Rabbit stirred the whitewash and dipped in the brush, and made a few
strokes, right and left, and then crossed them up and down, and then
right and left again, to get the material on nice and smooth, and stood
off to look at it until it began to look white and clean, because the
sun was hot and dried it very fast; and pretty soon he let Mr. Crow have
the brush. Mr. Crow did very well for the first time, and kept improving
right along, and Jack Rabbit sat in the shade, where it was cool, and
let Mr. Crow go on practising and improving, until he had whitewashed
almost all the fence, and felt so hot and warm he was about ready to
drop, beside being dazzled from looking at the boards that got as white
as snow, with the hot sun shining on them.
Then all at once Mr. Crow noticed something else. He had not been very
careful about splashing the whitewash and had got some of it on
different parts of himself, and especially on the wing that he worked
with, and when he stopped and looked at it, he said, "Good gracious!"
for wherever the whitewash had got on him he was not black any more, but
snow white.
And right then Mr. Crow had an idea. He put the brush in the pail, and
came over and stood in front of Jack Rabbit, and said:
"Why can't you whitewash me?" he said. "I've always thought it would be
pleasant to be white, for a change. I heard of a white crow, once, in
our family, and I always wondered how he got that way. Of course he must
have been whitewashed--I can see it, now, as plain as anything. I am
sure you could whitewash me, Mr. Rabbit, with all the practise you've
had, so that none of the black would show. Whitewash me for Sunday, Mr.
Rabbit, and I will go home and give Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum a great
surprise."
Well, Mr. Rabbit was delighted. He dearly loved to try experiments, and
prepare surprises, and to show how well he could do things. He said he
believed he had heard of people being whitewashed for Sunday, and that
Mr. Crow, who was so nice and smooth outside, would be just the one to
be fixed up in that way. He said Mr. Crow might need more than one coat
to make him seem perfect, but that he would take time and do a good job.
Then he said he had a smaller brush in the house, for fine work, and
would get it right away.
Mr. Crow was already in hot weather costume and only had to lay off his
vest for Jack Rabbit to begin, and pretty soon Mr. Rabbit came back with
the fine brush and went to work. He told Mr. Crow to shut his eyes and
keep them shut until the stuff was dry, as it might smart a little if it
ran in them, and to stand in the sun, which Mr. Crow did. Jack Rabbit
began at the top and whitewashed clear down to his feet, and then told
him to turn around slowly, so the sun could get on all sides of him, and
get him dry enough for a second coat.
[Illustration: GAVE HIM ANOTHER AND VERY HEAVY COAT]
So Mr. Crow turned around and around, and kept his eyes shut, and got
quite dizzy, before Mr. Rabbit told him he could open his eyes now and
see how he liked his appearance as far as gone. And Mr. Crow looked and
said he liked it very much, though he was pretty streaky in places. Mr.
Rabbit said the next coat would surprise him, and told him to shut his
eyes again, which Mr. Crow did, and Jack Rabbit gave him another and
very heavy coat, from head to foot. Then when Mr. Crow had turned and
turned in the sun to dry himself, he looked again and was quite
pleased. He was almost entirely white, now, and Mr. Rabbit said one more
coat would fix him.
So then Mr. Rabbit gave him the last coat and laid the whitewash on
thicker than ever, especially in places, and when Mr. Crow could open
his eyes he went in and looked at himself in Mr. Rabbit's long glass,
and said he never thought anything so astonishing as that could happen
to anybody, and declared he must hurry right off home now, and that he
was going to make up a lot of whitewash and keep himself looking like
that all the time, and his kitchen, too, and perhaps all the rest of the
Hollow Tree, for there was certainly nothing in the world so wonderful
as whitewash.
Then Mr. Crow thanked Mr. Rabbit and hurried off, but pretty soon walked
slower, for, as he got dryer and dryer, the thick whitewash got stiffer
and more caky, and Mr. Crow cracked a good deal as he walked, and he was
afraid his nice new color might come off if he wasn't careful.
[Illustration: WOKE UP AND TOOK ONE LOOK AT THE STRANGE, WHITE CREATURE]
Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon were taking a nap in the sun when Mr. Crow got
back to the Hollow Tree, and didn't hear him until he was standing right
in front of them. Then they both woke up at once and took one look at
the strange, white creature standing over them, almost blinding in the
sun, and each one thought at first he was having a very wonderful dream,
and couldn't speak for enjoying it. But when Mr. Crow started to come
closer they were not so sure about the dream, and both gave a big jump
and made for the down-stairs door of the Hollow Tree, and got inside and
bolted it tight.
