"What have you got on your mind, Peter?" he asked.
"I--I was just thinking how perfectly splendid it would be if you wouldgo up there and gnaw a way out of his prison for Chatterer," repliedPeter timidly.
"Huh!" grunted Prickly Porky. "Huh! Some folks think my wits are prettyslow, but even I know better than that. Put on your thinking cap again,Peter Rabbit."
"Why can't you? You are not afraid of Bowser the Hound or Farmer Brown'sboy, and everybody else is, excepting Jimmy Skunk," persisted Peter.
"For the very good reason that if I could gnaw into his prison,Chatterer could gnaw out. If he can't gnaw his way out with those sharpteeth of his, I certainly can't gnaw in. Where's your common sense,Peter Rabbit?"
"That's so. I hadn't thought of that," replied Peter slowly andsorrowfully. "I must try to think of some other way to help Chatterer."
"I'd be willing to try if it was of any use. But it isn't," saidPrickly Porky, who didn't want Peter to think that he really was ashard-hearted as he had seemed at first.
Illustration: "I'd be willing to try it if it was of any use. But itisn't," said Prickly Porky.
So Peter bade Prickly Porky good-by and started for the dear oldBriar-patch to try to think of some other way to help Chatterer. On theway he waked up Unc' Billy Possum and Bobby Coon, but they couldn't givehim any help. "There really doesn't seem to be any way I can help,"sighed Peter. And there really wasn't.
XX CHATTERER HAS ANOTHER GREAT SURPRISE
Chatterer had never had so many surprises--good surprises--in all hislife, as since the day he had been caught in a trap in Farmer Brown'scorn-crib. In the first place, it had been a great surprise to him thathe had not been given to Black Pussy, as he had fully expected to be.Then had come the even greater surprise of finding that Farmer Brown'sboy was ever and ever so much nicer than he had thought. A latersurprise had been the wire wheel in his cage, so that he could run tohis heart's content. It was such a pleasant and wholly unexpectedsurprise that it had quite changed Chatterer's feelings towards FarmerBrown's boy.
The fact is, Chatterer could have been truly happy but for one thing--hewas a prisoner. Yes, Sir, he was a prisoner, and he couldn't forget itfor one minute while he was awake. He used to watch Farmer Brown's boyand wish with all his might that he could make him understand howdreadful it was to be in a prison. But Farmer Brown's boy couldn'tunderstand what Chatterer said, no matter how hard Chatterer tried tomake him. He seemed to think that Chatterer was happy. He just didn'tunderstand that not all the good things in the world could make up forloss of freedom--that it is better to be free, though hungry and cold,than in a prison with every comfort.
Chatterer had stood it pretty well and made the best of things untilSammy Jay had found him, and Reddy Fox had made fun of him, and PeterRabbit had peeped at him from behind the old stone wall. The very sightof them going where they pleased and when they pleased had been too muchfor Chatterer, and such a great longing for the Green Forest and the OldOrchard filled his heart that he could think of nothing else. He justsat in a corner of his cage and looked as miserable as he felt. He losthis appetite. In vain Farmer Brown's boy brought him the fattest nutsand other dainties. He couldn't eat for the great longing for freedomthat filled his heart until it seemed ready to burst. He no longer caredto run in the new wire wheel which had given him so much pleasure atfirst. He was homesick, terribly homesick, and he just couldn't help it.
Farmer Brown's boy noticed it, and his face grew sober and thoughtful.He watched Chatterer when the latter didn't know that he was about, andif he couldn't understand Chatterer's talk, he could understandChatterer's actions. He knew that he was unhappy and guessed why. Onemorning Chatterer did not come out of his hollow stump as he usually didwhen his cage was placed on the shelf outside the farmhouse door. Hejust didn't feel like it. He stayed curled up in his bed for a long,long time, too sad and miserable to move. At last he crawled up andpeeped out of his little round doorway. Chatterer gave a little gasp andrubbed his eyes. Was he dreaming? He scrambled out in a hurry and peepedthrough the wires of his cage. Then he rubbed his eyes again and rushedover to the other side of the cage for another look. His cage wasn't onthe usual shelf at all! It was on the snow-covered stone wall at theedge of the Old Orchard.
