and it will be a great joke."
"All right," replied Sammy. "Be on hand where you can see what happens
to-morrow morning." And with that, Sammy Jay flew back to the Green
Forest where he could watch.
In a few minutes Blacky the Crow flew over near the tree in which sat
Roughleg the Hawk. Presently Sammy heard Blacky's harsh voice.
"Caw, caw, caw," said Blacky.
Sammy smiled. It was a signal, and he knew that Blacky had done as he
had said he would. Then Sammy flew off to look for some new mischief
with which to amuse himself for the rest of the day.
*XXII*
*CHATTERER HAS A DREADFUL DAY*
Chatterer was feeling quite like himself, his saucy, impudent self, as
he peeped out of his doorway at daylight. He felt that he had got the
best of Sammy Jay the day before. To be sure he had to get corn for
Sammy, but he did not have to go to Farmer Brown's corn-crib for it, and
he knew that it was the fun of seeing him take that risk that Sammy
wanted more than he did the corn. He felt that he had been smarter than
Sammy, and the feeling made him quite like his old self.
"Chickaro and chickaree,
Who is there as smart as me?
Chickaro and chickaree,
Sharper wits you'll never see."
Now that was boasting; and boasting is one of the most foolish habits in
the world. But Chatterer always was a boaster and probably always will
be. So he whisked in and out of the old stone wall and said this over
and over, while he waited for Sammy Jay to appear. He had not gone over
to Farmer Brown's corn-crib this morning for his breakfast, because he
felt sure that Sammy would come and send him for corn, and he knew that
he would have to go. But he meant to go down to his own store-house in
the hollow rail on the edge of the cornfield and he could eat his fill
there. So he scampered about and wished that Sammy would hurry up, for
he was hungry.
At last Sammy came, and just as Chatterer expected, he demanded the corn
that Chatterer had promised to get for him whenever he should ask for
it. Right away Chatterer started for the cornfield, running along the
fences. He always did like to run along fences, and though it was a long
way down there, he didn't mind, for it was a sharp, cold morning and the
run made him feel fine. As he ran, he kept chuckling to himself to
think how smart he had been to think of that store-house and a way to
keep his promise to Sammy Jay without running any risk to himself. He
was whisking along the fence on the edge of the cornfield and had almost
reached the hollow rail where he had stored the corn. He stopped to sit
up on a fence-post and boast once more.
"Chickaro and chickaree!
Who is there as smart--"
He didn't finish. Instead his tongue seemed to stick to the roof of his
mouth and his little black eyes looked as if they would pop out of his
head. Sitting on a post close to the hollow rail was a straight, black
form watching him with cruel, hungry-looking eyes. It was Roughleg the
Hawk! Chatterer gave a little gasp of fright. He whirled around and
started back along the fence as fast as he could make his legs go.
Instantly Roughleg spread his great wings and sailed after him.
Chatterer hadn't gone the length of two rails before Roughleg was over
him. With his great, cruel claws spread wide, he suddenly swooped down.
Chatterer dodged to the under side of the rail just in time, the very
nick of time. Roughleg screamed with disappointment, and that scream
had such a fierce sound that Chatterer shivered all over.
[Illustration: Chatterer gave a little gasp of fright.]
How he ever got back to the Old Orchard he hardly knew himself. Ever so
many times he just managed to dodge those great claws. But he did get
there at last, out of breath and tired and frightened. There sat Sammy
Jay, waiting for his corn. He pretended to be very angry because
Chatterer had none and threatened to go straight to the Green Forest and
tell Shadow the Weasel where Chatterer was living. There was nothing for
Chatterer to do but to go over to the corn-crib as soon as he had rested
a little.
"It's been a dreadful day, a perfectly dreadful day," said Chatterer to
himself, as he curled up in bed for the night. "I wonder--I wonder how
old Roughleg happened to be sitting on that fence-post this morning."
But Sammy Jay didn't wonder; he knew.
