Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the
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THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY CHUCK
THE BEDTIME STORY BOOKS
By Thornton W. Burgess
Author of “Old Mother West Wind,” “The Adventures of Reddy Fox,” etc.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. GENTLE SISTER SOUTH WIND ARRIVES
II. JOHNNY CHUCK RECEIVES CALLERS
III. THE SINGERS OF THE SMILING POOL
IV. JOHNNY CHUCK FINDS OUT WHO THE SWEET SINGERS ARE
V. JOHNNY CHUCK BECOMES DISSATISFIED
VI. JOHNNY CHUCK TURNS TRAMP
VII. JOHNNY'S FIRST ADTENTURE
VIII. JOHNNY HAS ANOTHER ADVENTURE
IX. ANOTHER STRANGE CHUCK
X. WHY JOHNNY CHUCK DIDN'T FIGHT
XI. THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD
XII. JOHNNY CHUCK PROVES HIS LOVE
XIII. POLLY AND JOHNNY CHUCK GO HOUSE HUNTING
XIV. A NEW HOME AT LAST
XV. SAMMY JAY FINDS THE NEW HOME
XVI. SAMMY JAY PLANS MISCHIEF
XVII. MORE MISCHIEF
XVIII. FARMER BROWN'S BOY MAKES A DISCOVERY
XIX. JOHNNY CHUCK'S PRIDE
XX. SAMMY JAY UNDERSTANDS
XXI. SAMMY JAY HAS A CHANGE OF HEART
XXII. JOHNNY CHUCK IS KEPT BUSY
XXIII. THE SCHOOL IN THE OLD ORCHARD
XXIV. SAMMY JAY PROVES THAT HE IS NOT ALL BAD
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (not available in this file)
JOHNNY CHUCK BADE CHATTERER GOOD-BY AND STARTED ON Frontispiece
“IS IT REALLY AND TRULY YOU, JOHNNY CHUCK?” HE CRIED
“HO, HO, HO! THAT'S THE BEST JOKE THIS SPRING!” SHOUTED JERRY MUSKRAT
WITH A SQUEAL OF RAGE, JOHNNY SPRANG AT THE GRAY OLD CHUCK
IF POLLY WANTED TO LIVE THERE SHE SHOULD
“HAVE YOU CALLED ON JOHNNY CHUCK AT HIS NEW HOME YET?” ASKED SAMMY JAY
I. GENTLE SISTER SOUTH WIND ARRIVES
“Good news, good news for every one, above or down below, For Master
Winsome Bluebird's come to whistle off the snow!”
All the Green Meadows and all the Green Forest had heard the news. Peter
Rabbit had seen to that. And just as soon as each of the little meadow
and forest folks heard it, he hurried out to listen for himself and
make sure that it was true. And each, when he heard that sweet voice of
Winsome Bluebird, had kicked up his heels and shouted “Hurrah!”
You see they all knew that Winsome Bluebird never is very far ahead of
gentle Sister South Wind, and that when she arrives, blustering, rough
Brother North Wind is already on his way back to the cold, cold land
where the ice never melts.
Of course Winsome Bluebird doesn't really whistle off the snow, but
after he comes, the snow disappears so fast that it seems as if he did.
It is surprising what a difference a little good news makes. Of course
nothing had really changed that first day when Winsome Bluebird's
whistle was heard on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest, but it
seemed as if everything had changed. And it was all because that sweet
whistle was a promise, a promise that every one knew would come true.
And so there was joy in all the hearts on the Green Meadows and in the
Green Forest. Even grim old Granny Fox felt it, and as for Reddy Fox,
why, Reddy even shouted good-naturedly to Peter Rabbit and hoped he was
feeling well.
And then gentle Sister South Wind arrived. She came in the night, and in
the morning there she was, hard at work making the Green Meadows and the
Green Forest ready for Mistress Spring. She broke the icy bands that had
bound the Smiling Pool and the Laughing Brook so long; and the Smiling
Pool began to smile once more, and the Laughing Brook to gurgle and then
to laugh and finally to sing merrily.
She touched the little banks of snow that remained, and straightway
they melted and disappeared. She kissed the eight babies of Unc' Billy
Possum, and they kicked off the bedclothes under which old Mrs. Possum
had tucked them and scrambled out of the big hollow tree to play.
She peeped in at the door of Johnny Chuck and called softly, and Johnny
Chuck awoke from his long sleep and yawned and began to think about
getting up. She knocked at the door of Digger the Badger, and Digger
awoke. She tickled the nose of Striped Chipmunk, who was about half
awake, and Striped Chipmunk sneezed and then he hopped out of bed
and hurried up to his doorway to shout good morning after her, as she
hurried over to see if Bobby Coon was still sleeping.
Peter Rabbit followed her about. He couldn't understand it at all. Peter
had smiled to himself when he heard how softly she had called at the
doorway of Johnny Chuck's house, for many and many a time during the
long winter Peter had stopped at Johnny Chuck's house and shouted down
the long hall at the top of his voice without once waking Johnny Chuck.
Now Peter nearly tumbled over with surprise, as he heard Johnny Chuck
yawn at the first low call of gentle Sister South Wind.
“How does she do it? I don't understand it at all,” said Peter, as he
scratched his long left ear with his long left hind leg.
Gentle Sister South Wind smiled at Peter. “There are a lot of things in
this world that you will never understand, Peter Rabbit. You will just
have to believe them without understanding them and be content to know
that they are so,” she said, and hurried over to the Green Forest to
tell Unc' Billy Possum that his old friend, Ol' Mistah Buzzard, was on
his way up from ol' Virginny.
