Coon and Tommy Fox came at midnight to view his sign, "Boy Wanted."
They made a good deal of noise, too, grumbling not a little because
there was not the least sign of a sign anywhere they looked.
As soon as he had engaged Chippy, Jr., to work for him, Rusty Wren
had taken down the sign, "Boy Wanted." And so all further callers
were bound to be disappointed.
XVI
THE ACCIDENT
Chippy, Jr., proved to be a great success. Even Mrs. Rusty Wren had
to admit, before he had finished his first day's work, that he was
an agreeable person to have about the house.
"Of course he isn't much of a singer," she remarked to Rusty, "but
he seems to have a quick eye for an insect, and he is kind to the
children. He is very neat, besides. I have watched him sharply,"
she added, "and I haven't caught him tracking any dirt into the
house--nor brushing any off his clothes onto my clean floor,
either."
Rusty, too, declared himself well satisfied with his helper.
"He's a spry worker," he said. "And he can get through our door as
easily as I can. He went in and out of the house two hundred and
fifty-seven times to-day; and not once did he get stuck in the
doorway."
For several days everything went so smoothly in Rusty Wren's
household that his wife began to feel more like herself again.
Jasper Jay did not come near their house to annoy them; and there
was plenty of food for all--thanks to the untiring efforts of
Chippy, Jr. Though she tried her hardest, Mrs. Rusty couldn't think
of anything to worry about. And her husband frequently remarked
that it was a lucky day for all of them when he decided to hire a
boy.
Both Rusty and his wife had quite forgotten the strange feeling of
that good little lady's that some sort of trouble was coming to
them on account of taking an outsider into their house.
So the days passed happily for them. And all the while their six
children were fast growing bigger. The proud parents often remarked
that they had never before known youngsters to change so rapidly.
So interested were Rusty and his wife in their children that they
failed to see that Chippy, Jr., was growing likewise. Indeed, he
now overtopped Rusty by half a head. But the Wrens--both husband
and wife--entirely overlooked that fact.
Neither did they happen to notice that Chippy, Jr., was beginning
to have a good deal of trouble squeezing through the door. For some
reason--due, perhaps, to the way the opening was made--for some
reason he could get into the house more easily than he could get
out of it.
He said nothing about this new difficulty, not wishing to disturb
the happiness of the Wren family, nor find himself out of work,
either.
Since he continued to grow from day to day there could be but one
outcome. And at last when Rusty came home late one afternoon with a
plump insect in his bill he found Chippy, Jr., blocking the
doorway. His head peered through the round opening. And his face
wore a worried expression.
"Hurry up!" said Rusty Wren. "I want to come in."
And at that Chippy, Jr., began to struggle to get out. But he
couldn't move either forward or back.
"Be spry!" Rusty said impatiently. "Don't keep me waiting, boy!"
Chippy, Jr., looked actually frightened.
"I'm stuck fast!" he cried. "I can't move either way!"
XVII
HELP! HELP!
"Help! help!" Rusty Wren called loudly to his wife.
"What's wrong?" she screamed. Since she was inside the house, and
Rusty was outside, with Chippy, Jr., blocking the doorway, of
course she was alarmed--for she couldn't see her husband.
"This boy's stuck fast in our door," Rusty cried. "And you must
help me move him."
"Very well!" she answered in a frightened tone. "But if we can't
stir him, I don't know what we'll do." And she began to shriek.
"Don't worry!" Rusty shouted. "Just say when you're ready."
"I'm ready now," she replied.
"One, two, three--all together!" Rusty Wren commanded. And he
seized the head of Chippy, Jr., and began pulling as hard as he
knew how.
Chippy, Jr., at once let out a frightened cry.
"Stop! stop!" he begged. "I don't know what the trouble is, but I
feel as if I should break in two!"
"Well! well!" exclaimed Rusty Wren. And then to his wife he said:
"Were you pushing or pulling?"
"Pulling!" she explained. "I was tugging on his coat-tails."
"Ah! That was the trouble," Rusty told poor Chippy, Jr., who looked
quite distressed. "I was trying to pull you out; and she was trying
to pull you in. But you mustn't mind a little mistake like that."
"Very well!" said Chippy, Jr., meekly. "But please don't do it
again!"
"Now----" Rusty directed his wife, so that she might understand
clearly what was required of her--"now you must push while I pull."
All their efforts, however, failed to move the unfortunate Chippy,
Jr. He remained wedged tightly in the doorway. And at last Rusty
declared that they might as well stop trying to get him through it.