*XXIII*
*CHATTERER HITS ON A PLAN AT LAST*
Each time that Chatterer thought himself smarter than Sammy Jay, he
found that he wasn't as smart as he thought he was, and this always made
him feel mortified. He just couldn't admit even to himself that Sammy
was the smartest, and yet here he was every day bringing corn for Sammy
from Farmer Brown's corn-crib whenever Sammy told him to, and running
the risk of being seen by Farmer Brown's boy, all because he hadn't been
able to think of some way to outwit Sammy. Once more after he had such
a narrow escape from old Roughleg the Hawk, he had tried going down to
his store-house at the edge of the cornfield, but he had found Roughleg
on watch and had turned back. From the way Sammy Jay had grinned when he
saw Chatterer coming back, Chatterer had made up his mind that Sammy
knew something about how old Roughleg happened to have found out about
that store-house and so been on the watch.
Now all this time, Sammy Jay was having a great deal of fun out of
Chatterer's trouble. Each time that Chatterer thought of a plan to
outwit Sammy, he would find that Sammy had already thought of it and a
way to make the plan quite useless. You see, Sammy used to spend a
great deal of his time when he was alone in the Green Forest pretending
that he was in the same fix as Chatterer and then trying to think of
some way out of it. So it was that Chatterer never could think of a
plan that Sammy hadn't already thought of. And yet there was a way to
cheat Sammy out of his fun, though not out of his corn, and it really
was the fun of seeing Chatterer so worried that Sammy cared most about.
Sammy had thought of it almost at once, and it seemed to him that
Chatterer was very, very stupid not to think of it, too.
"He will think of it some day, and I don't see any way to upset such a
simple plan," said Sammy to himself and then fell to studying some new
way to torment Chatterer.
And at last Chatterer did think of it. It was such a simple plan!
Probably that was why he hadn't thought of it before. All he had to do
was to go over to Farmer Brown's corn-crib at break of day, before any
one in Farmer Brown's house was awake, just as he had been doing, only
make two or three trips and store a lot of corn in a safe hiding place
in the old stone wall. Then, when Sammy Jay demanded corn, he could get
it without trouble or danger. He tried it, and it worked splendidly.
Sammy Jay got his corn, but he didn't get any fun, and he cared more for
the fun of seeing Chatterer in trouble than he did for the corn. So,
after two or three mornings, Sammy didn't come up to the Old Orchard,
and Chatterer chuckled as he stored up the corn, not in one place, but
in several places.
Now, while Sammy Jay seemed to have grown tired of corn, he was doing a
lot of thinking. He had no idea of leaving Chatterer alone. He had
just got to think of some way of upsetting Chatterer's simple plan. It
was Reddy Fox who finally gave him the idea. He saw Reddy trotting down
the Lone Little Path through the Green Forest, and right away the idea
came to him. He would tell Reddy where Chatterer was storing the corn
in the old stone wall, and Reddy would hide close by.
"Of course I don't want Reddy to catch Chatterer, but I can prevent that
by warning him just in time. But he will be so frightened that he won't
dare go to that place for corn again in a hurry, and so will have to go
to the corn-crib for it," thought Sammy, and hurried to tell Reddy Fox
about the place half way along the old stone wall where Chatterer had
hidden his corn.
*XXIV*
*CHATTERER HAS HIS TURN TO LAUGH*
Sammy Jay had not been up to the Old Orchard for several days, and
Chatterer the Red Squirrel was beginning to wonder if Sammy had grown
tired of corn. But Chatterer had learned that it is always best to be
prepared, and so every morning, when he had visited Farmer Brown's
corn-crib, he had brought a generous supply back to the Old Orchard and
hidden it in several secret places in different parts of the stone wall
and some in a certain hollow in an old apple-tree. Chatterer couldn't
quite believe that Sammy had given up all hope of making him more
trouble, so he meant to be prepared.
So when Sammy did appear early one morning, Chatterer was not in the
least surprised. He pretended to be glad to see Sammy. In fact, he was
almost glad. You see, Sammy had so many times proved his wits to be
sharper than Chatterer's, that Chatterer wanted to get even. There was
a sparkle of mischief in Sammy's eyes. Chatterer saw it right away, and
he guessed that Sammy had some new plan under that pert cap of his.
