Poor Reddy! He didn't know what to do or where to go. He couldn't gohome, for old Granny Fox would drive him out of the house. She hadwarned him time and again never to provoke Jimmy Skunk, and he knew thatshe never would forgive him if he should bring that terrible perfumenear their home. He knew, too, that it would not be long before all thelittle people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows would know whathad happened to him. Sammy Jay would see to that. He knew just how theywould point at him and make fun of him. He would never hear the last ofit. He felt as if he never, never would be able to hold his head and histail up again. Every few minutes he stopped to roll over and over on theground trying to get rid of that dreadful perfume.
When he reached the Green Forest he hurried over to the Laughing Brookto wash out his eyes. It was just his luck to have Billy Mink come alongwhile he was doing this. Billy didn't need to be told what had happened."Phew!" he exclaimed, holding on to his nose. Then he turned and hurriedbeyond the reach of that perfume. There he stopped and made fun ofReddy Fox and said all the provoking things he could think of. Reddytook no notice at all. He felt too miserable to quarrel.
After he had washed his face he felt better. Water wouldn't take awaythe awful smell, but it did take away the smart from his eyes. Then hetried to plan what to do next.
"The only thing I can do is to get as far away from everybody as I can,"thought he. "I guess I'll have to go up to the Old Pasture to live for awhile."
So he started for the Old Pasture, keeping as much out of sight aspossible. On the way he remembered that Old Man Coyote lived there. Ofcourse it would never do to go near Old Man Coyote's home for if hesmelled that awful perfume and discovered that he, Reddy, was the causeof it he would certainly drive him out of the Old Pasture and thenwhere could he go? So Reddy went to the loneliest part of the OldPasture and crept into an old house that he and Granny had dug therelong ago when they had been forced to live in the Old Pasture in thedays when Farmer Brown's boy and Bowser the Hound had hunted them forstealing chickens. There he stretched himself out and was perfectlymiserable.
"It wouldn't be so bad if I had really been to blame, but I wasn't. Ididn't know Jimmy Skunk was in that barrel and I didn't mean to start itrolling down the hill anyway," he muttered. "It was all an accidentand--" He stopped and into his yellow eyes crept a look of suspicion. "Iwonder," said he slowly, "if Peter Rabbit knew that Jimmy Skunk wasthere and planned to get me into all this trouble. I wonder."
VI
PETER RABBIT DOESN'T ENJOY HIS JOKE
All the time that Jimmy Skunk was punishing Reddy Fox for rolling himdown hill in a barrel, and while Reddy was sneaking away to the GreenForest to get out of sight, Peter Rabbit was lying low in the old houseof Johnny Chuck, right near the place where Jimmy Skunk's wild ride hadcome to an end. It had been a great relief to Peter when he had seenJimmy Skunk get to his feet, and he knew that Jimmy hadn't been hurt inthat wild ride. Lying flat in the doorway of Johnny Chuck's old house,Peter could see all that went on without being seen himself, and hecould hear all that was said.
He chuckled as he saw Reddy Fox come up and his eyes were popping rightout with excitement as he waited for what would happen next. He feltsure that Reddy Fox was in for something unpleasant, and he was glad. Ofcourse, that wasn't a bit nice of Peter. Right down in his heart Peterknew it, but he had been chased so often by Reddy and given so manydreadful frights, that he felt now that he was getting even. So hechuckled as he waited for what was to happen. Suddenly that chucklebroke right off in the middle, and Peter cried "Ouch!" He had felt apain as if a hot needle had been thrust into him. It made him almostjump out of the doorway. But he remembered in time that it would never,never do for him to show himself outside, for right away Reddy Fox andJimmy Skunk would suspect that he had had something to do with that wildride of Jimmy's in the barrel. So it would not do to show himself now.No, indeed!
All he could do was to kick and squirm and twist his head around to seewhat was happening. It didn't take long to find out. Even as he looked,he felt another sharp pain which brought another "Ouch!" from him andmade him kick harder than ever. Two very angry little insects were justgetting ready to sting him again, and more were coming. They were YellowJackets, which you know belong to the wasp family and carry very sharplittle lances in their tails. The fact is, this old house of JohnnyChuck's had been deserted so long the Yellow Jackets had decided that asno one else was using it, they would, and they had begun to build theirhome just inside the hall.
Poor Peter! What could he do? He didn't dare go out, and he simplycouldn't stay where he was. Whatever he did must be done quickly, for itlooked to him as if a regular army of Yellow Jackets was coming, andthose little lances they carried were about the most painful things heknew of. By this time he had lost all interest in what was going onoutside. There was quite enough going on inside; too much, in fact. Heremembered that Johnny Chuck digs his house deep down in the ground. Helooked down the long hall. It was dark down there. Perhaps if he wentdown there, these angry little warriors wouldn't follow him. It wasworth trying, anyway.
So Peter scrambled to his feet and scurried down the long hall, and ashe ran, he cried "Ouch! Ouch! Oh! Ohoo!" Those sharp little lances werevery busy, and there was no way of fighting back. At the end of the longhall was a snug little room, very dark but cool and comfortable. It wasjust as he had hoped; the Yellow Jackets did not follow him down there.They had driven him away from their home, which was right near theentrance, and they were satisfied.
