Caw, caw, caw!" shrieked Blacky the Crow.
For a minute or two everybody forgot about Buster Bear. Then there was a
great crash which made everybody turn to look the other way. What do you
think they saw? Why, Buster Bear was running away too, and he was
running twice as fast as Farmer Brown's boy! He bumped into trees and
crashed through bushes and jumped over logs, and in almost no time at
all he was out of sight. Altogether it was the most surprising thing
that the little people of the Green Forest ever had seen.
[Illustration: Buster Bear was running away, too. Page _71_.]
Sammy Jay looked at Blacky the Crow, and Blacky looked at Chatterer,
and Chatterer looked at Happy Jack, and Happy Jack looked at Peter
Rabbit, and Peter looked at Unc' Billy Possum, and Unc' Billy looked at
Bobby Coon, and Bobby looked at Johnny Chuck, and Johnny looked at Reddy
Fox, and Reddy looked at Jimmy Skunk, and Jimmy looked at Billy Mink,
and Billy looked at Little Joe Otter, and for a minute nobody could say
a word. Then Little Joe gave a funny little gasp.
"Why, why-e-e!" said he, "I believe Buster Bear is afraid too!" Unc'
Billy Possum chuckled. "Ah believe yo' are right again, Brer Otter,"
said he. "It cert'nly does look so. If Brer Bear isn't scared, he must
have remembered something impo'tant and has gone to attend to it in a
powerful hurry."
Then everybody began to laugh.
XV
BUSTER BEAR IS A FALLEN HERO
A fallen hero is some one to whom every one has looked up as very brave
and then proves to be less brave than he was supposed to be. That was
the way with Buster Bear. When Little Joe Otter had told how Farmer
Brown's boy had been afraid at the mere sight of one of Buster Bear's
big footprints, they had at once made a hero of Buster. At least some of
them had. As this was the first time, the very first time, that they had
ever known any one who lives in the Green Forest to make Farmer Brown's
boy run away, they looked on Buster Bear with a great deal of respect
and were very proud of him.
But now they had seen Buster Bear and Farmer Brown's boy meet face to
face; and while it was true that Farmer Brown's boy had run away as fast
as ever he could, it was also true that Buster Bear had done the same
thing. He had run even faster than Farmer Brown's boy, and had hidden in
the most lonely place he could find in the very deepest part of the
Green Forest. It was hard to believe, but it was true. And right away
everybody lost a great deal of the respect for Buster which they had
felt. It is always that way. They began to say unkind things about him.
They said them among themselves, and some of them even said them to
Buster when they met him, or said them so that he would hear them.
Of course Blacky the Crow and Sammy Jay, who, because they can fly,
have nothing to fear from Buster, and who always delight in making other
people uncomfortable, never let a chance go by to tell Buster and
everybody else within hearing what they thought of him. They delighted
in flying about through the Green Forest until they had found Buster
Bear and then from the safety of the tree tops screaming at him.
"Buster Bear is big and strong;
His teeth are big; his claws are long;
In spite of these he runs away
And hides himself the livelong day!"
A dozen times a day Buster would hear them screaming this. He would
grind his teeth and glare up at them, but that was all he could do. He
couldn't get at them. He just had to stand it and do nothing. But when
impudent little Chatterer the Red Squirrel shouted the same thing from
a place just out of reach in a big pine-tree, Buster could stand it no
longer. He gave a deep, angry growl that made little shivers run over
Chatterer, and then suddenly he started up that tree after Chatterer.
With a frightened little shriek Chatterer scampered to the top of the
tree. He hadn't known that Buster could climb. But Buster is a splendid
climber, especially when the tree is big and stout as this one was, and
now he went up after Chatterer, growling angrily.
How Chatterer did wish that he had kept his tongue still! He ran to the
very top of the tree, so frightened that his teeth chattered, and when
he looked down and saw Buster's great mouth coming nearer and nearer, he
nearly tumbled down with terror. The worst of it was there wasn't
another tree near enough for him to jump to. He was in trouble this
time, was Chatterer, sure enough! And there was no one to help him.
XVI
CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL JUMPS FOR HIS LIFE
It isn't very often that Chatterer the Red Squirrel knows fear. That is
one reason that he is so often impudent and saucy. But once in a while a
great fear takes possession of him, as when he knows that Shadow the
Weasel is looking for him. You see, he knows that Shadow can go wherever
he can go. There are very few of the little people of the Green Forest
and the Green Meadows who do not know fear at some time or other, but it
comes to Chatterer as seldom as to any one, because he is very sure of
himself and his ability to hide or run away from danger.
