gotten over the fright Happy Jack had given him and began to
understand that he was in one of Happy Jack's storehouses, all his
temper vanished, and presently he began to grin and then to laugh. Now
it always takes two to make a quarrel, and one of the hardest things
in the world is to keep cross when the one you are cross with won't
keep cross, too. Happy Jack tried hard to stay angry, but every time
he looked at Unc' Billy Possum's twinkling eyes and broad grin, Happy
Jack lost a little of his own temper. Pretty soon he was laughing just
as hard as Unc' Billy Possum.
"Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!" they laughed together. Finally they had to
stop for breath.
"What are you doing in my storehouse, Unc' Billy?" asked Happy Jack,
when he could stop laughing.
Then Unc' Billy told him all about how he had climbed there from
another tree, so as to leave no tracks in the snow for Farmer Brown's
boy to follow.
"But now Ah want to go to mah own home in the big hollow tree way down
in the Green Forest, but Ah can't, on account of mah tracks in the
snow," concluded Unc' Billy mournfully.
Happy Jack put his head on one side and thought very hard. "Why don't
you stay right here until the snow goes, Unc' Billy?" he asked.
"Because Ah 'spects that mah ol' woman am worried most to death," said
Unc' Billy, in a mournful voice. "Besides," he added, "Ah just done
found out that this right nice lil' house belongs to one of mah
neighbors." There was a twinkle in Unc' Billy's eyes.
Happy Jack laughed. "You're welcome to stay as long as you like, Unc'
Billy," he said. "You better stay right where you are, and I'll go
tell old Mrs. Possum where you are."
"Thank yo'! Thank yo'! That is very kind of yo', Brer Squirrel. That
will be a great help, fo' it will lift a great load off mah mind,"
said Unc' Billy.
"Don't mention it, Unc' Billy!" replied Happy Jack and started off
with the message to old Mrs. Possum, and as he scampered through the
snow he said:
"To get yourself in trouble is a very easy thing.
I notice that to others it will always worries bring.
But getting out of trouble's always quite the other way--
The more you try to wriggle out, the longer you must stay."
XXV
HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL'S BRIGHT IDEA
Happy Jack Squirrel frisked along through the snow on his way to Unc'
Billy Possum's house in the big hollow tree in the Green Forest to
tell old Mrs. Possum that Unc' Billy was safe in another hollow tree
on the edge of the Green Forest, but that he didn't dare to come home
because he would leave tracks in the snow. He found old Mrs. Possum
very much worried and very much out of sorts. You see Unc' Billy had
been gone a long time for him, and she didn't know what had become of
him.
Now of course old Mrs. Possum was very much relieved when she heard
that Unc' Billy was safe, for she had been afraid that something
dreadful had happened to him. But just as soon as she knew that he was
safe, she forgot all about how worried she had been. All she thought
of was how Unc' Billy had gone to get some fresh eggs to put in his
own stomach and left her to take care of herself and eight baby
Possums.
"Yo' tell Unc' Billy Possum that Ah don' care if he never comes back.
Ah done got other things to bother about more'n a worthless, no'count
Possum what don' take care of his fam'ly," she said crossly, and
hurried into the house to see that the eight little Possums were
properly tucked in bed, for it was a cold day, and the eight little
Possums had to stay in bed to keep warm.
Happy Jack chuckled as he started back to tell Unc' Billy Possum. He
knew perfectly well that old Mrs. Possum didn't mean what she said.
He knew that Unc' Billy would know that she didn't mean it. But he
knew, and he knew that Unc' Billy knew, that when he did get home, he
would get a great scolding. Then all of a sudden Happy Jack thought of
a way for Unc' Billy to get home without waiting until the snow melted
away. That might be a very long time, for there was a great deal of
snow on the ground.
What do you suppose gave Happy Jack his idea? Why, a tiny little
snowflake that hit Happy Jack right on the end of his nose! Yes, Sir,
it was that tiny little snowflake that gave Happy Jack Squirrel his
bright idea.
He hurried back to the hollow tree where Unc' Billy was hiding and
scrambled up to the doorway.
"Hello, Unc' Billy! You can go home to-night!" he shouted.
Unc' Billy Possum stuck his head out of the doorway. "What's that yo'
say, Brer Squirrel?" he said. "Ah don' see as the snow has gone away,
and your tracks are powerful plain to see, and Ah makes bigger tracks
than yo', Brer Squirrel."
"Just look up in the sky, Unc' Billy!" said Happy Jack.
Unc' Billy looked. The sky was full of dancing snowflakes. They got in
his eyes and clung to his whiskers. Unc' Billy shook his head in
disgust.
"Ah don' see anything but mo' snow, and yo' know Ah don' like snow!"
he said. "What yo' driving at, Brer Squirrel?"
Happy Jack laughed. "Why, it's just as simple as can be, Unc' Billy!"
he cried. "Just as soon as it's dark, you start for home. It's going
to snow all night, and in the morning there won't be any tracks. The
snowflakes will have covered them all up."
Unc' Billy grinned. "Ah believe yo' are right, Brer Squirrel, Ah
believe yo' are right!" said Unc' Billy.
And Happy Jack was right, for Unc' Billy got safely home that very
night, and the next morning, when Farmer Brown's boy visited the Green
Forest, there wasn't a footprint to be seen anywhere.
So Unc' Billy Possum learned how easy it is to get into trouble and
how hard to get out of it. But he isn't the only one who has found
this out. Just ask Unc' Billy's particular friend, Mistah Mocker the
Mocking Bird. He will tell you the very same thing. He and Unc' Billy
have been in all kinds of scrapes together, and if you care to read
about some of them, you may do so in the next book--The Adventures of
Mistah Mocker.