HAPPY JACK MISSES FARMER BROWN'S BOY
One and one are always two,
And two and two are four.
And just as true it is you'll find
That love and love make more.
_Happy Jack._
Go ask Happy Jack Squirrel. He knows. He knows because he has proved it.
It began when Farmer Brown's boy saved him from Shadow the Weasel.
Perhaps I should say when Farmer Brown's boy and Tommy Tit saved him,
for if it hadn't been for Tommy, it never would have entered Happy
Jack's head to run to Farmer Brown's boy. After that, of course, Happy
Jack and Farmer Brown's boy became great friends. Farmer Brown's boy
came over to the Green Forest every day to see Happy Jack, and always he
had the most delicious nuts in his pockets. At first Happy Jack had been
a wee bit shy. He couldn't quite get over that old fear he had had so
long. Then he would remember how Farmer Brown's boy had saved him, and
that would make him ashamed, and he would walk right up and take the
nuts.
Farmer Brown's boy would talk to him in the nicest way and tell him that
he loved him, and that there wasn't the least thing in the world to be
afraid of. Pretty soon Happy Jack began to love Farmer Brown's boy a
little. He couldn't help it. He just had to love any one who was so kind
and gentle to him. Now as soon as he began to love a little, and felt
sure in his own heart that Farmer Brown's boy loved him a little, he
found that love and love make more love, and it wasn't any time at all
before he had become very fond of Farmer Brown's boy, so fond of him
that he was almost jealous of Tommy Tit, who had been a friend of Farmer
Brown's boy for a long time. It got so that Happy Jack looked forward
each day to the visit of Farmer Brown's boy, and as soon as he heard his
whistle, he would hasten to meet him. Some folks were unkind enough to
say that it was just because of the nuts and corn he was sure to find in
Farmer Brown's boy's pockets, but that wasn't so at all.
At last there came a day when he missed that cheery whistle. He waited
and waited. At last he went clear to the edge of the Green Forest, but
there was no whistle and no sign of Farmer Brown's boy. It was the same
way the next day and the next. Happy Jack forgot to frisk about the way
he usually does. He lost his appetite. He just sat around and moped.
When Tommy Tit the Chickadee came to call, as he did every day, Happy
Jack found that Tommy was anxious too. Tommy had been up to Farmer
Brown's dooryard several times, and he hadn't seen anything of Farmer
Brown's boy.
"I think he must have gone away," said Tommy.
"He would have come down here first and said good-by," replied Happy
Jack.
"You--you don't suppose something has happened to him, do you?" asked
Tommy.
"I don't know. I don't know what to think," replied Happy Jack, soberly.
"Do you know, Tommy, I've grown very fond of Farmer Brown's boy."
"Of course. Dee, dee, dee, of course. Everybody who really knows him is
fond of him. I've said all along that he is the best friend we've got,
but no one seemed to believe me. I'm glad you've found it out for
yourself. I tell you what, I'll go up to his house and have another look
around." And without waiting for a reply, Tommy was off as fast as his
little wings could take him.
"I hope, I do hope, that nothing has happened to him," mumbled Happy
Jack, as he pretended to hunt for buried nuts while he waited for Tommy
Tit to come back, and by "him" he meant Farmer Brown's boy.