II. JOHNNY CHUCK RECEIVES CALLERS
The morning after gentle Sister South Wind arrived on the Green Meadows,
Peter Rabbit came hopping and skipping down the Lone Little Path from
the Green Forest. Peter was happy. He didn't know why. He just was
happy. It was in the air. Everybody else seemed happy, too. Peter had
to stop every few minutes just to kick up his heels and try to jump over
his own shadow. He had felt just that way ever since gentle Sister South
Wind arrived.
“I simply have to kick and dance!
I cannot help but gaily prance!
Somehow I feel it in my toes
Whenever gentle South Wind blows.”
So sang Peter Rabbit as he hopped and skipped down the Lone Little Path.
Suddenly he stopped right in the middle of the verse. He sat up very
straight and stared down at Johnny Chuck's house. Some one was sitting
on Johnny Chuck's door-step. It looked like Johnny Chuck. No, it looked
like the shadow of Johnny Chuck. Peter rubbed his eyes and looked again.
Then he hurried as fast as he could, lipperty-lipperty-lip. The nearer
he got, the less like Johnny Chuck looked the one sitting on Johnny
Chuck's door-step. Johnny Chuck had gone to sleep round and fat and
roly-poly, so fat he could hardly waddle. This fellow was thin, even
thinner than Peter Rabbit himself. He waved a thin hand to Peter.
“Hello, Peter Rabbit! I told you that I would see you in the spring. How
did you stand the long winter?”
That certainly was Johnny Chuck's voice. Peter was so delighted that in
his hurry he fell over his own feet. “Is it really and truly you, Johnny
Chuck?” he cried.
“Of course it's me; who did you think it was?” replied Johnny Chuck
rather crossly, for Peter was staring at him as if he had never seen him
before.
“I--I--I didn't know,” confessed Peter Rabbit. “I thought it was you and
I thought it wasn't you. What have you been doing to yourself, Johnny
Chuck? Your coat looks three sizes too big for you, and when I last saw
you it didn't look big enough.” Peter hopped all around Johnny Chuck,
looking at him as if he didn't believe his own eyes.
{Illustration: “Is it really and truly you, Johnny Chuck?” he cried.}
“Oh, Johnny's all right. He's just been living on his own fat,” said
another voice. It was Jimmy Skunk who had spoken, and he now stood
holding out his hand to Johnny Chuck and grinning good-naturedly. He had
come up without either of the others seeing him.
Peter's big eyes opened wider than ever. “Do you mean to say that he has
been eating his own fat?” he gasped.
Johnny Chuck and Jimmy Skunk both laughed. “No,” said Jimmy Skunk, “he
didn't eat it, but he lived on it just the same while he was asleep all
winter. Don't you see he hasn't got a particle of fat on him now?”
“But how could he live on it, if he didn't eat it?” asked Peter, staring
at Johnny Chuck as if he had never seen him before.
Jimmy Skunk shrugged his shoulders. “Don't ask me. That is one of Old
Mother Nature's secrets; you'll have to ask her,” he replied.
“And don't ask me,” said Johnny Chuck, “for I've been asleep all the
time. My, but I'm hungry!”
“So am I!” said another voice. There was Reddy Fox grinning at them.
Johnny Chuck dove into the doorway of his house with Peter Rabbit at his
heels, for there was nowhere else to go. Jimmy Skunk just stood still
and chuckled. He knew that Reddy Fox didn't dare touch him.
III. THE SINGERS OF THE SMILING POOL
Mistress Spring was making everybody happy on the Green Meadows and in
the Green Forest and around the Smiling Pool. With her gentle fingers
she wakened one by one all the little sleepers who had spent the long
winter dreaming of warm summer days and not knowing anything at all of
rough, blustering Brother North Wind or Jack Frost. As they wakened,
many began to sing for joy. But the clearest, loudest singers of all
lived in the Smiling Pool.
It was a long time before Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck knew where they
lived. Every night just before going to bed, Johnny Chuck would sit on
his door-step just to listen, and as he listened somehow he felt better
and happier; and he always had pleasant dreams after listening to the
sweet singers of the Smiling Pool. Even after he had curled himself up
for the night deep down in his snug bedroom, he could hear those sweet
voices, and whenever he waked up in the night he would hear them.
“Spring! Spring! Spring! Spring!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Spring!
So gentle, so loving, so sweet and so fair!
Oh, who can be cross when there's love in the air?
Be happy! Be joyful! And join in our song
And help us to send the glad tidings along!
Spring! Spring! Spring! Spring!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Spring!”
When Johnny Chuck had first heard them, he had looked in all the
tree-tops for the singers, but not one could he see. Then he had thought
that they must be hidden in the bushes; but when he went to look, he
found that the sweet singers were not there. It was very mysterious.
Finally he asked Peter Rabbit if he knew who the sweet singers were and
where they were. Peter didn't know, but he was willing to try to find
out. Peter is always willing to try to find out about things he doesn't
already know about. So Johnny Chuck and Peter Rabbit started out to find
the sweet singers.
“I believe they are down in the old bulrushes around the Smiling Pool,”
said Peter Rabbit, as he stood listening with a hand behind one long
ear.
So over to the Smiling Pool they hurried. The nearer they got, the
louder became the voices singing:
“Spring! Spring! Spring! Spring!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Spring!”
But look as they would, they couldn't see a single singer among the
brown bulrushes. It was very strange, very strange indeed! It seemed as
if the voices came right out of the Smiling Pool itself!
When Peter Rabbit made a little noise, as he hopped out on the bank
where he could look all over the Smiling Pool, the singing stopped.
After he had sat perfectly still for a little while, it began again.
There was no doubt about it this time; those voices came right out of
the water.
Johnny Chuck stared at Peter Rabbit, and Peter stared at Johnny Chuck.
Nobody was to be seen in the Smiling Pool, and yet there were those
voices--oh, so many of them--coming right out of the water.
“How can birds stay under water and still sing?” asked Johnny Chuck.
“Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!”
Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck whirled around, to find Jerry Muskrat
peeping up at them from a hole in the bank almost under their feet.
{Illustration: “Ho, ho, ho! That's the best joke this spring!” shouted
Jerry Muskrat.}
“Ho, ho, ho! That's the best joke this spring!” shouted Jerry Muskrat,
and laughed until he had to hold his sides. “Birds under water! Ho, ho,
ho!”
IV. JOHNNY CHUCK FINDS OUT WHO THE SWEET SINGERS ARE
Johnny Chuck couldn't keep away from the Smiling Pool. No, Sir, Johnny
Chuck couldn't keep away from the Smiling Pool. Ever since he and Peter
Rabbit had gone over there looking for the sweet singers, who every
night and part of the day told all who would listen how glad they were
that Mistress Spring had come to the Green Meadows and the Green Forest,
Johnny Chuck had had something on his mind. And this is why he couldn't
keep away from the Smiling Pool.
You see it was this way: Johnny and Peter had thought that of course the
sweet singers were birds. They hadn't dreamed of anything else. So of
course they went looking for birds. When they reached the Smiling Pool,
the voices came right out of the water. Johnny knew that some birds,
like many of the cousins of Mrs. Quack, can stay under water a long
time, and so he didn't know but some other birds might.
Jerry Muskrat was always watching for Johnny, whenever he came to the
Smiling Pool, and his eyes would twinkle as he would gravely say:
“Hello, Johnny Chuck! Have you seen the birds sing under water yet?”
Johnny would smile good-naturedly and reply: “Not yet, Jerry Muskrat.
Won't you point them out to me?”
Then Jerry would reply:
“Two eyes you have, bright as can be;
Perhaps some day you'll learn to see.”
Then Johnny Chuck would sit as still as ever he knew how, and watch and
watch the Smiling Pool, but not a bird did he see in the water, though
the singers were still there. One day a sudden thought popped into his
head. Perhaps those singers were not birds at all! Why hadn't he thought
of that before? Perhaps it was because he was looking so hard for
birds that he hadn't seen anything else. Johnny began to look, not for
anything in particular, but to see everything that he could.
Almost right away he saw some tiny little dark spots on the water. They
didn't look like much of anything. They were so small that he hadn't
noticed them before. One of them was quite close to him, and as Johnny
Chuck looked at it, it began to look like a tiny nose, and then--why,
just then, Johnny was very sure that one of those singing voices came
right from that very spot!
He was so surprised that he hopped to his feet and excitedly beckoned
to Jerry Muskrat. The instant he did that, the voices near him stopped
singing, and the little spots on the water disappeared, leaving just the
tiniest of little rings, just such tiny little rings as drops of rain
falling on the Smiling Pool would make. And when that tiny spot nearest
to him that looked like a tiny nose disappeared, Johnny Chuck caught
just a glimpse of a little form under the water.
“Why--why-e-e! The singers are Grandfather Frog's children!” cried
Johnny Chuck.
“No, they're not, but they are own cousins to them; they are the
grandchildren of old Mr. Tree Toad! and they are called Hylas!” said
Jerry Muskrat, laughing and rubbing his hands in great glee. “I told you
that if you used your eyes, you'd learn to see.”
“My, but they've got voices bigger than they are!” said Johnny Chuck,
as he started home across the Green Meadows. “I'm glad I know who the
singers of the Smiling Pool are, and I mustn't forget their name--Hylas.
What a funny name!” But Farmer Brown's boy, listening to their song that
evening, didn't call them Hylas. He said: “Hear the peepers! Spring is
surely here.”
V. JOHNNY CHUCK BECOMES DISSATISFIED
Johnny Chuck was unhappy. Here it was the glad springtime, when
everybody is supposed to be the very happiest, and Johnny Chuck was
unhappy. Why was he unhappy? Well, he hardly knew himself. He had slept
comfortably all the long winter. He had awakened very, very hungry, but
now he had plenty to eat. All about him the birds were singing or busily
at work building new homes. And still Johnny Chuck felt unhappy. It was
dreadful to feel this way and not have any good reason for it.
One bright morning Johnny Chuck sat on his door-step watching Drummer
the Woodpecker building a new home in the old apple-tree. Drummer's red
head flew back and forth, back and forth, and his sharp bill cut out
tiny bits of wood. It was slow work; it was hard work. But Drummer
seemed happy, very happy indeed. It was watching Drummer that started
Johnny Chuck to thinking about his own home. He had always thought it a
very nice home. He had built it just as he wanted it. From the doorstep
he could look in all directions over the Green Meadows. It had a front
door and a hidden back door. Yes, it was a very nice home indeed.
But now, all of a sudden, Johnny Chuck became dissatisfied with his
home. It was too near the Lone Little Path. Too many people knew where
it was. It wasn't big enough. The front door ought to face the other
way. Dear me, what a surprising lot of faults a discontented heart can
find with things that have always been just right! It was so with Johnny
Chuck. That house in which he had spent so many happy days, which had
protected him from all harm, of which he had been so proud when he first
built it, was now the meanest house in the world. If other people had
new houses, why shouldn't he? The more he thought about it, the more
dissatisfied and discontented he became and of course the more unhappy.
You know one cannot be dissatisfied and discontented and happy at the
same time.
Now dissatisfied and discontented people are not at all pleasant to have
around. Johnny Chuck had always been one of the best natured of all the
little meadow people, and everybody liked him. So Jimmy Skunk didn't
know quite what to make of it, when he came down the Lone Little Path
and found Johnny Chuck so out of sorts that he wouldn't even answer when
spoken to.
Jimmy Skunk was feeling very good-natured himself. He had just had a
fine breakfast of fat beetles and he was at peace with all the world.
So he sat down beside Johnny Chuck and began to talk, just as if Johnny
Chuck was his usual good-natured self.