Chatterer was so excited he didn't know what to do. He raced around thecage. Then he jumped into the wire wheel and made it spin round andround as never before. When he was too tired to run any more, he jumpedout. And right then he discovered something he hadn't noticed before.The little door in the top of his cage was open! It must be that FarmerBrown's boy had forgotten to close it when he put in Chatterer'sbreakfast. Chatterer forgot that he was tired. Like a little red flashhe was outside and whisking along the snow-covered stone wall straightfor his home in the Old Orchard.
"Chickaree! Chickaree! Chickaree!" he shouted as he ran.
XXI CHATTERER HEARS THE SMALL VOICE
The very first of the little meadow and forest people to see Chattererafter he had safely reached the Old Orchard, was Tommy Tit theChickadee. It just happened that Tommy was very busy in the veryapple-tree in which was the old home of Drummer the Woodpecker whenChatterer reached it. You know Chatterer had moved into it for thewinter just a little while before he had been caught in the corn-crib byFarmer Brown's boy.
Yes, Sir, Tommy was very busy, indeed. He was so busy that, sharp as hisbright little eyes are, he had not seen Chatterer racing along thesnow-covered old stone wall. It wasn't until he heard Chatterer's clawson the trunk of the apple-tree that Tommy saw him at all. Then he was sosurprised that he lost his balance and almost turned a somersault in theair before he caught another twig. You see, he knew all about Chattererand how he had been kept a prisoner by Farmer Brown's boy.
"Why! Whye-e! Is this really you, Chatterer?" he exclaimed. "However didyou get out of your prison? I'm glad, ever and ever so glad, that yougot away."
Chatterer flirted his tail in the saucy way he has, and his eyestwinkled. Here was just the best chance ever to boast and brag. He couldtell Tommy Tit how smart he had been--smart enough to get away fromFarmer Brown's boy. Tommy Tit would tell the other little people, andthen everybody would think him just as smart as Unc' Billy Possum; andyou know Unc' Billy really was smart enough to get away from FarmerBrown's boy after being caught. Everybody knew that he had been aprisoner, and now that he was free, everybody would believe whatever hetold them about how he got away. Was there ever such a chance to makehis friends and neighbors say: "What a smart fellow he is!"
"I--I--" Chatterer stopped. Then he began again. "You see, it was thisway: I--I--" Somehow, Chatterer couldn't say what he had meant to say.It seemed as if Tommy Tit's bright, merry eyes were looking right intohis head and heart and could see his very thoughts. Of course theycouldn't. The truth is that little small voice inside, which Chattererhad so often refused to listen to when he was tempted to do wrong, wastalking again. It was saying: "For shame, Chatterer! For shame! Tell thetruth. Tell the truth." It was that little small voice that madeChatterer hesitate and stop.
"You don't mean to say that you were smart enough to fool Farmer Brown'sboy and get out of that stout little prison he made for you, do you?"asked Tommy Tit.
"No," replied Chatterer, almost before he thought. "No, I didn't. Thefact is, Tommy Tit, he left the door open purposely. He let me go.Farmer Brown's boy isn't half so bad as some people think."
"Dee, dee, dee," laughed Tommy Tit. "I've been telling a lot of youfellows that for a long time, but none of you would believe me. Now Iguess you know it. Why, I'm not the least bit afraid of Farmer Brown'sboy--not the least little bit in the world. If all the little forest andmeadow people would only trust him, instead of running away from him, hewould be the very best friend we have."
"Perhaps so," replied Chatterer doubtfully. "He was very good to mewhile I was in his prison, and--and I'm not so very much afraid of himnow. Just the same, I don't mean to let him get hands on me again."
