THAT was a great Christmas in the Hollow Tree. The 'Coon and the 'Possum
and the Old Black Crow had been getting ready for it for a long time,
and brought in ever so many nice things to eat, which Mr. Crow had
cooked for them, for Mr. Crow is the best cook of anybody in the Big
Deep Woods. Then Mr. Dog had brought a lot of good things, too, which he
had borrowed from Mr. Man's house, so they had the finest Christmas
dinner that you can think of, and plenty for the next day when it would
be even better, because chicken and turkey and dressing and such things
are always better the next day, and even the _third_ day, with gravy,
than they are when they are first cooked.
[Illustration: THE PANTRY IN THE HOLLOW TREE]
Then, when they were all through and were standing around, smoking their
new pipes and looking at each other's new neckties and other Christmas
things, Mr. Crow said that he and Mr. Squirrel would clear off the table
if the others would get in some wood and stir up the fire and set the
room to rights, so they could gather round and be comfortable by-and-by;
and then, he said, it might snow as much as it liked as long as they had
plenty of wood and things to eat inside.
So then they all skurried around getting on their things to go out after
wood--all except Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel, who set about clearing off
the table and doing up the dishes. And pretty soon Mr. Dog and Mr. 'Coon
and the rest were hopping about where the snow was falling so soft and
silent among the big, leafless trees, gathering nice pieces of wood and
brushing the snow off of them and piling them into the first down-stairs
of the Hollow Tree, which the 'Coon and 'Possum and Old Black Crow use
for their wood-house and general store-room. It was great fun, and they
didn't feel the least bit cold after their warm dinner and with all that
brisk exercise.
Mr. Robin didn't help carry the wood in. He was hardly strong enough for
that, but he hopped about and looked for good pieces, and when he found
one he would call to Mr. 'Coon or Mr. 'Possum, or maybe to one of the
others, to throw it on his shoulder and carry it in, and then he would
tell whoever it happened to be how strong he was and how fine he looked
with that great chunk on his shoulder, and would say that he didn't
suppose there was another 'Coon, or 'Possum, or Turtle, or Rabbit, or
Dog that could begin to stand up straight under such a chunk as that
anywhere outside of a menagerie. Mr. Robin likes to say pleasant things
to his friends, and is always popular. And each one tried to carry the
biggest load of wood to show how strong he was, and pretty soon they had
the lower room of the Hollow Tree piled up high with the finest chunks
and kindling pieces to be found anywhere. Then they all hurried
up-stairs, stamping the snow off their feet, and gathered around the
nice warm fire in the big parlor which was just below the three big
hollow branches where the 'Coon and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow had
their rooms.
Mr. Crow and Mr. Squirrel were through with the table by this time, and
all hands lit their pipes, and looked into the fire, and smoked, and
rested, and thought a little before they began talking--thinking, of
course, of what a good time they were having, and how comfortable and
nice it was to be inside and warm when such a big snow was falling
outside.
Mr. 'Possum was the first one to say anything. He said he had been
thinking of what Mr. Robin had said about them being outside of a
menagerie, and that, come to think about it, he believed he didn't know
what a menagerie was, unless it was a new name for a big dinner, as that
was the only thing he could think of now that they were outside of, and
he said if that was so, and if he could get outside of two menageries,
he thought he could carry in a bigger chunk than any two chunks there
were down-stairs.
Then all the others laughed a good deal, and Mr. 'Coon said he had
thought that perhaps a menagerie was something to wear that would make
anybody who had it on very strong, and able to stand up under a big
load, and to eat as much as Mr. 'Possum could, or even more.
But Mr. Robin said that it didn't mean either of those things. He said
he didn't really know what it did mean himself, but that it must be some
kind of a place that had a great many large creatures in it, for he had
heard his grandmother quite often call his grandfather the biggest goose
outside of a menagerie, though, being very young then, Mr. Robin
couldn't remember just what she had meant by it.