“It's a fine day,” said Jimmy Skunk.
Johnny Chuck just sniffed.
“You're looking very fine,” said Jimmy.
Johnny just scowled.
“I think you've got the best place on the Green Meadows for a house,”
said Jimmy, pretending to admire the view.
Johnny scowled harder than ever.
“And such a splendid house!” said Jimmy. “I wish I had one like it.”
“I'm glad you like it! You can have the old thing!” snapped Johnny
Chuck.
“What's that?” demanded Jimmy Skunk, opening his eyes very wide.
“I said that you can have it. I'm going to move,” replied Johnny Chuck.
Now he really hadn't thought of moving until that very minute. And he
didn't know why he had said it. But he had said it, and because he is an
obstinate little fellow he stuck to it.
“When can I move in?” asked Jimmy Skunk, his eyes twinkling.
“Right away, if you want to,” replied Johnny Chuck, and swaggered off
down the Lone Little Path, leaving Jimmy Skunk to stare after him as if
he thought Johnny Chuck had suddenly gone crazy, as indeed he did.
VI. JOHNNY CHUCK TURNS TRAMP
Johnny Chuck had turned tramp. Yes, Sir, Johnny Chuck had turned tramp.
It was a funny thing to do, but he had done it. He didn't know why he
had done it, excepting that he had become dissatisfied and discontented
and unhappy in his old home. And then, almost without thinking what he
was doing, he had told Jimmy Skunk that he could have the house he had
worked so hard to build the summer before and of which he had been so
proud. Then Johnny Chuck had swaggered away down the Lone Little Path
without once looking back at the home he was leaving.
Where was he going? Well, to tell the truth, Johnny didn't know. He was
going to see the world, and perhaps when he had seen the world, he would
build him a new house. So as long as he was in sight of Jimmy Skunk, he
swaggered along quite as if he was used to traveling about, without any
snug house to go to at night. But right down in his heart Johnny Chuck
didn't feel half so bold as he pretended.
You see, not since he was a little Chuck and had run away from old
Mother Chuck with Peter Rabbit, had he ever been very far from his own
door-step. He had always been content to grow fat and roly-poly right
near his own home, and listen to the tales of the great world from Jimmy
Skunk and Peter Rabbit and Bobby Coon and Unc' Billy Possum, all of whom
are great travelers.
But now, here he was, actually setting forth, and without a home to come
back to! You see, he had made up his mind that no matter what happened,
he wouldn't come back, after having given his house to Jimmy Skunk.
When he had reached a place where he thought Jimmy Skunk couldn't see
him, Johnny Chuck turned and looked back, and a queer little feeling
seemed to make a lump that filled his throat and choked him. The fact
is, Johnny Chuck already began to feel homesick. But he swallowed very
hard and tried to make himself think that he was having a splendid time.
He stopped looking back and started on, and as he tramped along, he
tried to sing a song he had once heard Jimmy Skunk sing:
“The world may stretch full far and wide--
What matters that to me?
I'll tramp it up; I'll tramp it down!
For I am bold and free.”
It was a very brave little song, but Johnny Chuck didn't feel half so
brave and bold as he tried to think he did. Already he was beginning to
wonder where he should spend the night. Then he thought of old Whitetail
the Marshhawk, who had given him such a fright and had so nearly caught
him when he was a little fellow. The thought made him look around
hastily, and there was old Whitetail himself, sailing back and forth
hungrily just ahead of him. A great fear took possession of Johnny
Chuck, and he made himself as flat as possible in the grass, for there
was no place to hide. He made up his mind that anyway he would fight.
Nearer and nearer came old Whitetail! Finally he passed right over
Johnny Chuck. But he didn't offer to touch him. Indeed, it seemed to
Johnny that old Whitetail actually grinned and winked at him. And right
then all his fear left him.
“Pooh!” said Johnny Chuck scornfully. “Who's afraid of him!” He suddenly
realized that he was no longer a helpless little Chuck who couldn't take
care of himself, but big and strong, with sharp teeth with which his old
enemy had no mind to make a closer acquaintance, when there were mice
and snakes to be caught without fighting. So he puffed out his chest and
went on, and actually began to enjoy himself, and almost wished for a
chance to show how big and strong he was.
VII. JOHNNY'S FIRST ADVENTURE
After old Whitetail the Marshhawk passed Johnny Chuck without offering
to touch him, Johnny began to feel very brave and bold and important. He
strutted and swaggered along as much as his short legs would let him.
He held his head very high. Already he felt that he had had an adventure
and he longed for more. He forgot the terrible lonesome feeling of a
little while before. He forgot that he had given away the only home he
had. He didn't know just why, but right down deep inside he had a sudden
feeling that he really didn't care a thing about that old home. In fact,
he felt as if he wouldn't care if he never had another home. Yes, Sir,
that is the way that Johnny Chuck felt. Do you know why? Just because he
had just begun to realize how big and strong he really was.
Now it is a splendid thing to feel big and strong and brave, a very
splendid thing! But it is a bad thing to let that feeling turn to pride,
foolish pride. Of course old Whitetail hadn't really been afraid of
Johnny Chuck. He had simply passed Johnny with a wink, because there
was plenty to eat without the trouble of fighting, and Whitetail doesn't
fight just for the fun of it.
But foolish Johnny Chuck really thought that old Whitetail was afraid of
him. The more he thought about it, the more tickled he felt and the more
puffed up he felt. He began to talk to himself and to brag. Yes, Sir,
Johnny Chuck began to brag:
“I'm not afraid of any one;
They're all afraid of me!
I only have to show my teeth
To make them turn and flee!”
“Pooh!” said a voice. “Pooh! It would take two like you to make me run
away!”