That, of course, made Mr. Crow laugh, but not loud enough for them to
hear him, and pretty soon he went to the door and tried the latch, and
then knocked, and Mr. 'Possum called out--
"W-wh-who's there?"
"Why, it's me!" said Mr. Crow. "What have you got the door bolted for?"
And Mr. 'Coon called out, "Oh, Mr. Crow, did you see anything out
there?"
"Why, no," said Mr. Crow. "What made you think so."
And Mr. 'Possum said, "W-we saw something very strange out there, Mr.
Crow--a v-very curious bird!"
"I guess you were dreaming," said Mr. Crow. "There is no bird out here
but me, that I know of. Open the door so I can come in and get the
dinner."
So then Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon pulled back the bolt and opened the
door, but when they saw Mr. Crow standing there, so white and shining,
Mr. 'Possum fainted and Mr. 'Coon got behind a barrel until they heard
Mr. Crow laugh and ask them if his new complexion had changed him so
they didn't know him?
Then Mr. 'Possum came to, and Mr. 'Coon came out, and Mr. Crow told
them all about how it happened, and they all went out in the sun again,
and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum walked around Mr. Crow and admired him and
talked about his great change, and Mr. 'Possum touched him and said his
complexion seemed pretty solid, somewhat like a shell, and Mr. Crow told
him how he had to move rather carefully in it, at first, though very
likely it would limber up in time. Then he told them how he was going to
do the kitchen that way, and perhaps other things, and they all got
excited and talked about it, and Mr. 'Possum said that probably he would
have them give him a coat next winter, to match the snow which would be
handy, nights when he was borrowing chickens from Mr. Man, though he
supposed he would have to be dipped. Then they went in to dinner, and
Mr. Crow set out such things as did not require much exercise, and by
and by they all talked about it a great deal more and decided to have a
regular cleaning up and whitewashing, like Mr. Rabbit's. Mr. 'Coon said
he and Mr. 'Possum would do the cleaning up if Mr. Crow would attend to
the whitewashing, as he had learned how, and they would all begin next
day.
II
WHAT CAME OF MR. CROW'S
GREAT EXPERIMENT
Well, Mr. Crow slept sitting up in a chair that night, for fear of
damaging his new complexion, and next morning was out very early with a
basket, on the way to Mr. Man's lime-kiln in the edge of the Big West
Hills.
It had rained a little in the night, and Mr. Crow was rather afraid he
might get his new complexion wet on the bushes, so he stepped very
carefully and was not really comfortable, though proud of his looks. He
was gone a good while, but Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum were still asleep
when he got back, so he emptied his lime into an old barrel behind the
stove where he intended to mix it by and by, and started the breakfast
before calling them. They didn't get up right away, though, so Mr. Crow
sat down and had a cup of coffee and a biscuit or two, and then called
to them that he was going over to borrow Mr. Rabbit's whitewash brush.
He might be a little while getting back, he said, but that they could
start their job any time.
So then he left, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum had their breakfast, and
talked about what they would do, and decided that Mr. 'Coon could set
things to rights in the house, and Mr. 'Possum could rake the leaves.
After that they had some more coffee and talked some more, and Mr.
'Possum stretched and said he hadn't slept very well, and didn't know as
he cared so much about cleaning up things this morning as he had
yesterday, but he supposed they must be getting at it, as Mr. Crow
seemed to have his mind set on changing things in general since Mr.
Rabbit had got him started in the direction of whitewash, which improved
him, of course, in some ways; though it certainly made him less homelike
and familiar and seemed to affect his cooking.
Then Mr. 'Possum yawned again and went down-stairs and got the rake, and
went out and began to make a few little piles of leaves, which were
quite wet from the rain, and did not rake very easy, and made him tired.
So pretty soon he called up to Mr. 'Coon, who was sweeping and moving
furniture, and asked him what he should do with the leaves, as they were
too wet to burn, and if he left them there until they were dry the wind
would blow them all about again.
Mr. 'Coon looked out the up-stairs window and told him he'd better fetch
them up and put them in something in Mr. Crow's kitchen, so he could
have them to light his fire with when they got dry. Then pretty soon he
came down and helped Mr. 'Possum, and they carried them up, and saw Mr.
Crow's barrel, and threw them in until it was quite full, then poked
them down and put in some more, and said how glad Mr. Crow would be to
have them, and that now they would go outside and rest a little, until
they saw him coming.