But now as he clung to a little branch near the top of a tall pine-tree
in the Green Forest and looked down at the big sharp teeth of Buster
Bear drawing nearer and nearer, and listened to the deep, angry growls
that made his hair stand on end, Chatterer was too frightened to think.
If only he had kept his tongue still instead of saying hateful things to
Buster Bear! If only he had known that Buster could climb a tree! If
only he had chosen a tree near enough to other trees for him to jump
across! But he _had_ said hateful things, he _had_ chosen to sit in a
tree which stood quite by itself, and Buster Bear _could_ climb!
Chatterer was in the worst kind of trouble, and there was no one to
blame but himself. That is usually the case with those who get into
trouble.
Nearer and nearer came Buster Bear, and deeper and angrier sounded his
voice. Chatterer gave a little frightened gasp and looked this way and
looked that way. What should he do? What _could_ he do! The ground
seemed a terrible distance below. If only he had wings like Sammy Jay!
But he hadn't.
"Gr-r-r-r!" growled Buster Bear. "I'll teach you manners! I'll teach you
to treat your betters with respect! I'll swallow you whole, that's what
I'll do. Gr-r-r-r!"
"Oh!" cried Chatterer.
"Gr-r-r-r! I'll eat you all up to the last hair on your tail!" growled
Buster, scrambling a little nearer.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Chatterer, and ran out to the very tip of the little
branch to which he had been clinging. Now if Chatterer had only known
it, Buster Bear couldn't reach him way up there, because the tree was
too small at the top for such a big fellow as Buster. But Chatterer
didn't think of that. He gave one more frightened look down at those big
teeth, then he shut his eyes and jumped--jumped straight out for the
far-away ground.
It was a long, long, long way down to the ground, and it certainly
looked as if such a little fellow as Chatterer must be killed. But
Chatterer had learned from Old Mother Nature that she had given him
certain things to help him at just such times, and one of them is the
power to spread himself very flat. He did it now. He spread his arms and
legs out just as far as he could, and that kept him from falling as fast
and as hard as he otherwise would have done, because being spread out so
flat that way, the air held him up a little. And then there was his
tail, that funny little tail he is so fond of jerking when he scolds.
This helped him too. It helped him keep his balance and keep from
turning over and over.
Down, down, down he sailed and landed on his feet. Of course, he hit the
ground pretty hard, and for just a second he quite lost his breath. But
it was only for a second, and then he was scurrying off as fast as a
frightened Squirrel could. Buster Bear watched him and grinned.
"I didn't catch him that time," he growled, "but I guess I gave him a
good fright and taught him a lesson."
XVII
BUSTER BEAR GOES BERRYING
Buster Bear is a great hand to talk to himself when he thinks no one is
around to overhear. It's a habit. However, it isn't a bad habit unless
it is carried too far. Any habit becomes bad, if it is carried too far.
Suppose you had a secret, a real secret, something that nobody else knew
and that you didn't want anybody else to know. And suppose you had the
habit of talking to yourself. You might, without thinking, you know,
tell that secret out loud to yourself, and some one might, just might
happen to overhear! Then there wouldn't be any secret. That is the way
that a habit which isn't bad in itself can become bad when it is
carried too far.
Now Buster Bear had lived by himself in the Great Woods so long that
this habit of talking to himself had grown and grown. He did it just to
keep from being lonesome. Of course, when he came down to the Green
Forest to live, he brought all his habits with him. That is one thing
about habits,--you always take them with you wherever you go. So Buster
brought this habit of talking to himself down to the Green Forest, where
he had many more neighbors than he had in the Great Woods.
"Let me see, let me see, what is there to tempt my appetite?" said
Buster in his deep, grumbly-rumbly voice. "I find my appetite isn't what
it ought to be. I need a change. Yes, Sir, I need a change. There is
something I ought to have at this time of year, and I haven't got it.
There is something that I used to have and don't have now. Ha! I know! I
need some fresh fruit. That's it--fresh fruit! It must be about berry
time now, and I'd forgotten all about it. My, my, my, how good some
berries would taste! Now if I were back up there in the Great Woods I
could have all I could eat. Um-m-m-m! Makes my mouth water just to think
of it. There ought to be some up in the Old Pasture. There ought to be a
lot of 'em up there. If I wasn't afraid that some one would see me, I'd
go up there."