Johnny Chuck gave a startled jump. There was a strange Chuck glaring at
him from behind a little bunch of grass. He was a big, gray old Chuck
whom Johnny never had seen on the Green Meadows before, and he didn't
look the least bit afraid. No, Sir, he didn't look the teeniest,
weeniest bit afraid! Somehow, Johnny Chuck didn't feel half so big and
strong and brave as he had a few minutes before. But it wouldn't do to
let this stranger know it. Of course not! So, though he felt very small
inside, Johnny made all his hair bristle up and tried to look very
fierce.
“Who are you and what are you doing on my Green Meadows?” he demanded.
“Your Green Meadows! Your Green Meadows! Ho, ho, ho! Your Green
Meadows!” The stranger laughed an unpleasant laugh. “How long since you
owned the Green Meadows? I have just come down on to them from the Old
Pasture, and I like the looks of them so well that I think I will stay.
So run along, little boaster! There isn't room for both of us here, and
the sooner you trot along the better.” The stranger suddenly showed all
his teeth and gritted them unpleasantly.
Now when Johnny Chuck heard this, great anger filled his heart. A
stranger had ordered him to leave the Green Meadows where he had been
born and always lived! He could hardly believe his own ears. He, Johnny
Chuck, would show this stranger who was master here!
With a squeal of rage, Johnny sprang at the gray old Chuck. Then began
such a fight as the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind
had never seen before. They danced around excitedly and cried: “How
dreadful!” and hoped that Johnny Chuck would win, for you know they
loved him very much.
Over and over the two little fighters rolled, biting and scratching and
tearing and growling and snarling. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun hid
his face behind a cloud, so as not to see such a dreadful sight. The
stranger had been in many fights and he was very crafty. For a while
Johnny felt that he was getting the worst of it, and he began to wonder
if he really would have to leave the Green Meadows. The very thought
filled him with new rage and he fought harder than ever.
Now the stranger was old and his teeth were worn, while Johnny was young
and his teeth were very sharp. After a long, long time, Johnny felt the
stranger growing weaker. Johnny fought harder than ever. At last the
stranger cried “Enough!” and when he could break away, started back
towards the Old Pasture. Johnny Chuck had won!
VIII. JOHNNY HAS ANOTHER ADVENTURE
Johnny Chuck lay stretched out on the cool, soft grass of the Green
Meadows, panting for breath. He was very tired and very sore. His
face was scratched and bitten. His clothes were torn, and he smarted
dreadfully in a dozen places. But still Johnny Chuck was happy. When
he raised his head to look, he could see a gray old Chuck limping off
towards the Old Pasture. Once in a while the gray old Chuck would
turn his head and show his teeth, but he kept right on towards the Old
Pasture. Johnny Chuck smiled.
It had been a great fight, and more than once Johnny Chuck had thought
that he should have to give up. He thought of this now, and then he
thought with shame of how he had bragged and boasted just before the
fight. What if he had lost? He resolved that he would never again brag
or boast. But he also made up his mind that if any one should pick a
quarrel with him, he would show that he wasn't afraid.
It was getting late in the afternoon when Johnny finally felt rested
enough to go on. He had got to find a place to spend the night. He
hobbled along, for he was very stiff and sore, until he came to the edge
of the Green Meadows, where they meet the Green Forest.
Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun was almost ready to go down to his bed behind
the Purple Hills. Shadows were already beginning to creep through the
Green Forest. Somehow they gave Johnny Chuck that same lonesome feeling
that he had had when he first left his old home. You see he had always
lived out in the Green Meadows and somehow he was afraid of the Green
Forest in the night.
So, instead of going into the Green Forest, he wandered along the edge
of it, looking for a place in which to spend the night. At last he came
to a hollow log lying just out on the edge of the Green Meadows. Very
carefully Johnny Chuck examined it, to be sure that no one else was
using it.
“It's just the place I'm looking for!” he said aloud.
Just then there was a sharp hiss, a very fierce hiss. Johnny Chuck felt
the hair on his neck rise as it always did when he heard that hiss,
and he wasn't at all surprised, when he turned his head, to find Mr.
Blacksnake close by. Mr. Blacksnake glided swiftly up to the old log and
coiled himself in front of the opening. Then he raised his head and ran
out his tongue in the most impudent way.
“Run along, Johnny Chuck! I've decided to sleep here myself to-night!”
he said sharply.
Now when Johnny Chuck was a very little fellow, he had been in great
fear of Mr. Blacksnake, as he had had reason to be. And because he
didn't know any better, he had been afraid ever since. Mr. Blacksnake
knew this and so now he looked as ugly as he knew how. But you see he
didn't know about the great fight that Johnny Chuck had just won.
Now to win an honest fight always makes one feel very strong and very
sure of oneself. Johnny looked at Mr. Blacksnake and saw that Mr.
Blacksnake didn't look half as big as Johnny had always thought he did.
He made up his mind that as he had found the old log first, he had the
best right to it.
“I found it first and I'm going to keep it!” snapped Johnny Chuck,
and with every hair on end and gritting his teeth, he walked straight
towards Mr. Blacksnake.
Now Mr. Blacksnake is a great bluffer, while at heart he is really a
coward. With a fierce hiss he rushed right at Johnny Chuck, expecting
to see him turn tail and run. But Johnny stood his ground and showed all
his sharp teeth. Instead of attacking Johnny, Mr. Blacksnake glided past
him and sneaked away through the grass.
Johnny Chuck chuckled as he crept into the hollow log.
“Only a coward runs away without fighting,” he murmured sleepily.
IX. ANOTHER STRANGE CHUCK
Johnny Chuck awoke just as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun pulled his own
nightcap off. At first Johnny couldn't think where he was. He blinked
and blinked. Then he rolled over. “Ouch!” cried Johnny Chuck. You see he
was so stiff and sore from his great fight the day before, that it hurt
to roll over. But when he felt the smart of those wounds, he remembered
where he was. He was in the old hollow log that he had found on the edge
of the Green Meadows just before dark. It was the first time that Johnny
had ever slept anywhere, excepting underground, and as he lay blinking
his eyes, it seemed very strange and rather nice, too.
