The Little Girls had gone to play with a new friend who lived down the
road, and the Man was working in the farthest field of the farm. The
Baby had been laid in the crib for his afternoon nap, and his mother
went up-stairs to work at her house-cleaning. She thought that she
might possibly finish two closets if the baby did not awaken and call
her too soon. She felt sure that she would know when he awakened,
because she left the staircase door ajar, and he usually cried a
little as soon as he got his eyes open.
This time, however, the Baby slept only a few minutes and did not cry
at all. He had grown a great deal since he came to live on the farm,
and was becoming very strong and independent. When he opened his eyes
he made no sound, but lay there quietly staring at the ceiling until
he heard one of the Cocks crowing outside. He had always wanted to
catch that tallest Cock and hug him--he looked so soft and warm--and
now was the time to try it. When his mother was around she sometimes
held his dress or one of the shoulder-straps of his little overalls
and would not let him catch the Cock. He would crawl out of his crib
alone and go out very quietly to try it.
The Baby pulled himself up by the rounds of his crib, and tumbled over
its railing onto his mother's bed, which stood beside it. From that he
slid to the floor. It took him only two minutes more to get out of the
side door and down the steps. It did not take at all long for the
steps, because he fell more than half the distance. If he had not been
running away, or if there had been anybody around to pity him, he
would have cried, but to cry now might spoil all his fun, so he picked
himself up without making a sound and started for the Shanghai Cock.
The Shanghai Cock was on the ground when the Baby began toddling
toward him. As the Baby came nearer he began to walk off. "I don't
want to be caught," said he. "It is bad enough to have grown people
catch me, but it would be worse to have a Baby do so, for he might
choke me."
"Here, pitty Chickie!" said the Baby. "Baby want oo." Then he tried to
run, and fell down instead.
The Barred Plymouth Rock Hen looked at him pityingly. "Just the way my
Chickens used to act when trying to catch a Grasshopper," said she.
"It is so hard for children to learn that they cannot have everything
they want."
When the Baby tumbled, the Shanghai Cock stood still, and even picked
up a couple of mouthfuls of food. When the Baby got up again, the
Shanghai Cock moved on. At last the Cock decided to put a stop to this
sort of game, in which the Baby seemed to be having all the fun, so he
flew to the top of the pasture fence and crowed as loudly as he
could. The Baby's mother heard him as she worked busily upstairs. "How
loudly that Cock does crow!" said she. "I am glad that such noises do
not wake the Baby. He is having a fine nap to-day." Then she unrolled
another bundle of pieces and paid no more attention to the crowing.
When the Baby saw that he could not reach the Cock, he thought he
would try for some of the other fowls. The Gobbler came in sight just
then and he started after him. Luckily he had no red on, or it might
have been the Gobbler who did the chasing. "Here, pitty Chickie!" said
the Baby. "Tum, pitty Chickie! Tum to Baby."
It was the first time the Gobbler had ever been been called a "pitty
Chickie," but that made no difference. He did not want to be petted
and he did not want to be caught. Baby might open and shut his tiny
fat hands as many times as he pleased, beckoning to him. The Gobbler
would not come. "Gobble-gobble-gobble!" said he. "Nobody can catch me
in daylight, not even with corn; and surely nobody can catch me
without it." Then he strutted slowly away.
The Baby followed, but when the Gobbler pretended to lose his temper,
stood all his feathers on end, spread his fine tail, dragged his wings
on the ground, and puffed, the Baby turned and ran away as fast as he
could. Brown Bess was no longer in the pasture, and the gate stood
open. It was through this gate that the Baby ran, not stopping until
he came within sight of the river along the lower edge of the pasture.
The water looked so bright and beautiful that he thought he would go
farther still. Perhaps he could even catch some of the Ducks and Geese
that were swimming there. He had seen his sisters wade in the edge of
the river one day, while his father was mending a fence near by. He
would wade, too.
You see Baby was only two years old, and did not understand that
rivers are very dangerous places for children to visit alone, and
worst of all for Babies who toddle and tumble along. He did not know
that if he should tumble in that beautiful shining water he might
never be able to get up again, or that if he should chase one of the
Ducks too far out, he could not turn around and come back to the
shore. These things he was not old enough to know. He did know that
when he came into the pasture with his father or mother and went
toward the river's edge, he was always told, "No-no!" This he
remembered, but that made it seem all the more fun to go there when
there was nobody by to say it.