"What you must do now," he directed his wife, "is to pull on
Chippy, Jr.'s, coat-tails, while I push against his head. And in
that way we may be able to clear our doorway."
That plan worked better. In a short time Mr. Chippy's unlucky son
suddenly slipped backward, knocking Mrs. Rusty Wren flat on her
back. And Rusty himself tumbled into the house and fell on top of
the heap.
As soon as they had picked themselves up, Rusty Wren and his wife
and Chippy, Jr., looked at one another for a few moments without
saying a single word.
Mrs. Rusty was the first to break the silence--if a house may be
said to be silent when there are six children in it, all clamoring
for something to eat.
"I knew we should have some sort of trouble if we took a stranger
into our home," she wailed.
"Why, what's the matter now?" Rusty inquired in surprise.
"Matter?" she groaned. "Here's this great lout of a boy inside our
house! And we'll never be able to get rid of him. Instead of his
helping us to feed our children, we shall have to feed him! And
now we are worse off than we ever were before."
XVIII
THE PUZZLE
Rusty Wren looked quite crestfallen as he listened to his wife's
wail. He wished that he had heeded her warning, when she declared
that his hiring a boy would certainly lead to trouble.
"What's the matter with you?" Rusty asked his helper, Chippy, Jr.
"When you first came to work for us you could slip through our
doorway easily enough. But now you're altogether too big."
Chippy, Jr., said that the entrance to their house must have
shrunk.
"How could it?" Rusty demanded impatiently.
"It rained last night," the youngster reminded him.
But Rusty Wren said, "Nonsense! The doorway's made of tin--not
wood. _You_ have grown--that's the whole trouble! And you've got us
into a pretty fix."
"I begin to think that it was all planned this way by his father,"
Mrs. Rusty told her husband, "so Mr. Chippy wouldn't have to take
care of his son. But I don't intend to adopt a big, overgrown boy
like him--not when I have six small children of my own!"
Chippy, Jr., couldn't help feeling both uncomfortable and unhappy.
"I want to go home!" he blubbered. "It's almost my bedtime. And my
father and my mother won't like it at all if I stay here all
night."
"Well," said Rusty Wren, "I don't know how you're going to leave
our house if you can't squeeze through the door. So I'll hurry
over and tell your father about this trouble, and he can break the
news gently to your mother."
Then Rusty went off, flying directly to the stone wall where the
Chippy family lived. And soon he was explaining to Mr. Chippy how
his son was inside their house and couldn't leave.
Now, Mr. Chippy was unusually mild mannered. But he became greatly
excited as soon as he heard Rusty's story.
"It's just like being caught in a trap!" he exclaimed. "And I can't
help feeling that you've played a trick on my son--probably to
please Johnnie Green.... If you don't set my boy free to-morrow
morning at daybreak, I shall certainly make trouble for you."
Mr. Chippy's warning amazed Rusty Wren. But he couldn't help
laughing at the idea of anybody causing him any _trouble_.
"I'm so deep in trouble now," he told Mr. Chippy, "there's nothing
you can do to make matters any worse for me. I've six growing
children to bring up; and now I have your son to take care of; and
my wife thinks everything is my fault, because I wanted to hire a
boy to help me catch insects.
"So you can't scare me by your threats. I only wish you would come
to my house and take your son away with you--if you can."
"I'll come--and I'll tear your house down!" Mr. Chippy cried
fiercely. And he began screaming, "_Chip, chip, chip, chip_," in a
very shrill voice which was most annoying to hear.
Rusty Wren did not like to listen to him. So he flew back home and
went to bed. He only wished that it were possible for Mr. Chippy
to break into his house and rescue Chippy, Jr. But since the house
was made of tin, Rusty knew that Mr. Chippy was helpless.
"I'll never settle in a tin house again so long as I live!" he
groaned.
XIX
A FRIEND, INDEED
The next morning Rusty Wren awakened with a start. Somebody was
pounding at his door--and shouting his name, as well. He jumped out
of bed to see what was the matter. And, looking outside, he beheld
Mr. Chippy, with sixteen of his cousins, all very much excited--if
one might judge by their actions.
They were flying back and forth past Rusty's doorway and _chipping_
in shrill and piercing tones.
"I've come for my son," Mr. Chippy informed Rusty Wren. "Send him
out here at once or it will be the worse for you."
"I'd be glad to get rid of him if I could," Rusty answered. "But,
as I explained to you last night, he has grown so big that he can
no longer pass through my doorway."
"I don't care to argue with you?" Mr. Chippy replied. "Just let me
have Chippy, Jr., or we'll come inside your house and get him.