So they went out and sat on a log and smoked, and were wondering what
kept Mr. Crow so long, when Mr. 'Possum said he smelled something
curious, and just then Mr. 'Coon happened to look up at the window, and
said:
[Illustration: "GOOD GRACIOUS ALIVE! IF THE HOLLOW TREE ISN'T ON FIRE!"]
"Goodness gracious alive, if the Hollow Tree isn't on fire!"
Then Mr. 'Possum looked up, too, and said, "As sure as you're born, and
we shall lose everything!"
And just then they saw Mr. Crow coming, on the run, for he had seen it
even before they had--Mr. Crow being always a great hand to see things.
[Illustration: MR. 'COON RODE DOWN ON IT LIKE A SLED]
"Hurry up, and get out our things," he said; and didn't stop, but ran
right to the door and up the stairs, with Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum
after him, though there was a good deal of smelly smoke there, and they
expected the flames to break out any minute. Mr. Crow said the fire
seemed to be in the kitchen, and commenced to grab the parlor furniture
and hand it to them, and Mr. 'Possum called to him to get his best suit
out of his room, if possible, as he never expected to be able to afford
another. Mr. 'Coon ran through to his room, and brought out some
pictures he thought a good deal of, and came dragging his trunk with his
free hand, and slipped when he got it to the stairs, and rode down on
it like a sled, while everybody worked carrying and throwing things, and
Mr. Crow forgot all about his fine new complexion, which began to crack
off and scatter until it was all over the floor and stairs. Then pretty
soon they all felt so choky from that queer smelly smoke that they went
out in the air and piled up their things at a safe distance and stood,
waiting for the flames to break out and burn down their big Hollow Tree
they had lived in so long.
But for some reason the flames did not break out, and by and by the
smoke seemed to get less. Then it really got a good deal less, until
there wasn't any to speak of, and after a while the Hollow Tree people
went to the down-stairs door and looked in, and, though there was plenty
of smell, there was no smoke. Mr. 'Possum said it smelt a good deal like
Mr. Man's lime-kiln on a wet morning. Then Mr. Crow had an idea.
"Did you put anything in that barrel behind the stove," he said to Mr.
'Possum and Mr. 'Coon.
"Why, yes," Mr. 'Coon said, "we put in the leaves that Mr. 'Possum raked
up. They were wet, and we put them there to dry, so you could have them
to cook with."
Then Mr. Crow went straight up the stairs and back to his kitchen, and
there was the barrel of leaves, still smoking a little, though not much,
for the lime was about "slacked." Mr. Crow took hold of the barrel, and
Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum, too, and they carried it down-stairs and
outside, and when they got it far enough away from the tree they emptied
it out and kicked the leaves over the lime, which was still smoking a
little and seemed very hot. Then Mr. Crow looked down at himself, and
said:
"I don't care much about whitewash, anyway."
And Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum looked at him, too, which they had been
too busy to do before, and Mr. 'Coon said:
"It doesn't seem to last very well."
And Mr. 'Possum said, "Mr. Crow, you have a new complexion every day."
For the whitewash had come off of Mr. Crow in patches, until he looked
like a black-and-white crazy quilt. And just then it began to rain
again, and they all hurried to carry in their things; and when they got
them all in the tree again Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum began to straighten
them, but Mr. Crow said he thought he would go outside a little and
enjoy the shower. Then pretty soon it poured pitchforks, but still Mr.
Crow didn't come in, and when Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum looked out of
the upper window they saw him hopping about in it, and waving, and
sometimes rolling in the leaves, and mopping his face as if he liked it
better than anything; and by and by, when the rain was over and he came
in, there was no more whitewash, and he was the blackest, shiniest Old
Black Crow that ever was.
Then Mr. 'Coon said that, after all, there was nothing like a natural
complexion.
And Mr. Crow said: "The trouble about whitewash is that it's too hard to
keep it on."
Mr. 'Possum, who was resting in a big chair, after his hard morning's
work, opened his eyes just long enough to say, "It's too hard to live up
to"; and went sound asleep.
MR. 'COON'S STAR STORY
MR. 'COON EXPLAINS THE STARS
AND HOW THEY ARE MADE
One very pleasant June night the Hollow Tree people and Jack Rabbit
walked over to the edge of the world and sat down to talk and smoke and
look at the stars.