The Baby stood on a little knoll near the water. "Here, pitty
Chickie!" he said. "Tum to Baby, pitty Chickie!"
The Ducks paid no attention to him, unless it were to swim farther
from shore and keep their heads turned slightly toward him, watching
to see what he was about. With the Geese, however, it was different.
Geese do not like anything strange, and if they cannot understand a
thing they think that there is certainly something wrong. As there is
much which they do not understand, the Geese are often greatly
excited over very simple and harmless things, hissing loudly at those
who are strangers to them. Now they could not understand why the Baby
should stand on the river-bank and talk to them. "S-s-s-s-s!" said the
Gander. "There must be something wrong about this. Let us get out of
the water to see."
He scrambled up onto the bank, with his wife and the other Geese
following closely behind him. He was a very stately fellow, and looked
as though he could win in almost any fight. The Geese were stately
too, but their legs and neck did not look so strong as his, and they
let him go ahead and speak first. The Gander marched toward the Baby
and stood between him and the river. "S-s-s-s-s!" said he. "What are
you doing here?"
"Here, pitty Chickie!" said the Baby. "Tum to Baby."
"I cannot understand you," said the Gander, severely. "Children should
speak so that they can be understood. I can always understand my own
children." He was very proud of the brood of Goslings which he and
his wife had hatched. Perhaps he was even more fond of them because he
had done almost as much for them as she, sitting on the eggs part of
the time and standing beside her while she was sitting on them.
Ganders are excellent fathers.
"Go way, pitty Chickie!" said the Baby. "Baby goin' in de watty."
"S-s-s-s-s!" said the Gander, and this time his wife hissed also. "Go
back to the place where you belong. This place is for web-footed
people. I have seen your feet uncovered, and you have no webs whatever
between your toes. You do not belong here. Go away!"
The Baby did not go away, for he was having a lovely time. The Gander
did not come any nearer to him or act as though he meant to peck him,
so he just laughed and waved his hands. "Why don't you go?" asked the
Geese. "The Gander told you to go away, and you should mind the
Gander. We always mind him, and so should you."
Still the Gander and the Geese did not come nearer to him, and still
the Baby was not afraid. "S-s-s-s-s!" repeated the Gander. "We do not
want you to swim in our river. Your body is not the right shape for
swimming with Geese and Ducks. Your neck is not long enough for
feeding in the river. You could never get your mouth down to the
river-bottom for food without going way under. Go away! You will get
wet if you go into the water. I feel quite sure that you will, for you
have not nicely oiled feathers like ours. You will try to catch our
children and will make us much trouble. Go away!"
Just then the Baby's mother called from the door of the house. She had
come downstairs and found the Baby gone. "Baby!" said she. "Baby!
Where are you?"
Baby did not answer, but he turned to look at her. "S-s-s-s-s!" said
the Gander and the Geese together. "S-s-s-s-s! S-s-s-s-s!" Then they
walked straight for him, and the Baby started home at last. His
mother heard and ran toward him in time to see it all. She
understood, too, that if it had not been for the Gander and the Geese,
her Baby would have gone into the river. That was why she looked so
gratefully at them when she reached him and picked him up in her arms
to hug and kiss.
[Illustration: "S-S-S-S-S!" REPEATED THE GANDER. _Page 166_]
Perhaps it was because she had been so frightened that she had to sit
right down on a little hillock and rest. The Gander and the Geese
stood around and wondered why she made such a fuss over the Baby. "He
is nothing remarkable," they said to each other. "He certainly could
not swim if he had a chance, and we saw how often he fell down when he
tried to run. Why does she put her mouth up against his in that way?
There is simply no understanding the actions of people who live in
houses."
There was one sort of action which they could understand very well
indeed. The Little Girls came home just then and their mother had them
bring oats from the barn to scatter on the river. Then the Gander,
with his wife and the other Geese, gladly went back to the river to
feed, for there is nothing which pleases Geese better than to eat oats
that are floating on the water.