“Well, well, well! What are you doing here?” cried a sharp voice.
Johnny Chuck looked towards the open end of the old log. There, peeping
in, was a little face as sharp as the voice.
“Hello, Chatterer!” cried Johnny.
“I say, what are you doing here?” persisted Chatterer the Red Squirrel,
for it was he.
“Just waking up,” replied Johnny, with a grin.
“It's time,” replied Chatterer. “But that isn't telling me what you are
doing so far from home.”
“I haven't any home,” said Johnny, his face growing just a wee bit
wistful.
“You haven't any home!” Chatterer's voice sounded as if he didn't think
he had heard aright. “What have you done with it?”
“Given it to Jimmy Skunk,” replied Johnny Chuck.
Now Chatterer never gives anything to anybody, and how any one could
give away his home was more than he could understand. He stared at
Johnny as if he thought Johnny had gone crazy. Finally he found his
tongue. “I don't believe it!” he snapped. “If Jimmy Skunk has got your
old home, it's because he put you out of it.”
“No such thing! I'd like to see Jimmy Skunk or anybody else put me out
of my home!” Johnny Chuck spoke scornfully. “I gave it to him because
I didn't want it any longer. I'm going to see the world, and then I'm
going to build me a new home. Everybody else seems to be building new
homes this spring; why shouldn't I?”
“I'm not!” retorted Chatterer. “I know enough to know when I am well
off.
“Who has a discontented heart
Is sure to play a sorry part.”
Johnny Chuck crawled out of the old log and stretched himself somewhat
painfully. “That may be, but there are different kinds of discontent.
Who never looks for better things
Will live his life in little rings.
Well, I must be moving along, if I am to see the world.” So Johnny Chuck
bade Chatterer good-by and started on. It was very delightful to wander
over the Green Meadows on such a beautiful spring morning. The violets
and the wind-flowers nodded to him, and the dandelions smiled up at him.
Johnny almost forgot his torn clothes and the bites and scratches of his
great fight with the gray old Chuck the day before. It was fun to just
go where he pleased and not have a care in the world.
He was thinking of this, as he sat up to look over the Green Meadows.
His heart gave a great throb. What was that over near the lone elm-tree?
It was--yes, it certainly was another Chuck! Could it be the old gray
Chuck come back for another fight? A great anger filled the heart of
Johnny Chuck, and he whistled sharply. The strange Chuck didn't answer.
Johnny ground his teeth and started for the lone elm-tree. He would show
this other Chuck who was master of the Green Meadows!
X. WHY JOHNNY CHUCK DIDN'T FIGHT
Anger is an awful thing;
It never stops to reason.
It boils right over all at once,
No matter what the season.
It was so with Johnny Chuck. The minute he caught sight of the strange
Chuck over by the lone elm-tree, anger filled his heart and fairly
boiled over, until he was in a terrible rage. Of course it was foolish,
very foolish indeed. The strange Chuck hadn't said or done anything to
make Johnny Chuck angry, not the least thing in the world, excepting to
come down on to the Green Meadows. Now the Green Meadows are very broad,
and there is room for many Chucks. It was pure selfishness on the part
of Johnny Chuck to want to drive away every other Chuck.
But anger never stops to reason. It didn't now. Johnny Chuck hurried as
fast as his short legs could take him towards the lone elm-tree, and in
his mind was just one thought--to drive that strange Chuck off the Green
Meadows and to punish him so that he never, never would dare even think
of coming back. So great was Johnny's anger that every hair stood on
end, and as he ran he chattered and scolded.
“I'll fix him! These are my Green Meadows, and no one else has any
business here unless I say so! I'll fix him! I'll fix him!”
Then Johnny would grind his teeth, and in his eyes was the ugliest look.
He wasn't nice to see, not a bit nice. The Merry Little Breezes of Old
Mother West Wind didn't know what to make of him. Could this be the
Johnny Chuck they had known so long, the good-natured, happy Johnny
Chuck whom everybody loved? They drew away from him, for they didn't
want anything to do with any one in such a frightful temper. But Johnny
Chuck didn't even notice, and if he had he wouldn't have cared. That
is the trouble with anger. It crowds out everything else, when it once
fills the heart.
When Johnny had first seen the stranger, he had thought right away that
it was the old gray Chuck with whom he had had such a terrible fight the
day before and whom he whipped. Perhaps that was one reason for Johnny
Chuck's terrible anger now, for the old gray Chuck had tried to drive
Johnny Chuck off the Green Meadows.
But when he had to stop for breath and sat up to look again, he saw that
it wasn't the old gray Chuck at all. It was a younger Chuck and much
smaller than the old gray Chuck. It was smaller than Johnny himself.
“He'll be all the easier to whip,” muttered Johnny, as he started on
again, never once thinking of how unfair it would be to fight with one
smaller than himself. That was because he was so angry. Anger never is
fair.
Pretty soon he reached the lone elm-tree. The stranger wasn't to be
seen! No, Sir, the stranger wasn't anywhere in sight. Johnny Chuck sat
up and looked this way and looked that way, but the stranger was nowhere
in sight.
“Pooh!” said Johnny Chuck, “He's afraid to fight! He's a coward. But
he can't get away from me so easily. He's hiding, and I'll find him and
then---” Johnny didn't finish, but he ground his teeth, and it wasn't a
pleasant sound to hear.
So Johnny Chuck hunted for the stranger, and the longer he hunted the
angrier he grew. Somehow the stranger managed to keep out of his
sight. He was almost ready to give up, when he almost stumbled over the
stranger, hiding in a little clump of bushes. And then a funny thing
happened. What do you think it was?