Mr. 'Possum said he always liked to look at the stars when he had
anything on his mind, because they seemed so far away from all his
troubles, and if he looked at them long enough his troubles seemed to
get far away, too. He said he supposed the stars were fully two miles
away, some of them, though the little ones would have to be closer or
one would not be able to see them. Very likely the moon, being so big,
might be farther away than any, and if it was really another world, as
Mr. Rabbit had once explained to them,[6] it must be still a good deal
bigger than it looks, and very far away, indeed, probably as much as
seven miles, though no one would think so to see it coming up full on a
clear night behind the Blackberry-patch. Mr. 'Possum said that once,
when he was quite young, he had tried to get over there to catch it, but
had not been able to arrive in time.
Then all the Hollow Tree people and Jack Rabbit looked up at the sky--at
the different kinds of stars, and the patterns they made, such as the
Big Dipper, and the Seven Sisters, and at the Milky Way, that seemed
broader and milkier than usual; and nobody said anything, until Mr.
'Coon happened to remark:
"I saw Mr. Man _making_ the stars, once. It was very interesting, though
dangerous; I nearly got hit by one."
Then Mr. Rabbit and the others were very much interested, and Mr. Rabbit
said:
"What a curious idea! How is it you never told us about that before?"
"Well," said Mr. 'Coon, "it was a good while ago, and the only people I
told about it then didn't believe it. I haven't thought of it for a long
time, and, besides, I supposed all smart people knew about Mr. Man
having that job, and the careless way he works at it."
"I wish you would tell us," said Mr. Rabbit, "if you can remember
clearly just what you think happened on the night you speak of."
"I don't think anything about it," said Mr. 'Coon. "It was a good
while ago, but I remember exactly how it was as well as if it were only
last week. I'm not likely ever to forget it. It was this way:
[Illustration: I WAS VERY YOUNG]
"We needed a chicken pretty badly in our family, and my big brother, who
generally went after them, said it was about time I was learning to do
something, and sent me over to Mr. Man's to get it. I was very young,
and nobody had ever told me the best way to go about borrowing a chicken
from Mr. Man. Chickens used to roost in trees near Mr. Man's house, in
those days, and I knew my folks generally waited until he had gone to
bed, which I supposed was only because they didn't like to disturb him.
It is too bad that grown people do not explain things carefully to young
folks--it would save many accidents.
"Well, I liked the idea of being sent for a chicken. It made me feel
grown up. I didn't care to be out late, though, so I started quite
early--about sunset--and walked along slowly, enjoying the evening, for
it was summer-time, early in July--the Fourth--a date I am sure I shall
never forget.
"It was a good ways from our place to Mr. Man's house, and it was about
eight o'clock when I got there. Mr. Man and his folks had not gone to
bed yet, but were out in the yard doing something, or getting ready to
do something, and I was very much interested to know what it was. I
really forgot all about the chicken I had come for, and went up quite
near and sat in some young gooseberry-bushes to watch things.
"Mr. Man and Mrs. Man and their little boy all seemed to be very busy.
They brought some chairs out in the yard, and a table with a pitcher and
some glasses--in case they were thirsty, Mrs. Man said, it being so
warm--and then Mr. Man brought out a box of things, and Mrs. Man told
him to set it some distance off, to avoid accidents, so he set it just
over by the gooseberry-bushes, quite close to me. I didn't know what
Mrs. Man meant then by avoiding accidents, but I did later.
"I wanted ever so much to see what was in that box, and decided that
presently, when they got interested in something else, I would step out
and take a look at it. But they seemed to be interested in the _box_
most of the time, and Mr. Man's little boy kept asking every minute if
it wasn't dark enough now, and by and by Mr. Man said he thought it was,
and came over to the box and took out something and carried it over
where the others were, and seemed to be striking a match, and then, all
at once, there was a great swishing sound, and a long tail of fire that
went climbing to the sky, and when it got there suddenly seemed to blow
up and send out six or seven of the most beautiful stars, while Mr.
Man's little boy jumped about and shouted, 'Hurrah for the Fourth of
July!' Being pretty badly scared, I didn't see just what became of those
stars, but I suppose some of them are among those we see up there now,
though perhaps some of them didn't stick, but turned into falling stars,
then, or later on.
"Well, Mr. Man and his little boy kept right at work making the stars,
as hard as they could, and I had a very good time, while it lasted. I
came out of the gooseberry-bushes where I could see well, and every time
they sent up a batch of stars on that tail of fire and Mr. Man's boy
shouted and danced, I danced about, too, and felt like shouting for the
Fourth of July, which I decided must be star-making day every year.