"Pooh!" said Tomm
y Tit. "Pooh! I'd just as soon eat out of his hand."
"That's all very well for you to say, when you are flying around free,but I don't believe you dare go up to his house and prove it," retortedChatterer.
"Can't now," replied Tommy. "I've got too much to do for him right now,but some day I'll show you. Dee, dee, dee, chickadee! I'm wasting mytime talking when there is such a lot to be done. I am clearing hisapple-trees of insect eggs."
"Ha, ha, ha! Go it, you little red scamp!" shouted a voice behind him.
Then Chatterer knew that Farmer Brown's boy had not left the little dooropen by mistake, but had given him his freedom, and right then he knewthat they were going to be the best of friends.
XXII TOMMY TIT MAKES GOOD HIS BOAST
"Dee, dee, dee, chickadee! See me! See me!" Tommy Tit the Chickadee keptsaying this over and over, as he flew from the Green Forest up throughthe Old Orchard on his way to Farmer Brown's dooryard, and his voice wasmerry. In fact, his voice was the merriest, cheeriest sound to be heardthat bright, snapping, cold morning. To be sure there were other voices,but they were not merry, nor were they cheery. There was the voice ofSammy Jay, but it sounded peevish and discontented. And there was thevoice of Blacky the Crow, but it sounded harsh and unpleasant. And therewas the voice of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, but Chatterer was scoldingjust from habit, and his voice was not pleasant to hear.
So every one who heard Tommy Tit's cheery voice that cold winter morningjust had to smile. Yes, Sir, they just had to smile, even Sammy Jay andBlacky the Crow. They just couldn't help themselves. When Tommy reachedthe stone wall that separated the Old Orchard from Farmer Brown'sdooryard, his sharp eyes were not long in finding Peter Rabbit, andHappy Jack the Gray Squirrel, and Chatterer hiding in the old wall wherethey could peep out and see all that happened in Farmer Brown'sdooryard. Looking back through the Old Orchard, he saw what looked likea little bit of the blue, blue sky flitting silently from tree to tree.It was Sammy Jay. Over in the very top of a tall maple-tree, a long wayoff, was a spot of black. Tommy didn't need to be told that it wasBlacky the Crow, who didn't dare come any nearer.
Tommy fairly bubbled over with joy. He knew what it all meant. He knewthat Peter Rabbit and Happy Jack and Chatterer and Sammy Jay and Blackythe Crow had come to see him make good his boast to Chatterer that hewould eat from the hand of Farmer Brown's boy, and that not one of themreally believed that he would do it. He tickled all over and cut up allsorts of capers, just for pure joy. Finally he flew over to themaple-tree that grows close by Farmer Brown's house.
"Dee, dee, dee, chickadee! See me! See me!" called Tommy Tit, and hisvoice sounded cheerier than ever and merrier than ever.
Then the door of Farmer Brown's house opened, and out stepped FarmerBrown's boy and looked up at Tommy Tit, and the look in his eyes wasgentle and good to see. He pursed up his lips, and from them came thesoftest, sweetest whistle, and it sounded like "Phoe-be."
Peter Rabbit pinched himself to be sure that he was awake, for it wasTommy Tit's own love note, and if Peter had not been looking straight atFarmer Brown's boy, he would have been sure that it was Tommy himselfwho had whistled.
"Phoe-be," whistled Farmer Brown's boy again.
"Phoe-be," replied Tommy Tit, and it was hard to say which whistle wasthe softest and sweetest.
"Phoe-be," whistled Farmer Brown's boy once more and held out his hand.In it was a cracked hickory nut.
"Dee, dee, dee! See me! See me!" cried Tommy Tit and flitted down fromthe maple-tree right on to the hand of Farmer Brown's boy, and hisbright little eyes twinkled merrily as he helped himself to a bit of nutmeat.
Peter Rabbit looked at Happy Jack, and Happy Jack looked at Chatterer,and all three acted as if they couldn't believe their own eyes. Thenthey looked back at Farmer Brown's boy, and there on his head sat TommyTit.