We'll make trouble for you, too. Perhaps you didn't know that
kidnapping a child is a very serious act. I've already asked
Solomon Owl's opinion about this matter; and he advises me to take
my child away from you by force, if necessary."
"There's no sense in waiting any longer," one of Mr. Chippy's
cousins interrupted. "Let's go right in and seize the lad!"
At that the mob crowded round Rusty Wren's door. And the pert
gentleman who had just spoken thrust his head through the opening.
That, however, was as far as he was able to go. His shoulders were
altogether too broad for the small, round passage. And though his
relations attempted to push him into the house, they soon saw that
they would never succeed in their undertaking.
"Let me try!" another of Mr. Chippy's cousins cried. But he had no
better luck than the first.
Then each of the fourteen remaining cousins--and then Mr. Chippy
himself--had his turn at the door. But every one of them found that
he was about two sizes too big to squeeze through it.
Rusty Wren, watching then from inside his house, couldn't help
laughing, although it was really no joke.
Though he was usually very mild, Mr. Chippy grew terribly angry
the moment he heard Rusty's laughter. His sixteen cousins began to
scold, too. Again they tried to crowd through Rusty Wren's door.
And they made such an uproar that when Johnnie Green stepped out of
the farmhouse before breakfast he couldn't help noticing them.
"What's going on here?" he cried. And he hurried to his "wren
house," as he called Rusty's home, and drove away the noisy
visitors.
Then he shinned up the old cherry tree, to peep inside it. And as
soon as he reached the tin can which was Rusty's home Johnnie Green
thought he heard an unusual cry within it.
"That doesn't sound like a wren!" he exclaimed. "It sounds exactly
like a chipping sparrow!" Then, as he looked, he saw Chippy, Jr.'s,
head, with its bright bay cap, peer through the mouth of the syrup
can.
"There's a chippy inside my wren house!" Johnnie Green shouted to
his father, who had come to a window to see what was going on. "How
can I get him out?"
"Wait a moment!" said Farmer Green. And soon he came and handed
Johnnie a can-opener.
"Cut out the end of the can!" he directed. "Then you'll be able to
reach in and get the little beggar."
Naturally, Chippy, Jr., did not like to be called a "beggar." But
he couldn't very well prevent Farmer Green from saying whatever he
pleased. So he kept still, while Johnnie Green quickly opened a
great hole in Rusty's house. Then Johnnie carefully lifted Chippy,
Jr., out of his prison and gave him a toss into the air.
That frightened young gentleman wasted no time. He stopped to touch
his cap to nobody, but flew away to his home in the wild grapevine,
on the stone wall, as fast as he could go.
Though he had kept quiet, the whole Wren family had made a great
uproar. Glad as they were to get rid of their troublesome guest,
they objected to having the whole front of their house torn out.
Indeed, Mrs. Rusty began to get ready to move out at once. And
everybody knows that moving is no joke--especially if one has six
children.
But Johnnie Green bent the tin into place again, so that it was
almost the same as new. In fact, the house was even better than
ever, because it was more airy.
And Rusty and his wife were so glad to see the last of Chippy, Jr.,
that afterward they never objected in the least when Johnnie Green
called them "my wrens." They had discovered that he was a good
friend to have.
XX
AN INVITATION
Rusty Wren's cousin, Long Bill, lived in the reeds on the bank of
Black Creek. Although everybody called him "Long Bill," like Rusty
Wren he was actually short and chubby. His bill, however, was much
longer than Rusty's. You see, he belonged to one branch of the
Marsh Wren family; and they all had bills like that.
Long Bill Wren always claimed that his real name was William; but
people generally smiled when he made that statement.
It was not often that Rusty met this cousin of his, for Rusty
seldom ventured so far from home as Black Creek. And being very
fond of water, Long Bill did not care to spend any of his valuable
time in Farmer Green's dooryard.
Of course, there was the duck pond not far away--and the river,
too. But the only water really close to Rusty's home was the
watering-trough. And that was entirely too small to please Long
Bill Wren. So no one ever saw him around the farm buildings.
For a long time Rusty had neither seen nor heard of his cousin,
when one day Jolly Robin knocked at his door.
"I won't come in," said Jolly (of course he couldn't have,
anyhow--being far too big to get through Rusty's door!). "I won't
come in, for I merely want to give you a message. Old Mr. Crow came
to the orchard to-day and he asked me to deliver an invitation
from your cousin who lives near Black Creek."
"That's Long Bill!" Rusty Wren exclaimed.
Jolly Robin nodded. "He's going to have a party," he explained.
"And he wants you to come to it."
"When will it take place?" Rusty asked eagerly.