Mr. Rabbit said he thought that the word "menagerie" sounded like some
kind of a picnic, with swings and nice lively games, and Mr. Crow said
that once when he was flying he passed over a place where there was a
big sign that said "Menagerie" on it, and that there were some tents and
a crowd of people and a great noise, but that he hadn't seen anything
that he could carry off without being noticed, so he didn't stop.
Mr. Squirrel thought that from what Mr. Crow said it must be a place
where there would be a lot of fine things to see, and Mr. Turtle said
that he was a good deal over three hundred years old and had often heard
of a menagerie, but that he had never seen one. He said he had always
supposed that it was a nice pond of clear water, with a lot of happy
turtles and fish and wild geese and duck and such things, in it, and
maybe some animals around it, all living happily together, and taken
care of by Mr. Man, who brought them a great many good things to eat. He
had always thought he would like to live in a menagerie, he said, but
that nobody had ever invited him, and he had never happened to come
across one in his travels.
Mr. Dog hadn't been saying anything all this time, but he knocked the
ashes out of his pipe now, and filled it up fresh and lit it, and
cleared his throat, and began to talk. It made him smile, he said, to
hear the different ways people thought of a thing they had never seen.
He said that Mr. Turtle was the only one who came anywhere near to what
a menagerie really was, though of course Mr. Crow _had_ seen one on the
outside. Then Mr. Dog said:
[Illustration: "SLIPPED IN BEHIND HIM WHEN HE WENT INTO THE TENT"]
"I know all about menageries, on the outside and the inside too, for I
have been to one. I went once with Mr. Man, though I wasn't really
invited to go. In fact, Mr. Man invited me to stay at home, and tried to
slip off from me; but I watched which way he went, and took long
roundin's on him, and slipped in behind him when he went into the
tent. He didn't know for a while that I was there, and I wasn't there so
very long. But it was plenty long enough--a good deal longer than I'd
ever stay again, unless I was tied.
"I never saw so many wild, fierce-looking creatures in my life as there
were in that menagerie, and they were just as wild and fierce as they
looked. They had a lot of cages full of them and they had some outside
of cages, though I don't know why they should leave any of those
dangerous animals around where they could damage folks that happened to
come in reach, as I did. Those animals outside didn't look as wild and
fierce as those in the cages, but they were.
"I kept in the crowd, close behind Mr. Man at first, and nobody knew I
was there, but by-and-by he climbed up into a seat to watch some people
all dressed up in fancy clothes ride around a ring on horses, which I
didn't care much about, so I slipped away, and went over to where there
were some things that I wanted to take my time to and see quietly.
"There was an animal about my size and style tied over in one corner of
the tent, behind a rope, with a sign in front of him which said, 'The
Only Tame Hyena in the World.' He looked smiling and good-natured, and I
went over to ask him some questions.
[Illustration: "HE LOOKED SMILING AND GOOD-NATURED, AND I WENT OVER TO
ASK HIM SOME QUESTIONS"]
"But that sign wasn't true. He wasn't the least bit tame, and I'm sure
now that he wasn't smiling. He grabbed me before I had a chance to say a
word, and when I jerked loose, which I did right away, for I didn't want
to stir up any fuss there, I left quite a piece of my ear with the tame
hyena, and tripped backward over the rope and rolled right in front of a
creature called an elephant, about as big as a house and not as useful.
"I suppose they thought _he_ was tame, too, but he must have been tamed
by the same man, for he grabbed me with a kind of a tail that grew on
the end of his nose--a thing a good deal like Mr. 'Possum's tail, only
about a million times as big--and I could hear my ribs crack as he waved
me up and down.
"Of course, as I say, I didn't want to stir up any fuss, but I couldn't
keep still under such treatment as that, and I called right out to Mr.
Man, where he sat looking at the fancy people riding, and told him that
I had had enough of the show, and if he wanted to take any of me home he
ought not to wait very long, but come over that way and see if he
couldn't get the tame elephant to practise that performance on the hyena
or the next dog, because I had had plenty, and was willing to go home
just as I was, all in one piece, even if not very lively.
