Chatterer slowly, as if it were the hardest work to
say it.
[Illustration: "No-o-o," replied Chatterer slowly.]
"Will you play any more tricks on me?" asked Sammy.
"No," replied Chatterer more promptly this time.
"Well, I'll think it over and make up my mind in the morning," said
Sammy. "Perhaps I will and perhaps I won't tell Shadow where you are
living. I'll think it over."
Now Sammy knew perfectly well that Chatterer wouldn't sleep a wink that
night for worrying. Already he had made up his mind not to tell Shadow,
for like all the other little meadow and forest people he hated Shadow.
But of course Chatterer couldn't know that he had so made up his mind,
and a great fear that Sammy might tell clutched his heart.
"If you'll promise not to tell Shadow where I am, you--you are welcome
to all the corn you want at Farmer Brown's corn-crib," said Chatterer,
in a very meek voice.
"Indeed!" replied Sammy. "How very generous of you, seeing that it
doesn't belong to you, anyway, and I have just as much right to it as
you have."
"And--and--well, I'll help you get it," continued Chatterer, his sharp
wits working their hardest to think of some way to get Sammy to make
that promise.
"How?" asked Sammy suspiciously.
"Why, when you can't get it between the cracks, I'll bring some out for
you and hide it in the stone wall where you can find it," replied
Chatterer. But in his heart he said that he would hide it so that Sammy
would have to hunt a long time to find it. It seemed almost as if Sammy
read that thought, for cocking his head on one side, he said:
"I'll promise not to tell Shadow, if you'll promise to get me corn
whenever I want it and put it just where I tell you to."
Chatterer didn't like that idea at all, but what could he do? He
thought it over so long that Sammy Jay spread his wings as if to start
that very instant for the Green Forest.
"I promise!" cried Chatterer hastily.
And so these two scamps of the Green Forest made up and planned how they
would live all winter on Farmer Brown's corn.
*XVIII*
*CHATTERER HAS TO KEEP HIS PROMISE*
Chatterer wished now that he hadn't been quite so greedy. If he had been
content to let Sammy Jay get what corn he could from Farmer Brown's
corn-crib, instead of playing that sharp trick to frighten him away,
Chatterer wouldn't have had to make that promise to get the corn for
Sammy and put it wherever Sammy wanted it put. It wasn't much to do.
Chatterer really didn't mind doing the thing itself; it was the thought
that Sammy could make him do it.
Now Chatterer has sharp wits, and Sammy Jay has sharp wits. Chatterer
had always thought his the sharpest, and it hurt his pride to feel that
Sammy had got the best of him. He couldn't think of anything else as he
curled up for the night in his snug bed in the old home of Drummer the
Woodpecker up in the Old Orchard. He thought and thought and thought
and thought, trying to find some way to wriggle out of his promise, and
just before he fell asleep, an idea came to him. He would go over to
the corn-crib before Sammy Jay was awake, eat his fill, and then hide
from Sammy.
"Why didn't I think of that before?" he murmured sleepily and smiled to
think how, after all, his wits were sharper than those of Sammy Jay.
The next morning, very early, Chatterer visited the corn-crib, ate a
hurried breakfast, and then hid in the old stone wall to watch for Sammy
Jay. But Sammy didn't come at the time he used to visit the corn-crib
before Chatterer had given him that terrible scare. Chatterer waited and
waited, but no Sammy Jay. Chatterer began to get impatient, but still
he didn't dare leave his hiding place for fear that Sammy might come.
At last Chatterer decided that Sammy had gone somewhere else that
morning, so he came out of his hiding place and frisked along the stone
wall at one edge of the Old Orchard. After a while he forgot all about
Sammy Jay. Anyway, he was sure that Sammy wouldn't think of going to
the corn-crib so late in the morning, for it wouldn't be safe at all.
Farmer Brown's boy would be almost sure to see him. So Chatterer forgot
his troubles and frisked about and had a splendid time all by himself.
Right in the midst of it, Sammy Jay arrived in the Old Orchard.
"Good morning, Chatterer," said he. "I fear I am a little late for
breakfast."
"Breakfast!" sneered Chatterer, "Breakfast! Why, it's nearer dinner
time. I had my breakfast hours ago."
"I thought likely," replied Sammy, and there was a mischievous look in
his sharp black eyes, "but I was rather tired this morning, and as long
as I hadn't got to go way over to the corn-crib myself, I thought I
wouldn't hurry. I suppose you have plenty of corn ready for me here."
"Corn ready for you? I should say not!" snapped Chatterer. "You didn't
say anything about getting corn for you this morning."
"Didn't I? Well, I guess I must have forgotten to. Never mind--you can
run over there and get some for me now," replied Sammy.
"Go yourself!" snapped Chatterer.
"I think I'd rather not," replied Sammy. "Farmer Brown's boy is
chopping wood right close by the corn-crib, so I prefer to have you go."