"Good morning, Sammy Jay," said Chatterer, pretending to be polite. "I
had begun to think that you were tired of corn. I have some very nice
corn ready for you, the very best I could find in Farmer Brown's
corn-crib. Will you have some this morning?"
"I believe I will," replied Sammy, also pretending to be very polite.
"It is very nice of you to pick out the best corn for me, and the very
thought of it makes me hungry. I believe I would like some this very
minute."
As he spoke, he turned his head to hide a grin, for, thought he, "of
course Chatterer will go straight to that hiding place in the stone wall
and then we shall see some fun." He glanced hastily in that direction,
and he saw a patch of red half hidden behind the wall, and he knew that
it was the red coat of Reddy Fox. Reddy was hiding just where Sammy had
told him to.
Now Chatterer had been doing some quick thinking. He remembered the
sharp tricks Sammy had played on him before, and he didn't have the
least doubt that Sammy had planned another. "Of course, he expects me
to go straight to that place where he knows I have hidden corn for him,
and if he has planned any trouble for me, that is where it will be,"
thought Chatterer. "I think I'll get the corn from one of the hiding
places he doesn't know about."
With that Chatterer ran swiftly out along a branch of the tree he was
in, leaped across to another tree and then to a third, the one in which
was the hollow in which he had put some of the corn. In a few minutes
he was back, with his cheeks stuffed full. Sammy Jay pretended to be
very much pleased, but he ate it as if he had lost his appetite, as
indeed he had. You see, he was wondering what he should say to Reddy
Fox, to whom he had promised a chance to catch Chatterer. He knew that
Reddy would think that it was all one of Sammy's tricks. So without
waiting to finish all the corn, Sammy politely said good-by and flew
away to the deepest part of the Green Forest.
"Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!" laughed Chatterer, as his sharp eyes spied
Reddy Fox, trying to creep away without being seen. "Ha, ha, ha! Ho,
ho, ho! It's my turn to laugh. Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!"
And so for the time being Chatterer had the last laugh, though Sammy Jay
knew well that his turn would come again, if only he were patient. But
he had other things to think of. You see, he was very much interested
in the adventures of Buster Bear. And if you are interested in them
too, you may read all about them in another book devoted wholly to the
things that happened when Buster came to live in the Green Forest.
THE END
* * * * * * * *
*BOOKS BY*
*THORNTON W. BURGESS*
*BEDTIME STORY-BOOKS*
THE ADVENTURES OF:
1. REDDY FOX
2. JOHNNY CHUCK
3. PETER COTTONTAIL
4. UNC' BILLY POSSUM
5. MR. MOCKER
6. JERRY MUSKRAT
7. DANNY MEADOW MOUSE
8. GRANDFATHER FROG
9. CHATTERER, THE RED SQUIRREL
10. SAMMY JAY
11. BUSTER BEAR
12. OLD MR. TOAD
13. PRICKLY PORKY
14. OLD MAN COYOTE
15. PADDY THE BEAVER
16. POOR MRS. QUACK
17. BOBBY COON
18. JIMMY SKUNK
19. BOB WHITE
20. OL' MISTAH BUZZARD
*MOTHER WEST WIND SERIES*
1. OLD MOTHER WEST WIND
2. MOTHER WEST WIND'S CHILDREN
3. MOTHER WEST WIND'S ANIMAL FRIENDS
4. MOTHER WEST WIND'S NEIGHBORS
5. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHY" STORIES
6. MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES
7. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHEN" STORIES
8. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES
*GREEN MEADOW SERIES*
1. HAPPY JACK
2. MRS. PETER RABBIT
3. BOWSER THE HOUND
4. OLD GRANNY Fox
*GREEN FOREST SERIES*
1. LIGHTFOOT THE DEER
2. BLACKY THE CROW
3. WHITEFOOT THE WOOD MOUSE
4. BUSTER BEAR'S TWINS
*WISHING-STONE SERIES*
1. TOMMY AND THE WISHING-STONE
2. TOMMY'S WISHES COME TRUE
3. TOMMY'S CHANGE OF HEART
THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN
THE BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK FOR CHILDREN
THE BURGESS FLOWER BOOK FOR CHILDREN