"Dee, dee, dee, chickadee! See me! See me!" called Tommy Tit, and hisvoice was merrier than ever, for he had made good his boast.
XXIII CHATTERER GROWS VERY, VERY BOLD
"I'm not afraid. I am afraid. I'm not afraid. I am afraid. I'm notafraid."
Chatterer kept saying these two things over and over and over again tohimself. You see, he really was afraid, and he was trying to makehimself believe that he wasn't afraid. He thought that perhaps if hesaid ever and ever so many times that he wasn't afraid, he mightactually make himself believe it. The trouble was that every time hesaid it, a little voice, a little, truthful voice down inside, seemed tospeak right up and tell him that he was afraid.
Poor Chatterer! It hurt his pride to have to own to himself that hewasn't as brave as little Tommy Tit the Chickadee. His common sense toldhim that there was no reason in the world why he shouldn't be. Tommy Titwent every day and took food from the hand of Farmer Brown's boy. Itseemed to Chatterer, and to Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel, and to PeterRabbit, and to Sammy Jay, and to Blacky the Crow, all of whom had seenhim do it, as if it were the very bravest thing they ever had seen, andtheir respect for Tommy Tit grew wonderfully.
But Tommy Tit himself didn't think it brave at all. No, Sir, Tommy knewbetter. You see, he has a great deal of common sense under the littleblack cap he wears.
"It may have been brave of me to do it the first time," thought he tohimself, when the others told him how brave they thought him, "but itisn't brave of me now, because I know that no harm is going to come tome from Farmer Brown's boy. There isn't any bravery about it, and itmight be just the same way with Chatterer and all the other littleforest and meadow people, if only they would think so, and give FarmerBrown's boy half a chance."
Chatterer was beginning to have some such thoughts himself, as he triedto make himself think that he wasn't afraid. He heard the door of FarmerBrown's house slam and peeped out from the old stone wall. There wasFarmer Brown's boy with a big, fat hickory nut held out in the mosttempting way, and Farmer Brown's boy was whistling the same gentlelittle whistle he had used when Chatterer was his prisoner, and he hadbrought good things for Chatterer to eat. Of course Chatterer knewperfectly well that that whistle was a call for him, and that that bigfat hickory nut was intended for him. Almost before he thought, he hadleft the old stone wall and was half way over to Farmer Brown's boy.Then he stopped short. It seemed as if that little voice inside hadfairly shouted in his ears: "I am afraid."
It was true; he was afraid. He was right on the very point of turning toscurry back to the old stone wall, when he heard another voice. Thistime it wasn't a voice inside. No, indeed! It was a voice from the topof one of the apple-trees in the Old Orchard, and this is what it said:
"Coward! Coward! Coward!"
It was Sammy Jay speaking.
Now it is one thing to tell yourself that you are afraid, and it isquite another thing to be told by some one else that you are afraid.
"No such thing! No such thing! I'm not afraid!" scolded Chatterer, andthen to prove it, he suddenly raced forward, snatched the fat hickorynut from the hand of Farmer Brown's boy, and was back in the old stonewall. It was hard to tell which was the most surprised--Chattererhimself, Farmer Brown's boy, or Sammy Jay.
"I did it! I did it! I did it!" boasted Chatterer.
"You don't dare do it again, though!" said Sammy Jay, in the mostprovoking and unpleasant way.
"I do too!" snapped Chatterer, and he did it. And with the taking ofthat second fat nut from the hand of Farmer Brown's boy, the very lastbit of fear of him left Chatterer, and he knew that Tommy Tit theChickadee had been right all the time when he insisted that there wasnothing to fear from Farmer Brown's boy.
"Why," thought Chatterer, "if I would have let him, he would have beenmy friend long ago!" And so he would have.
And this is all about Chatterer the Red Squirrel for now. Sammy Jayinsists that it is his turn now, and so the next book will be about hisadventures.
THE END
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The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel Page 5