"I won't!" Chatterer fairly screamed and danced about in his rage. "I
won't!"
"Oh, all right," replied Sammy, yawning. "I saw Shadow the Weasel down
in the Green Forest this morning, and he inquired for you. I think I'll
go look him up again."
Chatterer turned pale. He feared Shadow the Weasel more than any one
else under the sun. He would rather face Farmer Brown's boy. "I--I'll
go," he stammered weakly. There was no way out of it; he just had to
keep his promise.
*XIX*
*CHATTERER GETS SAMMY JAY SOME CORN*
In all his life Chatterer had never felt so angry and so helpless. He
had thought himself so smart that he could outwit Sammy Jay, and instead
Sammy had outwitted him. This was bad enough in itself, but to make
matters worse he had to do something which he felt was very dangerous.
He had to get Sammy some corn from Farmer Brown's corn-crib right in
broad daylight, and there was Black Pussy sitting on the doorstep of
Farmer Brown's house, and Farmer Brown's boy himself was chopping wood
close by the corn-crib. But if he didn't keep his promise, Sammy would
go tell Shadow the Weasel where he was living, and Chatterer was more
afraid of Shadow than of Black Pussy and Farmer Brown's boy. Wasn't it
a terrible position to be in? Chatterer thought so. And all the time
he knew that it was all his own fault. If he hadn't been so greedy and
tried to scare Sammy Jay away from the corn-crib, he wouldn't be in such
a fix now.
He ran along the stone wall to the end at the edge of Farmer Brown's
dooryard. Then he peeped out. Black Pussy was dozing on the doorstep.
Her eyes were closed. Chatterer started across for the tree close by
the corn-crib, and then his courage failed, and he ran back to the stone
wall. Three times he did this, and each time he looked up to see Sammy
Jay grinning at him from an apple-tree in the Old Orchard. It was very
plain to see that Sammy was enjoying Chatterer's fright. Chatterer
almost cried with fear and anger.
The fourth time he gritted his teeth and kept on running as fast as he
knew how. He was almost past Black Pussy when she opened her eyes. In
a flash she was after him. Chatterer reached the tree first and was up
it like a little red streak. There he felt safe. At least, he felt
safe from Black Pussy, for she wouldn't dare follow him out on the small
branches. But Farmer Brown's boy had seen her rush across to the foot
of the tree, and now he stopped chopping wood to watch Black Pussy
glaring up at Chatterer.
"What are you so interested in, Puss?" asked Farmer Brown's boy. He
couldn't see Chatterer, because Chatterer was smart enough to keep on
the other side of the tree trunk. "Is it something you want me to see?"
he continued, and started to walk over to the tree.
Chatterer's heart was beating terribly with fright--thump, thump, thump!
At just that minute there was a great racket over in the Old Orchard.
"Thief! thief! thief!" screamed Sammy Jay, making a great fuss. Farmer
Brown's boy turned to look in that direction.
"I wonder if that fox is prowling around again," said he. And while he
was still looking and wondering, Chatterer dropped to the roof of the
corn-crib and slipped inside, through the hole he had found under the
edge of the roof. He gave a great sigh of relief.
"I believe Sammy Jay did that purposely to make Farmer Brown's boy look
over there instead of up in the tree," he muttered. And he was right.
Sammy had no desire to have any real harm come to Chatterer, and so at
just the right minute he had fooled Farmer Brown's boy, just as he often
had fooled him before by screaming as if he saw Reddy Fox, when Reddy
wasn't there at all.
When Farmer Brown's boy was sure that Reddy was not over in the Old
Orchard, he once more turned to Black Pussy, who was still glaring up at
the place where Chatterer had been. He looked up, too, but of course
there was no one to be seen.
"I guess you must have dreamed you saw something, Puss," said he,
stooping to stroke her gently. Then he went back to his wood-chopping.
Black Pussy waited a few minutes longer and then went over to the barn
to try to console herself with a mouse. Chatterer watched his chance
and got back to the old stone wall safely, with his cheeks stuffed full
of corn for Sammy Jay.
*XX*
*CHATTERER REMEMBERS SOMETHING*
Chatterer was disgusted with himself, with all his neighbors, and with
the world in general, which is to say that Chatterer was very much put
out about something. There was no doubt about it. He couldn't see
anything cheerful in the sunshine nor anything pleasant in the blue,
blue sky, and when any one fails to see cheerfulness in the sunshine or
to find something pleasant in the blue, blue sky, there is something
wrong in his own heart. That was the trouble with Chatterer. There was
a great deal wrong in his heart.
In the first place, it was filled with anger, and anger, you know, will
take all the joy and pleasantness out of anything. And then Chatterer
was mortified. He was both angry and mortified because Sammy Jay had
proved to have smarter wits than he had. So, as soon as he could do so
without being seen, he slipped into his new home in the old house of
Drummer the Woodpecker in an apple-tree in the Old Orchard, and there he
sulked for the rest of the day. You see, Sammy Jay had made him go over
to Farmer Brown's corn-crib and get him some corn right in broad
daylight, and he had very narrowly escaped being seen by Farmer Brown's
boy.
