CHEEKO IN DANGER
Mr. Bunny had paused in the midst of his story to laugh at the comical
situation as described by himself, with Mr. Turtle clinging for dear
life to Mr. Crow's leg, and the old bird screaming at the full
strength of his lungs for help, while 'Squire Owl darted here and
there blindly, growing more and more angry as Cheeko Squirrel
continued to say disagreeable things.
"You see what made it altogether too funny was the way the 'Squire
raved because he couldn't find Cheeko," Bunny continued as he wiped
away with his ears the tears which had been caused by mirth. "If
Cheeko only had a bit more sense, he wouldn't have carried on quite so
bad, for he must have realized that the 'Squire would lay it up
against him; but all he thought of at the time was the fun, and the
way he talked to that old bird was something dreadful.
"Now you must remember that Mr. Crow didn't hold his tongue all this
time, but kept on shouting for help until you would have thought he
was afraid of his life, and we couldn't hear very much of what Mr.
Turtle was trying to say. Cheeko didn't have time to pay attention to
any one except 'Squire Owl, and danced from one branch to another
screaming and chattering until, suddenly, down darted Professor Hawk
with his mouth wide open.
"Oh me, oh my, how that squirrel did hustle! If the Professor had once
got a grip on him, it was good-bye Cheeko, and nobody knew that better
than Master Cheeko himself. He gave one leap for a lot of thorn bushes
which grew near the old oak tree as if somebody had put them there for
the especial benefit of us members of the fur section, and it seemed
to me as if he alighted a good fifty feet from where he started. He
must have torn his coat in more than one place, for when a fellow
jumps like that he can't pick out just the right spot for stopping, as
I know to my sorrow when I've been trying to give Mr. Fox the slip.
"Of course, Professor Hawk didn't stand any chance of getting at him
once he was among the thorns, and he would have sailed off in a huff,
but that the 'Squire shouted for him to stop. Then he came back to the
angry old owl, and the two whispered together a long time without
paying the least little bit of attention to poor Jimmy Crow. I knew
the big fellows were hatching up some kind of plan to get the best of
Cheeko, and at the first good chance I told him the wisest course for
him was to get as far from Crow's Corner as his legs would carry him
between then and sunset.
"It isn't of very much use to give Cheeko advice, for he always thinks
he knows better than any one else, and this time, instead of thanking
me for taking the trouble to find him among all those thorns, he said
as pertly as any sparrow you ever heard:
"'I want you to understand, Bunny Rabbit, that I'm not afraid of those
two old fogies--no, nor of all their families. I've taken care of
myself in these woods a good many years, and I'm not to be scared by
an old owl now.'
"'It's better to be scared than eaten, Cheeko,' I said as I rubbed two
or three spots of blood from his coat, for it was in a shocking
condition by this time. 'You can't stay here among the thorns very
long, because Mr. Weasel is sure to hear all this row, and once he
gets on your trail you're a gone squirrel.'
"'He tried to run me down last fall; but I gave him the slip all
right,' Cheeko said quickly, puffing his chest way out because he was
mighty proud of escaping from the bloodthirsty Mr. Weasel.
"'It isn't likely that a squirrel could get away more than once after
Mr. Weasel had started for him,' I said, just a bit provoked because
Cheeko Squirrel thought himself so smart, and then I left him all
swelled up with pride, getting out from the bushes as Mr. Blue Jay
came along screaming with anger on account of the hubbub in the club
quarters where everything is usually conducted in the most seemly
manner.
"Mr. Jay is a wise bird, and you can make a note of that. Just as soon
as he saw that clay ball hanging to Mr. Crow's leg and understood what
was beneath all the mud, he knew exactly how to fix things; but it was
quite a while before he could make Mr. Crow and Mr. Turtle hear him,
which is saying a good deal when you come to understand what a loud
voice he has. After a while, however, he succeeded in making old
Jimmy hold his peace and then he said, as if he were the president of
the club instead of only a small-sized member:
"'You can't expect Mr. Turtle to tumble out of the tree just to please
you, James Crow, for he would break himself to pieces and besides, if
what Cock Robin tells me is true, he didn't come up here of his own
free will.'
"'I'm not saying he did,' Mr. Crow snapped out short as pie crust. 'He
took hold of my leg and I couldn't get here without him, and that's
why the miserable creature is making so much trouble.'
"'I'm not doing a thing,' Mr. Turtle said, speaking as if the tears
were just ready to run down his muddy cheeks. 'I'm too old to be
tumbling around like a jumping-jack and if anybody is making trouble
it's this wretched crow, who has put on more airs than a peacock since
the club was started.'
"'How did he get hold of Crow's leg in the first place?' Mr. Jay asked
as if he were a regular judge, and had a right to pry into other
people's business.
"Then poor old Slowly told the whole story, while Cheeko snickered
and screamed from his hiding place among the thorns, and, after Mr.