Buster sighed. Then he sighed again. The more he thought about those
berries he felt sure were growing in the Old Pasture, the more he wanted
some. It seemed to him that never in all his life had he wanted berries
as he did now. He wandered about uneasily. He was hungry--hungry for
berries and nothing else. By and by he began talking to himself again.
"If I wasn't afraid of being seen, I'd go up to the Old Pasture this
very minute. Seems as if I could taste those berries." He licked his
lips hungrily as he spoke. Then his face brightened. "I know what I'll
do! I'll go up there at the very first peep of day to-morrow. I can eat
all I want and get back to the Green Forest before there is any danger
that Farmer Brown's boy or any one else I'm afraid of will see me.
That's just what I'll do. My, I wish to-morrow morning would hurry up
and come."
Now though Buster didn't know it, some one had been listening, and that
some one was none other than Sammy Jay. When at last Buster lay down
for a nap, Sammy flew away, chuckling to himself. "I believe I'll visit
the Old Pasture to-morrow morning myself," thought he. "I have an idea
that something interesting may happen if Buster doesn't change his
mind."
Sammy was on the lookout very early the next morning. The first Jolly
Little Sunbeams had only reached the Green Meadows and had not started
to creep into the Green Forest, when he saw a big, dark form steal out
of the Green Forest where it joins the Old Pasture. It moved very
swiftly and silently, as if in a great hurry. Sammy knew who it was: it
was Buster Bear, and he was going berrying. Sammy waited a little until
he could see better. Then he too started for the Old Pasture.
XVIII
SOMEBODY ELSE GOES BERRYING
Isn't it funny how two people will often think of the same thing at the
same time, and neither one know that the other is thinking of it? That
is just what happened the day that Buster Bear first thought of going
berrying. While he was walking around in the Green Forest, talking to
himself about how hungry he was for some berries and how sure he was
that there must be some up in the Old Pasture, some one else was
thinking about berries and about the Old Pasture too.
"Will you make me a berry pie if I will get the berries to-morrow?"
asked Farmer Brown's boy of his mother.
Of course Mrs. Brown promised that she would, and so that night Farmer
Brown's boy went to bed very early that he might get up early in the
morning, and all night long he dreamed of berries and berry pies. He was
awake even before jolly, round, red Mr. Sun thought it was time to get
up, and he was all ready to start for the Old Pasture when the first
Jolly Little Sunbeams came dancing across the Green Meadows. He carried
a big tin pail, and in the bottom of it, wrapped up in a piece of paper,
was a lunch, for he meant to stay until he filled that pail, if it took
all day.
Now the Old Pasture is very large. It lies at the foot of the Big
Mountain, and even extends a little way up on the Big Mountain. There is
room in it for many people to pick berries all day without even seeing
each other, unless they roam about a great deal. You see, the bushes
grow very thick there, and you cannot see very far in any direction.
Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had climbed a little way up in the sky by the
time Farmer Brown's boy reached the Old Pasture, and was smiling down on
all the Great World, and all the Great World seemed to be smiling back.
Farmer Brown's boy started to whistle, and then he stopped.
"If I whistle," thought he, "everybody will know just where I am, and
will keep out of sight, and I never can get acquainted with folks if
they keep out of sight."
You see, Farmer Brown's boy was just beginning to understand something
that Peter Rabbit and the other little people of the Green Meadows and
the Green Forest learned almost as soon as they learned to walk,--that
if you don't want to be seen, you mustn't be heard. So he didn't
whistle as he felt like doing, and he tried not to make a bit of noise
as he followed an old cow-path towards a place where he knew the berries
grew thick and oh, so big, and all the time he kept his eyes wide open,
and he kept his ears open too.
That is how he happened to hear a little cry, a very faint little cry.
If he had been whistling, he wouldn't have heard it at all. He stopped
to listen. He never had heard a cry just like it before. At first he
couldn't make out just what it was or where it came from. But one thing
he was sure of, and that was that it was a cry of fright. He stood
perfectly still and listened with all his might. There it was
again--"Help! Help! Help"--and it was very faint and sounded terribly
frightened. He waited a minute or two, but heard nothing more. Then he
put down his pail and began a hurried look here, there, and everywhere.