"If only I hadn't promised to get him corn whenever he asks me to!" he
said over and over to himself, as he sulked in his home in the
apple-tree. "If only I hadn't! And yet I couldn't help myself--I just
had to. Now whenever he feels like it, he'll make me do as he did
to-day and perhaps I won't always be so lucky. Oh, dear; oh, dear; I've
got myself into a dreadful mess, and I've just got to think of some way
out of it."
So all the rest of the day he thought and thought, and the more he
thought the more unhappy he grew. It wasn't until just as he was going
out for a breath of air before going to bed for the night that the great
idea came to him.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he muttered, meaning himself. "Why didn't I
remember it before? You won't see me going over to that corn-crib
again, Mr. Jay! I'll get you the corn if I must, but you won't have the
fun of laughing at me trying to dodge Black Pussy and Farmer Brown's
boy. You're smart, Mr. Jay! You're smart, but you've got to get up
early in the morning to play such a trick on Chatterer twice."
Right away he felt so much better in his mind that he had a brisk run
along the old stone wall and then turned in for a good night's sleep.
The next day Sammy Jay appeared in the middle of the forenoon and
demanded more corn. Chatterer pretended that he didn't dare go for it,
but when Sammy insisted that he must, he suddenly started for--where do
you think? Why, for that store-house of his in the hollow rail at the
edge of the cornfield. It was a long way to go, but that was better
than running the risk of being seen by Farmer Brown's boy. It took him
some time, but at last he was back with his cheeks stuffed with corn.
Sammy Jay pretended to be cross because he had been kept waiting so long
and grumbled all the time he was eating. He pretended to think that the
corn was not as good as that from Farmer Brown's corn-crib and mumbled
something about telling Shadow the Weasel if Chatterer didn't get him
some corn from the crib the next day.
"You can't!" cried Chatterer in triumph. "You promised not to tell
Shadow if I kept my promise and got you corn whenever you asked for it;
but I didn't say where I would get it," and he chuckled to think that he
had been smarter than Sammy Jay.
Sammy ate every grain and then went off, but as he went, Chatterer
thought he heard something very like a chuckle. It made him thoughtful
and a little uneasy, but he couldn't think of any way Sammy could get
the best of him now, so he soon forgot it, and all the rest of the day
he thought of how lucky it was that he had remembered that store-house
in the hollow rail.
*XXI*
*SAMMY JAY MAKES A CALL*
Sammy Jay hadn't had so much fun for a long time as he was having at the
expense of Chatterer the Red Squirrel. No, Sir, Sammy hadn't had so
much fun for as long as he could remember. You see, he and Chatterer
never had been very good friends and always had played sharp tricks on
each other whenever they had the chance. Sammy had not forgotten how
Chatterer had stolen the eggs of Drummer the Woodpecker in the spring
and then laid the blame on him, so that all the birds of the Old Orchard
had driven him out until they discovered who the real thief was. Sammy
had never forgotten or forgiven that sharp, mean trick. And now he was
getting even. Right down in his heart he didn't want any real harm to
come to Chatterer, but he did love to see him frightened. But his
greatest fun was in matching his wits against those of Chatterer, for
you know both have very sharp wits, as scamps are very apt to have.
Now all the time he had been mumbling and finding fault with the corn
Chatterer had brought from his storehouse in the hollow rail on the edge
of the cornfield Sammy had only been pretending. Yes, Sir, he had
simply been pretending. You see, he had thought of that store-house
before Chatterer had and had thought Chatterer very stupid not to have
remembered it in the first place. Now that Chatterer had remembered it,
Sammy was glad, although he pretended not to be. Why was he glad? Well,
you see, he knew that Chatterer was greatly tickled inside because he
thought that he had proved himself smarter than Sammy, and all the time
Sammy saw another chance to prove to Chatterer that he wasn't so smart
as he thought himself.
When he left Chatterer, he flew straight to the Green Forest and from
there to the edge of the Green Meadows. His sharp eyes searched the
Green Meadows until they saw his cousin, Blacky the Crow. Sammy flew
straight over to where Blacky was sitting. For a few minutes they
talked together, and then both looked over to a tall, lone tree out in
the middle of the Green Meadows, in the top of which sat a black form
very straight and very still. In fact, to eyes less sharp than those of
Sammy Jay and Blacky the Crow, it would have looked very much like a
part of the tree. It was Roughleg the Hawk watching for Danny Meadow
Mouse.
[Illustration: Sammy flew straight over to where Blacky was sitting.]
"Will you do it?" asked Sammy. "I don't dare to myself because he might
have a notion that a fat Jay like me would make him a good dinner."