VIII
THE FUSS IN THE BIG PINE
Peter Rabbit hopped down the Crooked Little Path to the Lone Little Pathand down the Lone Little Path to the home of Johnny Chuck. Johnny Chucksat on his doorstep dreaming. They were very pleasant dreams, verypleasant dreams indeed. They were such pleasant dreams that for onceJohnny Chuck forgot to put his funny little ears on guard. So JohnnyChuck sat on his doorstep dreaming and heard nothing.
Lipperty-lipperty-lip down the Lone Little Path came Peter Rabbit. Hesaw Johnny Chuck and he stopped long enough to pluck a long stem ofgrass. Then very, very softly he stole up behind Johnny Chuck. Reachingout with the long stem of grass, he tickled one of Johnny Chuck's ears.
Johnny Chuck slapped at his ear with a little black hand, for he thoughta fly was bothering him, just as Peter Rabbit meant that he should.Peter tickled the other ear. Johnny Chuck shook his head and slapped atthis with the other little black hand. Peter almost giggled. He satstill a few minutes, then tickled Johnny Chuck again. Johnny slappedthree or four times at the imaginary fly. This time Peter clapped bothhands over his mouth to keep from laughing.
Once more he tickled Johnny Chuck. This time Johnny jumped clear off hisdoorstep. Peter laughed before he could clap his hands over his mouth.Of course Johnny Chuck heard him and whirled about. When he saw PeterRabbit and the long stem of grass he laughed, too.
"Hello, Peter Rabbit! You fooled me that time. Where'd you come from?"asked Johnny Chuck.
"Down the Lone Little Path from the Crooked Little Path and down theCrooked Little Path from the top of the Hill," replied Peter Rabbit.
Then they sat down side by side on Johnny Chuck's doorstep to watchReddy Fox hunting for his dinner on the Green Meadows.
Pretty soon they heard Blacky the Crow cawing very loudly. They couldsee him on the tip-top of a big pine in the Green Forest on the edge ofthe Green Meadows.
"Caw, caw, caw," shouted Blacky the Crow, at the top of his lungs.
In a few minutes they saw all of Blacky's aunts and uncles and cousinsflying over to join Blacky at the big pine in the midst of the GreenForest. Soon there was a big crowd of crows around the big pine, alltalking at once. Such a racket! Such a dreadful racket! Every fewminutes one of them would fly into the big pine and yell at the top ofhis lungs. Then all would caw together. Another would fly into the bigpine and they would do it all over again.
Peter Rabbit began to get interested, for you know Peter has a verygreat deal of curiosity.
"Now I wonder what Blacky the Crow and his aunts and his uncles and hiscousins are making such a fuss about," said Peter Rabbit.
"I'm sure I don't know," replied Johnny Chuck. "They seem to be having agood time, anyway. My gracious, how noisy they are!"
Just then along came Sammy Jay, who is, as you know, first cousin toBlacky the Crow. He was coming from the direction of the big pine.
"Sammy! Oh, Sammy Jay! What is all that fuss about over in the bigpine?" shouted Peter Rabbit.
Sammy Jay stopped and carefully brushed his handsome blue coat, forSammy Jay is something of a dandy. He appeared not to have heard PeterRabbit.
"Sammy Jay, are you deaf?" inquired Peter Rabbit.
Now of course Sammy Jay had seen Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck all thetime, but he looked up as if very much surprised to find them there.
"Oh, hello, Peter Rabbit!" said Sammy Jay. "Did you speak to me?"
"No, oh, no," replied Peter Rabbit in disgust. "I was talking tomyself, just thinking out loud. I was wondering how many nuts a Jaycould steal if he had the chance."
Johnny Chuck chuckled and Sammy Jay looked foolish. He couldn't find aword to say, for he knew that all the little meadow people knew how heonce was caught stealing Happy Jack's store of nuts.
"I asked what all that fuss over in the big pine is about," continuedPeter Rabbit.
"Oh," said Sammy Jay, "my cousin, Blacky the Crow, found Hooty the Owlasleep over there, and now he and his aunts and his uncles and hiscousins are having no end of fun with him. You know Hooty the Owl cannotsee in the daytime very well, and they can do almost anything to himthat they want to. It's great sport."
