SAMMY JAY CALLS FARMER BROWN’S BOY
In danger there is good excuse
For putting any tongue to use.
_Little Joe Otter._
The foolish little Otter, who hadn’t minded his father and mother but
had remained behind on the bank of the little pool in the Laughing
Brook, didn’t have time to even squeal before Old Man Coyote had him.
Old Man Coyote didn’t kill him at once, as he might have done with one
crunch of his great jaws. He wanted to play with him a little first.
Now, though Old Man Coyote thought that no one saw him, some one did. It
was Sammy Jay. Sammy had been following the Otter family, keeping very
still and taking the greatest pains to keep out of sight himself. You
see, he was very much interested in those Otter children and he thought
it great fun to watch them having their first lessons in fishing. So he
was right where he could see perfectly what happened. The instant Old
Man Coyote sprang from his hiding-place Sammy knew that the little Otter
hadn’t a chance in the world unless he could do something. Right away he
remembered Farmer Brown’s boy fishing just a little farther down the
Laughing Brook. “Perhaps,” thought Sammy, “if I scream loud enough and
long enough, he will come to see what all the fuss is about.”
So Sammy opened his mouth and began to scream at the top of his lungs.
“Thief! Thief! Thief!” he screamed, flying down just over Old Man
Coyote’s head.
Old Man Coyote looked up and snarled angrily. “Stop your noise!” he
snapped. “This is none of your business.”
“Thief! Thief! Thief!” screamed Sammy louder than ever.
Now the very instant that Sammy began to scream Little Joe Otter and
Mrs. Joe, who were just around a turn in the Laughing Brook, knew that
an enemy was near. For the first time they missed the little Otter who
had remained behind. Little Joe didn’t wait a second. He started back as
fast as he could swim, which is very fast indeed. Mrs. Joe followed as
soon as she had seen that the other little Otter was in a safe
hiding-place.
Old Man Coyote was still snarling at Sammy Jay when he saw Little Joe
coming, and behind him Mrs. Joe. He knew then that he was to have a
fight, but he had no intention of giving up that little Otter. He backed
away, dragging the little Otter with him and showing all his great teeth
in ugly snarls. Meanwhile Sammy Jay kept up his screaming. Of course
Farmer Brown’s boy heard it. He stopped fishing to listen. He knows the
ways of Sammy Jay, does Farmer Brown’s boy.
“Something going on back there,” he muttered. “Wonder what it is. Sammy
doesn’t scream like that unless he is terribly excited. Guess I’ll have
to see what it all means.”
He laid his rod down, leaving the bait in the water. Very carefully he
tiptoed back to where Sammy was making such a racket. He was just in
time to see Little Joe and Mrs. Joe rushing at Old Man Coyote, who was
growling and snarling, while with his two fore feet he held down the
whimpering little Otter. Farmer Brown’s boy didn’t stop to think. He
just opened his mouth and yelled. Then picking up a stick he rushed
forward.
Old Man Coyote didn’t wait for him to get there. At the sound of that
yell he jumped as if he had been shot. Then he turned and vanished like
a shadow in the brush. Little Joe Otter and Mrs. Joe had been almost as
much frightened as Old Man Coyote, and they ran too. But they didn’t run
far. Oh, my, no! Their love was too strong for that. They dived into the
little pool, but almost at once their brown heads appeared again, as
they turned to see what new danger threatened their darling.
As for the latter, he was too badly frightened to move. He growled
feebly in a very frightened way as Farmer Brown’s boy picked him up.
“You poor little thing,” said Farmer Brown’s boy gently. “I wouldn’t
hurt you for the world.”
But the little Otter couldn’t understand a word and just shivered with
fear. At first Farmer Brown’s boy thought that he would take the little
fellow home for a pet. Then he looked down into the little pool straight
into the eyes of Mrs. Joe, and he saw there such a look of anxious love
and longing that he marched straight down to the edge of the water and
gently put his little captive in it. Then he laughed and the laugh was
good to hear as the little fellow dived and swam out to join his parents
as fast as ever he could, and all three promptly disappeared. When he
got back to where he had left his rod something was tugging at the line.
It was the biggest trout he ever had caught.