Why, all the anger left Johnny Chuck. His hair no longer stood on end.
He didn't know why, but all of a sudden he felt foolish, very foolish
indeed.
“Who are you?” he demanded gruffly.
“I--I'm Polly Chuck,” replied the stranger, in a small, timid voice.
XI. THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD
Johnny Chuck had begun to think about his clothes. Yes, Sir, he spent a
whole lot of time thinking about how he looked and wishing that he had
a handsomer coat. For the first time in all his life he began to envy
Reddy Fox, because of the beautiful red coat of which Reddy is so proud.
It seemed to Johnny that his own coat was so plain and so dull that no
one would look at it twice. Besides, it was torn now, because of the
great fight Johnny had had with the old gray Chuck who came down from
the Old Pasture. Johnny smoothed it down and brushed it carefully and
tried to make himself look as spick and span as he knew how.
“Oh, dear!” he sighed. “I don't see why Old Mother Nature didn't give me
as handsome a coat as she did Reddy Fox. And there are Jimmy Skunk
and Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel and--and--why, almost every one has a
handsomer coat than I have!” Now this wasn't at all like Johnny Chuck.
First he had been discontented with his house and had given it to Jimmy
Skunk. Now he was discontented with his clothes. What was coming over
Johnny Chuck? He really didn't know himself. At least, he wouldn't have
admitted that he knew. But right down deep in his heart was a great
desire--the desire to have Polly Chuck admire him. Yes, Sir, that is
what it was! And it seemed to him that she would admire him a great deal
more if he wore fine clothes. You see, he hadn't learned yet what Peter
Rabbit had learned a long time ago, which is that
Fine clothes but catch the passing eye;
Fine deeds win love from low and high.
So Johnny Chuck wished and wished that he had a handsome suit, but as he
didn't, and no amount of wishing would bring him one, he just made the
one he did have look as good as he could, and then went in search of
Polly Chuck.
Sometimes she would not notice him at all. Sometimes he would find her
shyly peeping at him from behind a clump of grass. Then Johnny Chuck
would try to make himself look very important, and would strut about as
if he really did own the Green Meadows.
Sometimes she would hide from him, and when he found her she would run
away. Other times she would be just as nice to him as she could be, and
they would have a jolly time hunting for sweet clover and other nice
things to eat. Then Johnny Chuck's heart would swell until it seemed to
him that it would fairly burst with happiness.
Instead of wanting to drive Polly Chuck away from the Green Meadows,
as he had the old gray Chuck, Johnny began to worry for fear that Polly
Chuck might not stay on the Green Meadows. Whenever he thought of that,
his heart would sink way, way down, and he would hurry to look for her
and make sure that she was still there.
When he was beside her, he felt very big and strong and brave and longed
for a chance to show her how brave he was. She was such a timid little
thing herself that the least little thing frightened her, and Johnny
Chuck was glad that this was so, for it gave him a chance to protect
her.
When he wasn't with her, he spent his time looking for new patches of
sweet clover to take her to. At first she wouldn't go without a great
deal of coaxing, but after a while he didn't have to coax at all. She
seemed to delight to be with him as much as he did to be with her.
So Johnny Chuck grew happier and happier. He was happier than he had
ever been in all his life before. You see Johnny Chuck had found the
greatest thing in the world. Do you know what it is? It is called love.
XII. JOHNNY CHUCK PROVES HIS LOVE
These spring days were beautiful days on the Green Meadows. It seemed
to Johnny Chuck that the Green Meadows never had been so lovely or the
songs of the birds so sweet. He had forgotten all about his old friends,
Jimmy Skunk and Peter Rabbit and the other little meadow people.
You see, he couldn't think of anybody but Polly Chuck, and he didn't
want to be with anybody but Polly Chuck. He had even forgotten that he
had started out to see the world. He didn't care anything more about
the world. All he wanted was to be where Polly Chuck was. Then he was
perfectly happy. That was because Johnny Chuck had found the greatest
thing in the world, which is love. But Johnny still had one great wish,
the wish that he might show Polly Chuck just how brave and strong he was
and how well he could take care of her.
One morning they were feasting in a patch of sweet clover over near an
old stone wall. It was the same stone wall in which Johnny Chuck had
escaped from old Whitetail the Marshhawk, when Johnny was a very little
fellow.
Suddenly Polly gave a little scream of fright. Johnny Chuck looked up to
see a dog almost upon her. Johnny's first thought was to run to the old
stone wall. He was nearer to it than Polly was. Then he saw that that
dreadful dog would catch Polly before she could reach the stone wall.
A great rage filled Johnny's heart, just as it had when he had fought
the old gray Chuck. Every hair stood on end, not with fear, but with
anger, and he sprang in front of Polly.
“Run, Polly, run!” he cried, and Polly ran.
But Johnny didn't run. Oh, my, no! Johnny didn't run. He drew himself
together ready to spring. He showed all his sharp teeth and ground them
savagely. Little sparks of fire seemed to snap out of his eyes. There
was no sign of fear in Johnny Chuck then, not the least little bit. Just
in front of him the dog stopped and barked. He was a little dog, a young
and foolish dog, and he was terribly excited. He barked until he almost
lost his breath. He didn't like the looks of Johnny Chuck's sharp teeth.
So he circled around Johnny, trying to get behind him. But Johnny turned
as the dog circled, and always the little dog found those sharp teeth
directly in front of him. He barked and barked, until it seemed as if he
would bark his head off.
Finally the little dog, who was young and foolish, grew tired of just
dancing around and barking. “Pooh!” said he to himself. “He's nothing
but a Chuck!” Then he stopped barking and sprang straight at Johnny with
an ugly growl.
Johnny Chuck was ready for him and he was quicker than the little dog.