"Mr. Man _came_, too, and so did a lot of the others. They seemed to
think that I was more to look at than those riding people; and some of
them laughed, though what there was happening that was funny I have
never been able to guess to this day. I kept right on telling Mr. Man
what I wanted him to do, and mebbe I made a good deal of noise about it,
for it seemed to stir up those other animals. There was a cage full of
lions that started the most awful roaring you can think of, and a cage
of crazy-looking things they called monkeys that screeched and howled
and swung back and forth in rings and held on to the bars, and all the
other things joined in, until I couldn't tell whether I was still saying
anything or not. I suppose they were all jealous of the elephant because
of the fun he was having, and howling to be let out so they could get
hold of me too.
"Well, you never heard of such a time. It nearly broke up the show.
Everybody ran over to look, and even the riding people stopped their
horses to enjoy it, too. If it only hadn't been so dangerous and
unpleasant I should have been proud of the way they came to see me
perform.
"But Mr. Man didn't seem to like it much. I heard him tell somebody, as
loud as he could, that I would be killed, and that I was the best dog he
ever had, and that if I _was_ killed he'd sue the show.
"That made me proud, too, but I wished he wouldn't wait to sue the
show, but would do something right away, and just then a man with a
fancy dress on and a stick with a sharp iron hook on it came running up
and said something I didn't understand and hit the elephant with the
hook end of the stick, and he gave me an extra big swing and crack and
flung me half-way across the tent, where I landed on a bunch of hay
right in front of a long-necked thing called a camel--another terrible
tame creature, I suppose--who had me about half eaten up with his old
long under lip, before Mr. Man could get over there.
"When Mr. Man did get hold of me, he said that I'd better take what was
left of me home, for they were going to feed the animals pretty soon,
and that I would likely get mixed up with the bill of fare.
"After that he took me to the entrance and pushed me outside, and I
heard all those fierce creatures in the cages growl and roar louder than
ever, as if they had expected to sample me and were sorry to see me go.
[Illustration: "GAVE ME AN EXTRA BIG SWING AND CRACK"]
"That's what a menagerie is--it's a place where they have all the kinds
of animals and things in the world, for show, and a good many birds, and
maybe turtles, too, but they don't have any fine clear pond. They have
just a big tent, like the one Mr. Crow saw, and a lot of cages inside.
They keep most of the animals in cages, and they ought to keep them all
there, and I don't think they feed them very much, nor the best
things, or they wouldn't look so fierce and hungry.
"They just keep them for Mr. Man and his friends to look at and talk
about, and if Mr. Turtle will take my advice he will keep out of a
menagerie and live in the Wide Blue Water where he was born. I wouldn't
have gone there again unless I had been tied and dragged there, or
unless they had put those tame animals into cages with the others. No
doubt there are some very fine, strong animals in a menagerie, but they
wouldn't be there if they could help it, and if anybody ever invites any
of you to join a menagerie, take my advice and don't do it."
Then Mr. Dog knocked the ashes out of his pipe again, and all the other
Deep Woods People knocked the ashes out of _their_ pipes, too, and
filled them up fresh, and one said one thing, and one said another about
being in a menagerie or out of it, and every one thought it would be a
terrible thing to be shut up in a cage, except Mr. 'Possum, who said he
wouldn't mind it if they would let him sleep enough and give him all he
could eat, but that a cage without those things would be a lonesome
place.
Then Mr. 'Coon said that a little adventure had happened to him once
which he had never mentioned before, because he had never known just
what to make of it; but he knew now, he said, that he had come very near
getting into a menagerie, and he would tell them just what happened.
The Story Teller looked down at the quiet figure in his lap. The Little
Lady's head was nestled close to his shoulder, and her eyes were
straining very hard to keep open.
"I think we will save Mr. 'Coon's story till another night," he said.