WITH THE CHIPMUNKS
It was a little hard to follow the Chipmunks at first, as they were
so very much smaller and could of course run like lightning along the
woody road. However, they would always stop and wait for Ready very
politely, and several times when they found some nuts under a hickory
tree he had to wait for them.
Everything went on pretty well until they reached a funny little cabin
in the wood. Here a dark little creature jumped off the roof and
whispered “Peanut Butter!” Then he was off again as quick as a wink.
“Peanut Butter! Peanut Butter!” chattered all the Chipmunks, and ran
after the darting little figure. Up they jumped on the roof and in a
moment were out of sight.
[Illustration: He knew that chipmunks love peanut butter]
What was poor little Ready to do? This delay might upset all his
plans. Perhaps they would forget to come back altogether. He knew that
Chipmunks love peanut butter, because he had heard a Chipmunk that very
evening boasting between dances of stealing into a Boy Scout’s tent and
prying open the lid of a peanut butter jar.
Ready thought and thought, and finally decided to go around to the
cabin door and give quite politely three little barks. They would mean,
of course, “Ready, Ready, Ready.”
At first there was no answer to his call. Then he barked again a little
louder. This time he said, “Please, _please_, come.”
At this, somebody in the house jumped out of bed, and stamping to the
window called out, “Get away, little beast of a dog!”
Then Ready heard the peanut butter can fall to the floor with a bang;
and suddenly out ran the Chipmunks, their coats flying behind them.
[Illustration: Out ran the chipmunks]
So fast did they run that they did not see Ready at all until they were
about one hundred yards away from the house. As soon as they really
came to themselves and saw Ready, they cocked their little heads on
one side and pointed their paws towards a little figure vanishing in
the distance.
“He made us do it,” they chattered.
“It was only a few minutes,” one of them apologized.
“You needed a little rest,” another remarked.
Ready did feel a little put out by the delay, but he remembered that
after all they had offered to be his escorts and had only lost their
heads for a few minutes. Had not he too once lost his head?
So he only wagged politely when he might have said, “If it were not for
my barking, you would still be eating that peanut butter.”
Then they all started on again. To tell the truth, the Chipmunks
really felt ashamed of themselves and thought that Ready was behaving
splendidly. You would know this by the little things they tried to do
for him.
[Illustration: “He made us do it,” they chattered]
Chippy, the oldest, actually kept waiting for him and once admired the
spots on his coat. Snippy, the youngest, offered to show him a place
where they all had some nuts stored for winter. Of course that was a
foolish offer to make to a dog, but Ready knew it was meant to be a
great attention, so he said at once, “I thank you very much, but think
I will not stop to-night, as it is growing quite late.”
They were getting near the end of the woods now and all was going
beautifully when a sudden flash of lightning was followed quickly by a
clap of thunder. Then came a downpour of rain, drenching everybody in
about two seconds.
There was nothing to do but take refuge in a hollow log near by.
That is to say, the Chipmunks went in, while Ready curled up under a
rhododendron bush which kindly acted as an umbrella.
At first the Chipmunks seemed to fuss a good deal, and complain about
being crowded. Ready remembered how much they loved to chatter, so he
barked, “Speech, speech, everyone make a speech!”
These words acted like magic. Such a jabbering never before was heard
from a hollow log.
Chippy recited a poem he had written about himself. Snippy told of an
adventure he had had with a gray squirrel, and as for Clippy, he just
squeaked and thrashed around, saying, “Here, here, nuts, nuts!”
It was all rather mixed up as you can guess, and sounded something like
this:
“I am great big Chippy,
My brother’s name is Snippy.”
“Here, here, nuts, nuts!”
“And the old gray squirrel put his tail in my face.”
“When something is the matter,
I’m always sure to chatter.”
“Nuts, nuts, here, here!”
“Then I jumped on the gray squirrel’s back,
Giving him a tremendous whack.”
By this time the rain had stopped and a tiny streak of light was coming
in the East. The Chipmunks suddenly ceased chattering. Ready pricked up
his ears. Everything in the world was very still. Far, far away in the
distance you could hear the birds beginning to wake up.
“Dawn is coming,” whispered Chippy, “and we are not yet out of the
woods.”
Without another word they were all scampering along the road. Ready had
never gone so fast in his life. On and on they went. It was a race with
the coming dawn.
Five minutes of wonderful animal running brought Ready to the edge of
the wood, and just as they reached the last oak tree, the beautiful
rose-colored light had come behind the purple hills.
[Illustration: Five minutes of wonderful animal running brought Ready
to the edge of the wood]
Ready whispered a “thank you” to the Chipmunks, and an invitation to
visit him for a week-end as soon as he found his master’s home. The
Chipmunks put their little heads to one side and then curtsied. They
are really quite polite little creatures when they remember to be.
They were gone before you could say “Jack Robinson,” and Ready was
left alone, waiting for his breakfast under the last oak tree in the
forest.
[Illustration: Waiting under the last oak tree]