His sharp teeth closed on one of the little dog's ears, and he held on
while with his stout claws he scratched and tore.
The little dog, who was young and foolish and hadn't yet learned how
to fight, couldn't get hold of Johnny Chuck anywhere. Then he tried to
shake Johnny Chuck off, but he couldn't, because Johnny held on to that
ear with his sharp teeth.
“Kiyi-yi-yi-yi!” yelled the little dog, for those teeth hurt dreadfully.
“Kiyi-yi-yi-yi!”
Over and over they rolled and tumbled, the little dog trying to get
away, and Johnny Chuck holding on to the little dog's ear. Finally
Johnny had to let go to get his breath. The little dog sprang to his
feet and started for home across the Green Meadows as fast as he could
run.
Johnny Chuck shook himself and grinned, as he heard the little dog's
“Kiyi-yi-yi” grow fainter and fainter. “I'm glad it wasn't Bowser the
Hound,” muttered Johnny Chuck, as he started towards the old stone wall.
There he found Polly Chuck peeping out at him, and all of a tremble with
fright.
“My, how brave you are!” said Polly Chuck.
“Pooh, that's nothing!” replied Johnny Chuck.
XIII. POLLY AND JOHNNY CHUCK GO HOUSE HUNTING
Johnny Chuck was happy. Yes, Sir, Johnny Chuck was happy--so happy that
he felt like doing foolish things. You see Johnny Chuck loved Polly
Chuck and he knew now that Polly Chuck loved him. He had known it
ever since he had fought with the foolish little dog who had dared to
frighten Polly Chuck.
After the fight was over, and the little dog had been sent home
kiyi-yi-ing, Polly Chuck had crept out of the old stone wall where she
had been hiding and snuggled up beside Johnny Chuck and looked at him
as if she thought him the most wonderful Chuck in all the world, as,
indeed, she did. And Johnny had felt his heart swell and swell with
happiness until it almost choked him.
So now once more Johnny Chuck began to think of a new home. He had
forgotten all about seeing the world. All he wanted now was a new house,
built just so, with a front door and a hidden back door, and big enough
for two, for no more would Johnny Chuck live alone. So, with shy little
Polly Chuck by his side, he began to search for a place to make a new
home.
The more he thought about it, the more Johnny wanted to build his house
over by the lone elm-tree where he had first seen Polly Chuck. It was a
splendid place. From it you could see a great way in every direction.
It would be shady on hot summer days. It was near a great big patch of
sweet clover. It seemed to Johnny Chuck that it was the best place on
all the Green Meadows. He whispered as much to Polly Chuck. She turned
up her nose.
“It's too low!” said she.
“Oh!” replied Johnny, and looked puzzled, for really it was one of the
highest places on the Green Meadows.
“Yes,” said Polly, in a brisk, decided way, “it's altogether too low.
Probably it is wet.”
“Oh!” said Johnny once more. Of course he knew that it wasn't wet, but
if Polly didn't want to live there, he wouldn't say a word. Of course
not.
“Now there's a place right over there,” continued Polly. “I think we'll
build our house right there.”
Johnny opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it again without
speaking and meekly trotted after Polly Chuck to the place she had
picked out. It was in a little hollow. Johnny knew before he began to
dig that the ground was damp, almost wet. But if Polly wanted to live
there she should, and Johnny began to dig. By and by he stopped to rest.
Where was Polly? He looked this way and that way anxiously. Just as he
was getting ready to go hunt for her, she came hurrying back.
{Illustration: If Polly wanted to live there she should}
“I've found a perfectly lovely place for our new home!” she cried.
Johnny looked ruefully at the hole he had worked so hard to dig; then he
brushed the dirt from his clothes and followed her. This time Johnny
had no fault to find with the ground. It was high and dry. But Polly had
chosen a spot close to a road that wound down across the Green Meadows.
Johnny shook his head doubtfully, but he began to dig. This time,
however, he kept one eye on Polly Chuck, and the minute he found that
she was wandering off, he stopped digging and chuckled as he watched
her. It wasn't long before back she came in great excitement. She had
found a better place!
So they wandered over the Green Meadows, Polly leading the way. Johnny
had learned by this time to waste no time digging. And he had made up
his mind to one thing. What do you think it was? It was this: He would
follow Polly until she found a place to suit him, but when she did find
such a place she shouldn't have a chance to change her mind again.
XIV. A NEW HOME AT LAST
Home, no matter where it be,
Or it be big or small,
Is just the one place in the world
That dearest is of all.
Johnny Chuck was thinking of this as he worked with might and main. It
was a new house that he was building, but already he felt that it was
home, and every time he thought of it he felt a queer little tugging at
his heart. You see, while it was his home, it was Polly Chuck's home,
too, and that made it doubly dear to Johnny Chuck, even before it was
finished.
And where do you think Johnny was building his new home? It was clear
way over on the edge of Farmer Brown's old orchard! Yes, Sir, after all
the fuss Johnny Chuck had made over any other Chuck living on the Green
Meadows, and after driving the old gray Chuck back to the Old Pasture,
Johnny Chuck had left the Green Meadows himself!
It wasn't of his own accord that Johnny Chuck had left the Green
Meadows. No, indeed! He loved them too well for that. But he loved Polly
Chuck more, and although he had grumbled a little, he had followed her
up to the old orchard, and now they were going to stay there. Sometimes
Johnny shivered when he thought how near were Farmer Brown and Farmer
Brown's boy and Bowser the Hound.
He had never been so far from his old home on the Green Meadows before,
and it was all very strange up here. It was very lovely, too. Besides,
it was in this very old orchard that Polly Chuck had been born, and she
knew every part of it. Johnny felt better when he found that out. So
he set to work to build a home, and this time he meant business. Polly
Chuck could change her mind as many times as she pleased; that was going
to be their home and that was where they were going to live.