Jay had studied the whole thing over, he said, bristling up the
feathers on his head, 'There's only one fair thing for you to do,
James Crow: Take old Slowly back to the shore of the pond and then
he'll let go of your leg.'
"'But how will I get all this mud off my shell?' Mr. Turtle asked,
speaking quite distinctly for a fellow who had his mouth full of
crow's leg.
"'Soak yourself till it comes off,' Mr. Jay said with a laugh, and the
president of the club asked, as if he were in a good deal of pain:
"'Will you open your mouth if I carry you back to the pond? It's going
to be a dreadful job to fly such a distance with you hanging there;
but I'm willing to make the try if you'll agree that what Mr. Jay has
said will be the square thing.'
"Of course Mr. Turtle promised, for what else could he do while he was
up a tree so far, and all the members of the club who had come to
learn what was going on got out of the way to give Mr. Crow a fair
chance. It was a good deal like work to fly while his leg was being
pulled so badly; but he contrived to do it and, after watching until
he settled down at the edge of the pond, I began to look around for
Cheeko Squirrel.
"'Squire Owl and Professor Hawk had gone away, telling Mr. Porcupine
they were off for a picnic; but that didn't seem reasonable to me, for
the pair were not such very warm friends as all that, and I knew there
was trouble in store for Cheeko if he didn't watch out a good deal
sharper than I ever knew of his doing.
"I just wish you could have seen that squirrel when I found him
sitting at the front door of Sonny Hedgehog's hole, ready to get under
cover at the first sign of danger! Do you know, he really believed he
had tired out the 'Squire and that there wasn't any danger he could
come to harm!
"'You won't find me in a pickle, no matter how long you hunt,' he
said, shaking his tail till it really made me seasick. 'I'd like to
see the owl, or the hawk, for that matter, that I couldn't fool when I
laid myself right out to do the job. They've run things their own way
so long around here that they think everybody else must get off the
earth when they say the word. I'll show 'em what an up-to-date
squirrel can do.'
"'You'll be showing nothing mighty soon, Cheeko, if you don't take a
tumble to yourself,' I said, and I couldn't help speaking a bit short,
for it provoked me terribly to see him throwing out his chest as if he
were second cousin to Senator Bear. 'You're letting the 'Squire and
Professor Hawk shut your eye, that's what's the matter! I'm telling
you that those two have had their heads together to your harm, and
you'll soon know what they were talking about if you keep the idea in
your head that you're the biggest little animal in the woods. Take my
advice and get away from Crow's Corner for a while. There are some
nice ears of corn over on Mr. Man's place now and it would be a
pleasant little vacation to go there for a few days until this matter
simmers down a bit.'
"'Do you suppose I'm going to let those old birds think I'm afraid of
them?' Cheeko asked, bold as brass, and it was no use for me to try to
keep my temper within bounds any longer.
"'Of course you're afraid of them!' I cried. 'It only proves that
you've fallen in love with yourself, when you talk like that, and I'm
not going to waste any more time on you.'
"'Nobody asked you for your time, you long-eared, bob-tailed old
fraud!' Cheeko said, swinging his tail in the most impudent manner
imaginable, and I hopped off, determined that I'd never raise a paw in
his behalf, no matter how much trouble he might be in; but, of course,
when it seemed certain he'd be made over into a pie, as I'm going to
tell you about, I quite forgot that he had insulted me when I was
trying to do him a favor.
"I left him at the door of Sonny Hedgehog's home and went down toward
the pond to see what luck poor old Slowly had in scraping the mud off
his shell; but before reaching there whom should I come across but the
'Squire and the Professor hunting for nuts. Now you know as well as I
do that there isn't a member of either the Owl or the Hawk family who
has a hankering for nuts. Of course there was some mischief in the
wind and I had a pretty good idea that Cheeko was the particular nut
they were looking for, so I hid behind a lot of ferns till I'd got at
the root of their scheme.
"It was too early in the season to find nuts on the ground; but they
didn't come to realize that until after searching around among the
leaves a long while and then the Professor flew into the top of the
walnut tree, where he nipped off two or three. Then he came down to
where the 'Squire was waiting for him and said with a chuckle:
"'Just as soon as that fool crow gets back, all the members of the
club will gather near the oak tree to hear what he has to say about
the mix-up with Slowly Turtle. Of course Cheeko will be there too, for
there is nothing going on around these woods that he doesn't try to
have a paw in. We'll put the nuts where he'll see them, and you shall
get in the shade where the sun won't hurt your eyes. Then, if he isn't
your meat, I'll agree to furnish the dinners to-morrow.'
"The idea of two big bullies taking so much time to get the best of
one little squirrel! I forgot all about Cheeko's impudence to me and,
instead of looking after old Mr. Turtle, I scuttled back through the
bushes to watch the villains while they laid their trap."