He was sure that it had come from somewhere on the ground, so he peered
behind bushes and peeped behind logs and stones, and then just as he had
about given up hope of finding where it came from, he went around a
little turn in the old cow-path, and there right in front of him was
little Mr. Gartersnake, and what do you think he was doing? Well, I
don't like to tell you, but he was trying to swallow one of the children
of Stickytoes the Tree Toad. Of course Farmer Brown's Boy didn't let
him. He made little Mr. Gartersnake set Master Stickytoes free and held
Mr. Gartersnake until Master Stickytoes was safely out of reach.
XIX
BUSTER BEAR HAS A FINE TIME
Buster Bear was having the finest time he had had since he came down
from the Great Woods to live in the Green Forest. To be sure, he wasn't
in the Green Forest now, but he wasn't far from it. He was in the Old
Pasture, one edge of which touches one edge of the Green Forest. And
where do you think he was, in the Old Pasture? Why, right in the middle
of the biggest patch of the biggest blueberries he ever had seen in all
his life! Now if there is any one thing that Buster Bear had rather have
above another, it is all the berries he can eat, unless it be honey.
Nothing can quite equal honey in Buster's mind. But next to honey give
him berries. He isn't particular what kind of berries. Raspberries,
blackberries, or blueberries, either kind, will make him perfectly
happy.
"Um-m-m, my, my, but these are good!" he mumbled in his deep
grumbly-rumbly voice, as he sat on his haunches stripping off the
berries greedily. His little eyes twinkled with enjoyment, and he didn't
mind at all if now and then he got leaves, and some green berries in his
mouth with the big ripe berries. He didn't try to get them out. Oh, my,
no! He just chomped them all up together and patted his stomach from
sheer delight. Now Buster had reached the Old Pasture just as jolly,
round, red Mr. Sun had crept out of bed, and he had fully made up his
mind that he would be back in the Green Forest before Mr. Sun had
climbed very far up in the blue, blue sky. You see, big as he is and
strong as he is, Buster Bear is very shy and bashful, and he has no
desire to meet Farmer Brown, or Farmer Brown's boy, or any other of
those two-legged creatures called men. It seems funny but he actually is
afraid of them. And he had a feeling that he was a great deal more
likely to meet one of them in the Old Pasture than deep in the Green
Forest.
So when he started to look for berries, he made up his mind that he
would eat what he could in a great hurry and get back to the Green
Forest before Farmer Brown's boy was more than out of bed. But when he
found those berries he was so hungry that he forgot his fears and
everything else. They tasted so good that he just had to eat and eat
and eat. Now you know that Buster is a very big fellow, and it takes a
lot to fill him up. He kept eating and eating and eating, and the more
he ate the more he wanted. You know how it is. So he wandered from one
patch of berries to another in the Old Pasture, and never once thought
of the time. Somehow, time is the hardest thing in the world to
remember, when you are having a good time.
Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun climbed higher and higher in the blue, blue
sky. He looked down on all the Great World and saw all that was going
on. He saw Buster Bear in the Old Pasture, and smiled as he saw what a
perfectly glorious time Buster was having. And he saw something else in
the Old Pasture that made his smile still broader. He saw Farmer Brown's
boy filling a great tin pail with blueberries, and he knew that Farmer
Brown's boy didn't know that Buster Bear was anywhere about, and he knew
that Buster Bear didn't know that Farmer Brown's boy was anywhere about,
and somehow he felt very sure that he would see something funny happen
if they should chance to meet.
"Um-m-m, um-m-m," mumbled Buster Bear with his mouth full, as he moved
along to another patch of berries. And then he gave a little gasp of
surprise and delight. Right in front of him was a shiny thing just full
of the finest, biggest, bluest berries! There were no leaves or green
ones there. Buster blinked his greedy little eyes rapidly and looked
again. No, he wasn't dreaming. They were real berries, and all he had
got to do was to help himself. Buster looked sharply at the shiny thing
that held the berries. It seemed perfectly harmless. He reached out a
big paw and pushed it gently. It tipped over and spilled out a lot of
the berries. Yes, it was perfectly harmless. Buster gave a little sigh
of pure happiness. He would eat those berries to the last one, and then
he would go home to the Green Forest.
XX
BUSTER BEAR CARRIES OFF THE PAIL OF FARMER BROWN'S BOY
The question is, did Buster Bear steal Farmer Brown's boy's pail? To
steal is to take something which belongs to some one else. There is no
doubt that he stole the berries that were in the pail when he found it,
for he deliberately ate them. He knew well enough that some one must
have picked them--for whoever heard of blueberries growing in tin pails?