[Illustration: BUT MOST OF ALL I WAS ANXIOUS TO SEE IN THAT BOX]
"But most of all I was anxious to see in that box. It seemed quite dark
inside, and I couldn't understand where all the fire that they made the
stars out of could come from, and I don't understand that part of it
yet. I only know what happened next, which was this:
"Mr. Man and his little boy seemed to get through with the first part of
the star-making performance, for I heard Mr. Man say, 'That's all of
those. Now we'll have the Roman candles,' which I judged must be some
different stars, perhaps little ones, because Mr. Man's boy said, 'Oh, I
can do those--I can do the Roman candles.' Then Mr. Man came over and
got something out of the box again, and I couldn't stand it any longer,
I was so curious; so when he had gone back I slipped over and peeked in.
[Illustration: A BIG YELLOW ONE JUST GRAZED MY LEFT EAR]
"It was light enough for my eyes, and I could make out a number of
curious-shaped little packages still in the box--some round and long,
some round and short, and some flat like wheels or six-cornered, and
some coiled around and around like little snails, and nothing among them
like anything I had ever seen before. I couldn't imagine how those
things could make stars, and was just about to take out one and examine
it when there was a bright light and the Roman candles began to work and
send up beautiful round stars right above our heads, first one way and
then another, lighting up everything quite plainly. Just then Mr. Man's
little boy must have looked in my direction, for he shouted right out,
'Oh, look! there's a young coon!' and, without stopping to think, being
so young himself, he aimed his Roman candle in my direction, and shot
those stars straight at me. One big yellow one just grazed my left ear
and scared me so I couldn't move at first. Then a big red one singed my
back fur, and I commenced to dodge and get in motion. And just then a
big blue star-ball came straight toward me. I thought I was gone then,
but I wasn't. It didn't hit me; it fell short and went in the box.
"Well, there must have been ever so many of the best stars wasted that
night. Before I could get fairly turned around those curious things I
had seen in there began to go off. You never heard such a popping and
fizzing and spluttering and banging, and you never could imagine such
a flashing and flaming and wriggling of dangerous materials as that
blue star-ball started.
[Illustration: I NOTICED A SCARED CHICKEN]
"Of course I didn't stay right there to enjoy it. About the first pop
that came from that star-box I was headed in the other direction and up
a tree, where I could get a good view and be out of range. It was most
exciting. Every minute something new came out of that box--fiery snake
things, and whirlers, and all sorts of fancy stuff, and things like
bouquets of flowers, which I suppose would have been up there in the sky
now for us to look at, if they hadn't been wasted so recklessly; and Mr.
Man and his family all came running with pails of water, but were afraid
to get near enough to put it on, until the star-stuff was nearly used
up; and just then I noticed a scared chicken on the limb next mine, so I
took it and went home, though it wasn't a very good one, being picked
out in that careless way.
"I told my folks about seeing Mr. Man and _his_ folks making the stars,
but they didn't think much of my story. When I showed them the singed
place on my back they said that I had probably been shot at, as I
deserved to be for trying to borrow a chicken before Mr. Man had gone to
bed, and that I had imagined or made up the rest. But I hadn't, for it
all happened just as I have been telling it now. I don't know whether
Mr. Man makes stars on the Fourth of July every year or not. I could
have gone back to see if I had wanted to, but I didn't want to. I saw
him do it once, which was plenty; and if he hadn't wasted a lot of his
stuff we would have some finer stars than any I can see up there now."
Mr. Rabbit smoked thoughtfully a minute. Then he said: "That is
certainly a very remarkable story, but I can't believe that those were
real stars that Mr. Man and his family were making. I think those must
all have been just shooting stars, and meteors, and comets and such
things, that are always flying about and changing. There is a story in
my family that accounts for the other stars, and seems more probable,
because it happened a very long time ago, when 'most anything could be
true and when all the first things began."
"Very likely," said the 'Coon, "but what I saw was plenty true enough to
suit me, while it lasted."
FOOTNOTES:
[6] "On the Edge of the World," in _The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods
Book_.
MR. RABBIT'S STAR STORY
JACK RABBIT TELLS OF HIS GRANDPAW'S
LONG LADDER THAT TOUCHED THE SKY
This is the story that Jack Rabbit told to the Hollow Tree people when
they sat together on the edge of the world, and hung their feet over the
Big Nowhere and looked at the stars.