"To-morrow!" said Jolly Robin.
"It's rather short notice," Rusty Wren observed.
"Mr. Crow has been keeping the message for you for some time,"
Jolly Robin explained. "He said he thought it would be more of a
surprise if you didn't know about the party too soon."
"We'll be there, anyhow," Rusty's wife interrupted behind her
husband's back. She had been listening with a good deal of interest
to Jolly's message.
"But you're not invited," Jolly Robin told her. "This is a men's
party--so Mr. Crow says."
"You may tell old Mr. Crow that my husband won't be able to be
present," Mrs. Rusty Wren snapped. "He's going to be very busy
to-morrow, for he promised to help me with my house-cleaning."
Rusty Wren looked worried. But he said nothing more just then. He
wanted to go to his cousin's party. But he did not like to argue
with his wife, especially in the presence of a neighbor.
Soon Jolly Robin said he must go back to the orchard, because he
had to take care of his children while his wife went out to make a
call.
Mrs. Rusty did not urge him to stay. And, since she seemed upset
over something, Rusty thought it just as well if their visitor did
not linger there too long.
"I was just going to the orchard myself to hunt for insects," said
Rusty. "So I'll go with you."
Mrs. Rusty shot a quick look at him.
"Remember! You're going to be busy at home to-morrow!" she warned
him.
"Yes! yes!" he said. And he seemed in a bit of a hurry to get to
the orchard--it couldn't have been _to get away from home_.
XXI
OFF TO BLACK CREEK
As soon as they reached the orchard, Jolly Robin exclaimed,
"There's old Mr. Crow now, over there on the fence! He's come back
to get your answer and take it to Long Bill Wren. I'll have to tell
him you're sorry--but you're going to be too busy to-morrow to go
to the party."
"Tell him----" said Rusty Wren--"tell him that _although_ I expect
to be busy, I am going to my cousin's party just the same."
Jolly Robin stopped and sat down on a branch of an apple tree, he
was so surprised. "My dear sir!" he cried. "You seem to have
forgotten that your wife said you wouldn't be able to accept Long
Bill's invitation."
"My wife----" said Rusty Wren--"my wife sometimes makes mistakes.
And this is one of them. I wouldn't miss my cousin's party for
anything. And I don't intend to, either."
"Good!" cried Jolly Robin. "I'm glad to see that you don't let your
wife manage your affairs, though I _have_ heard differently about
you, for some people say that----" He stopped abruptly and looked
carefully around. Whatever it may have been that he was about to
say, for some reason he did not care to have his wife hear it. And
he happened to think that perhaps Mrs. Robin might be near-by.
"I don't care what people say," Rusty Wren told him. "When my
cousin gives a party it would be a shame if I couldn't go to it."
"I quite agree with you," said Jolly Robin. "And now I'll go and
give old Mr. Crow your answer."
"One moment!" Rusty Wren exclaimed. "What time will my cousin's
party begin?"
"Five o'clock!" Jolly Robin replied. "And it will last till
sundown."
The next morning Rusty Wren helped his wife so spryly that long
before midday the house-cleaning was finished. Although she tried
her best, Mrs. Rusty could think of no more tasks for her husband
to do--except to feed the children. That was a duty that would not
be finished until they were old enough to leave home and shift for
themselves.
On this day Rusty Wren dropped so many dainties into their gaping
mouths that his wife had to tell him that she didn't dare let the
youngsters have anything more to eat until the next day.
"And now you ought to stay in the house and have a good rest until
just before sunset," she told Rusty. "You've worked very hard ever
since dawn. And I know you're tired."
But Rusty declared that he much preferred to be out of doors
enjoying the fine weather.
His wife looked at him sharply when he said that. All day long
neither of them had mentioned the party which Rusty's cousin, Long
Bill Wren, was going to give at five o'clock that afternoon.
"I think," said Rusty, as he moved about uncomfortably under his
wife's gaze, "I think that since I've a little time to spare I'd
better go and see Mr. Frog, the tailor. You know you've been
telling me that my Sunday coat is beginning to look shiny--and I
suppose I really ought to have a new one."
Mrs. Rusty said that it was true--he did need a new coat. And she
assured her husband that she would be delighted to have him go to
the tailor's.
Now, she did not know that Mr. Frog had moved. She thought his shop
was on the banks of Broad Brook. But that was just another mistake
of hers. And if she had known where his tailoring parlors were then
located, she would certainly have raised a good many objections to
Rusty's visiting them on the day of his cousin's party. For Mr.
Frog's shop was on the banks of Black Creek, where Long Bill Wren
spent his summers.