So there is no doubt that when Buster took them, he stole them. But with
the pail it was different. He took the pail, but he didn't mean to take
it. In fact, he didn't want that pail at all.
You see it was this way: When Buster found that big tin pail brimming
full of delicious berries in the shade of that big bush in the Old
Pasture, he didn't stop to think whether or not he had a right to them.
Buster is so fond of berries that from the very second that his greedy
little eyes saw that pailful, he forgot everything but the feast that
was waiting for him right under his very nose. He didn't think anything
about the right or wrong of helping himself. There before him were more
berries than he had ever seen together at one time in all his life, and
all he had to do was to eat and eat and eat. And that is just what he
did do. Of course he upset the pail, but he didn't mind a little thing
like that. When he had gobbled up all the berries that rolled out, he
thrust his nose into the pail to get all that were left in it. Just
then he heard a little noise, as if some one were coming. He threw up
his head to listen, and somehow, he never did know just how, the handle
of the pail slipped back over his ears and caught there.
This was bad enough, but to make matters worse, just at that very minute
he heard a shrill, angry voice shout, "Hi, there! Get out of there!" He
didn't need to be told whose voice that was. It was the voice of Farmer
Brown's boy. Right then and there Buster Bear nearly had a fit. There
was that awful pail fast over his head so that he couldn't see a thing.
Of course, that meant that he couldn't run away, which was the thing of
all things he most wanted to do, for big as he is and strong as he is,
Buster is very shy and bashful when human beings are around. He growled
and whined and squealed. He tried to back out of the pail and couldn't.
He tried to shake it off and couldn't. He tried to pull it off, but
somehow he couldn't get hold of it. Then there was another yell. If
Buster hadn't been so frightened himself, he might have recognized that
second yell as one of fright, for that is what it was. You see Farmer
Brown's boy had just discovered Buster Bear. When he had yelled the
first time, he had supposed that it was one of the young cattle who live
in the Old Pasture all summer, but when he saw Buster, he was just as
badly frightened as Buster himself. In fact, he was too surprised and
frightened even to run. After that second yell he just stood still and
stared.
Buster clawed at that awful thing on his head more frantically than
ever. Suddenly it slipped off, so that he could see. He gave one
frightened look at Farmer Brown's boy, and then with a mighty "Woof!" he
started for the Green Forest as fast as his legs could take him, and
this was very fast indeed, let me tell you. He didn't stop to pick out a
path, but just crashed through the bushes as if they were nothing at
all, just nothing at all. But the funniest thing of all is this--he took
that pail with him! Yes, Sir, Buster Bear ran away with the big tin pail
of Farmer Brown's boy! You see when it slipped off his head, the handle
was still around his neck, and there he was running away with a pail
hanging from his neck! He didn't want it. He would have given anything
to get rid of it. But he took it because he couldn't help it. And that
brings us back to the question, did Buster steal Farmer Brown's boy's
pail? What do you think?
XXI
SAMMY JAY MAKES THINGS WORSE FOR BUSTER BEAR
"Thief, thief, thief! Thief, thief, thief!" Sammy Jay was screaming at
the top of his lungs, as he followed Buster Bear across the Old Pasture
towards the Green Forest. Never had he screamed so loud, and never had
his voice sounded so excited. The little people of the Green Forest, the
Green Meadows, and the Smiling Pool are so used to hearing Sammy cry
thief that usually they think very little about it. But every blessed
one who heard Sammy this morning stopped whatever he was doing and
pricked up his ears to listen.
Sammy's cousin, Blacky the Crow, just happened to be flying along the
edge of the Old Pasture, and the minute he heard Sammy's voice, he
turned and flew over to see what it was all about. Just as soon as he
caught sight of Buster Bear running for the Green Forest as hard as ever
he could, he understood what had excited Sammy so. He was so surprised
that he almost forgot to keep his wings moving. Buster Bear had what
looked to Blacky very much like a tin pail hanging from his neck! No
wonder Sammy was excited. Blacky beat his wings fiercely and started
after Sammy.
And so they reached the edge of the Green Forest, Buster Bear running as
hard as ever he could, Sammy Jay flying just behind him and screaming,
"Thief, thief, thief!" at the top of his lungs, and behind him Blacky
the Crow, trying to catch up and yelling as loud as he could, "Caw,
caw, caw! Come on, everybody! Come on! Come on!"