"I don't see any sport in making other people uncomfortable," saidJohnny Chuck.
"Nor I," said Peter Rabbit. "I'd be ashamed to own a cousin like Blackythe Crow. I like people who mind their own affairs and leave otherpeople alone."
Sammy Jay ran out his tongue at Peter Rabbit.
"You are a nice one to talk about minding other folk's affairs!" jeeredSammy Jay.
"Peter Rabbit's ears are long; I wonder why! I wonder why! Because to hear what others say He's bound to try! he's bound to try."
It was Peter Rabbit's turn to look discomfited.
"Anyway, I don't try to bully and torment others and I don't steal," heretorted.
"Sammy Jay's a handsome chap And wears a coat of blue. I wonder if it's really his Or if he stole _that_, too."
Just then Johnny Chuck's sharp eyes caught sight of something stealingalong the edge of the Green Meadows toward the Green Forest and the bigpine.
"There's Farmer Brown's boy with a gun," cried Johnny Chuck. "There'sgoing to be trouble at the big pine if Blacky the Crow doesn't watchout. That's what comes of being so noisy."
Peter Rabbit and Sammy Jay stopped quarreling to look. Sure enough,there was Farmer Brown's boy with his gun. He had heard Blacky the Crowand his aunts and his uncles and his cousins and he had hurried to gethis gun, hoping to take them by surprise.
But Blacky the Crow has sharp eyes, too. Indeed, there are nonesharper. Then, too, he is a mischief-maker. Mischief-makers are alwayson the watch lest they get caught in their mischief. So Blacky the Crow,sitting on the tip-top of the big pine, kept one eye out for troublewhile he enjoyed the tormenting of Hooty the Owl by his aunts and hisuncles and his cousins. He had seen Farmer Brown's boy even beforeJohnny Chuck had. But he couldn't bear to spoil the fun of tormentingHooty the Owl, so he waited just as long as he dared. Then he gave thesignal.
"Caw, caw, caw, caw!" shouted Blacky at the top of his lungs.
"Caw, caw, caw, caw!" replied all his aunts and uncles and cousins,rising into the air in a black cloud. Then, with Blacky in the lead,they flew over on to the Green Meadows, laughing and talking noisily asthey went.
Farmer Brown's boy did not try to follow them, for he knew that it wasof not the least bit of use. But he was curious to learn what the crowshad been making such a fuss about, so he kept on towards the big pine.
Johnny Chuck watched him go. Suddenly he remembered Hooty the Owl, andthat Hooty cannot see well in the daytime. Very likely Hooty would thinkthat the crows had become tired of tormenting him and had gone off oftheir own accord. Farmer Brown's boy would find him there andthen--Johnny Chuck shuddered as he thought of what might happen to Hootythe Owl.
"Run, Peter Rabbit, run as fast as you can down on the Green Meadowswhere the Merry Little Breezes are at play and send one of them to tellHooty the Owl that Farmer Brown's boy is coming with a gun to the bigpine! Hurry, Peter, hurry!" cried Johnny Chuck.
Peter did not need to be told twice. He saw the danger of Hooty the Owl,and he started down the Lone Little Path on to the Green Meadows so fastthat in a few minutes all Johnny Chuck and Sammy Jay could see of himwas a little spot of white, which was the patch on the seat of Peter'spants, bobbing through the grass on the Green Meadows.
Johnny Chuck would have gone himself, but he is round and fat androly-poly and cannot run fast, while Peter Rabbit's legs are long andmeant for running. In a few minutes Johnny Chuck saw one of the MerryLittle Breezes start for the big pine as fast as he could go. Johnnygave a great sigh of relief.
Farmer Brown's boy kept on to the big pine. When he got there he foundno one there, for Hooty the Owl had heeded the warning of the MerryLittle Breeze and had flown into the deepest, darkest part of the GreenForest, where not even the sharp eyes of Blacky the Crow were likely tofind him.
And back on
his doorstep Johnny Chuck chuckled to himself, for he washappy, was Johnny Chuck, happy because he possessed the best thing inthe world, which is contentment.
And this is all I am going to tell you about the fuss in the bigpine.
Mother West Wind's Animal Friends Page 8