XXII
THE FORGOTTEN GUEST
The shadows were lengthening--for the sun was far over in the
west--when Rusty Wren reached Mr. Frog's tailor's shop overlooking
Black Creek. Rusty pushed open the door and stepped inside,
expecting to find Mr. Frog sitting cross-legged upon his table and
sewing busily, according to the tailor's custom, until sunset,
which marked the close of Mr. Frog's working day.
But Rusty had hardly entered the shop when he bumped into Mr. Frog
with a crash; for Mr. Frog had been hurrying toward the door.
The collision bowled them both over upon the floor. But Mr. Frog
did not appear annoyed in the least.
"How-dy do!" he said, almost before he had picked himself up. "If
you have come to see me on business, I'm sorry to say that I can't
do anything for you to-day.... The fact is, I'm going to a
singing-party this evening. And I don't want to be late."
"Why--I'm going to a party, too!" Rusty Wren exclaimed.
"You must be mistaken--for there's to be no party here," Mr. Frog
told him.
"Oh! The party I'm going to will be held somewhere else," Rusty
Wren explained.
"That's interesting," said Mr. Frog, as he settled his hat more
firmly upon his queerly shaped head. "Who's having it--if I may
ask?"
Rusty Wren looked at the tailor as if he were much surprised.
"Don't you know about it?" he inquired. "Do you mean to say that my
cousin, Long Bill Wren, didn't invite you?"
For a moment Mr. Frog appeared somewhat taken aback.
"He must have forgotten me," he murmured. "I haven't heard a word
about his party before.... But I know it's a mistake," he added,
with a smile.
"No doubt!" said Rusty Wren politely. "I was going to Cousin Bill's
home as soon as you had measured me for a new Sunday coat," he
explained.
"Then come right along now!" Mr. Frog cried heartily. "We'll go
together. For I'm sure that Long Bill didn't mean to forget me. You
know we're the best of friends. I make all his clothes for him;
and he has never yet paid me a penny."
Rusty Wren hesitated. He was not quite sure that his cousin had
intended to invite the nimble tailor to his party.
"But your singing-party!" he reminded Mr. Frog. "You don't want to
miss that!" he said.
Mr. Frog caught him by a wing and laughed gaily.
"Oh! That doesn't matter," he remarked with a careless air. "We
have a singing-party almost every night. I'd much rather go to your
cousin's."
It is not strange that Rusty Wren should feel a little
uncomfortable at the prospect of arriving at a party with a person
who had received no invitation to it. But he could think of no way
of ridding himself of Mr. Frog's company. So the two started off
together towards the home of Long Bill Wren.
Rusty decided, however, that he would take his cousin to one side
and explain to him in private how the tailor had happened to come
with him.
But he soon found that no such explanation was necessary. For a
certain reason, Long Bill Wren was in no wise annoyed. On the
contrary, he seemed quite pleased.
XXIII
A STRANGE MISTAKE
Not wishing to be late at his cousin's party, which he understood
was to begin at five o'clock, Rusty Wren hurried along the bank of
Black Creek, while Mr. Frog did his best to keep pace with him.
Somewhat out of breath, the two arrived shortly at the home of Long
Bill Wren. And, to their surprise, they saw not the least sign of
any other guests.
"It looks as if we were the first to get here," Rusty Wren
remarked, as they drew near Long Bill's house in the reeds.
"Well, somebody has to be first, you know," the tailor observed
easily. "I always like to be early at a party," he added, "because
then I am sure of getting plenty of refreshments."
If there were no other guests to be seen, neither was there any
indication of a party about Long Bill's home. There was nothing to
eat anywhere in sight; and no flag, nor gay Chinese lantern, nor
decoration of any other kind adorned his house.
Rusty Wren had always thought his cousin's house a strange
dwelling. Made of coarse grasses and reed stalks, it was round,
like a big ball, with a doorway in one side. This queer building
was fastened among the reeds a little distance above the ground.
And it seemed to Rusty Wren that it must be a damp and unhealthful
place to live.
"It's odd that your cousin's not here to greet us," Mr. Frog
croaked.
The words were scarcely out of his large mouth when Long Bill
thrust his head and shoulders out of his door--for he had heard the
voices in his front yard. He had on a shocking old coat--not at all
the sort one would choose to wear when one expected guests.
"Well, well!" he exclaimed. "I'm glad to see you, Cousin Rusty. And
I'm certainly surprised, for it's more than a year since you've
paid me a visit."
"Aren't you glad to see me, too?" Mr. Frog piped up a bit
anxiously.