But what a fix he was in! What a dreadful fix! He ached and smarted allover. My goodness, how he did smart! And to get out he would have to goright past the Yellow Jacket home again.
"Oh, dear, I wish I had never thought of such a joke," moaned Peter,trying in vain to find a comfortable position. "I guess I am served justright."
I rather think he was, don't you?
VII
SAMMY JAY DOES SOME GUESSING
Sammy Jay is a queer fellow. Although he is a scamp and dearly loves tomake trouble for his neighbors, he is always ready to take their partwhen others make trouble for them. Many are the times he has given themwarning of danger. This is one reason they are quite willing to overlookhis own shortcomings. So, though in many ways he is no better than ReddyFox, he dearly loves to upset Reddy's plans and is very apt to rejoicewhen Reddy gets into trouble. Of course, being right there, he saw allthat happened when Reddy ran against the old barrel at the top of thehill and sent it rolling. He had been quite as much surprised as Reddyto find that there was some one inside, and he had followed Reddy to seewho it was. So, of course, he had seen what happened to Reddy.
Now, instead of being sorry for Reddy, he had openly rejoiced. It seemsto be just that way with a great many people. They like to see otherswho are considered very smart get into trouble. So Sammy had laughed andmade fun of poor Reddy. In the first place it was very exciting, andSammy dearly loves excitement. And then it would make such a splendidstory to tell, and no one likes to carry tales more than does Sammy Jay.He watched Reddy sneak away to the Green Forest, and Jimmy Skunk slowlywalk away in a very dignified manner. Then Sammy flew back to the OldOrchard to spread the news among the little people there. It wasn'tuntil he reached the Old Orchard that he remembered Peter Rabbit.Instead of flying about telling every one what had happened to JimmySkunk and Reddy Fox, he found a comfortable perch in an old apple-treeand was strangely silent. The fact is, Sammy Jay was doing some hardthinking. He had suddenly begun to wonder. It had popped into thatshrewd little head of his that it was very strange how suddenly PeterRabbit had disappeared.
"Of course," thought Sammy, "Jimmy Skunk is sure that Reddy rolled thatbarrel down hill purposely, and I don't wonder that he does think so.But I saw it all, and I know that it was all an accident so far as Reddywas concerned. I didn't know that Jimmy was in that barrel, and Reddycouldn't have known it, because he didn't come up here until after Idid. But Peter Rabbit may have known. Why did Peter run so that he wouldhave to j
ump over that barrel when he could have run right past it?
"Of course, he may have thought that if he could make Reddy run rightslam bang against that barrel it would stop Reddy long enough to givehim a chance to get away. That would have been pretty smart of Peter andquite like him. But somehow I have a feeling that he knew all the timethat Jimmy Skunk was taking a nap inside and that something was bound tohappen if he was disturbed. The more I think of it, the more I believethat Peter did know and that he planned the whole thing. If he did, itwas one of the smartest tricks I ever heard of. I didn't think Peter hadit in him. It was rather hard on Jimmy Skunk, but it got rid of ReddyFox for a while. He won't dare show his face around here for a longtime. That means that Peter will have one less worry on his mind. Hello!Here comes Jimmy Skunk. I'll ask him a few questions."
Jimmy came ambling along in his usual lazy manner. He had quiterecovered his good nature. He felt that he was more than even with ReddyFox, and as he was none the worse for his wild ride in the barrel, hehad quite forgotten that he had lost his temper.
"Hello, Jimmy. Have you seen Peter Rabbit this morning?" cried SammyJay.
Jimmy looked up and grinned. "Yes," said he. "I saw him up here earlythis morning. Why?"
"Did he see you go into that old barrel?" persisted Sammy.
"I don't know," confessed Jimmy. "He may have. What have you got onyour mind, Sammy Jay?"
"Nothing much, only Reddy Fox was chasing him when he ran against thatbarrel and sent you rolling down the hill," replied Sammy.
Jimmy pricked up his ears. "Then Reddy didn't do it purposely!" heexclaimed.
"No," replied Sammy. "He didn't do it purposely. I am quite sure that hedidn't know you were in it. But how about Peter Rabbit? I am wondering.And I'm doing a little guessing, too."
VIII
JIMMY SKUNK LOOKS FOR PETER
Jimmy Skunk looked very hard at Sammy Jay. Sammy Jay looked very hard atJimmy Skunk. Then Sammy slowly shut one eye and as slowly opened itagain. It was a wink.
"You mean," said Jimmy Skunk, "that you guess that Peter Rabbit knewthat I was in that barrel, and that he jumped over it so as to makeReddy Fox run against it. Is that it?"
Sammy Jay said nothing, but winked again. Jimmy grinned. Then he lookedthoughtful. "I wonder," said he slowly, "if Peter did it so as to gaintime to get away from Reddy Fox."
"I wonder," said Sammy Jay.
"And I wonder if he did it just to get Reddy into trouble," continuedJimmy.
"I wonder," repeated Sammy Jay.
"And I wonder if he did it for a joke, a double joke on Reddy andmyself," Jimmy went on, scratching his head thoughtfully.
"I wonder," said Sammy Jay once more, and burst out laughing.
Now Jimmy Skunk has a very shrewd little head on his shoulders. "So thatis your guess, is it? Well, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you areright," said he, nodding his head. "I think I will go look for Peter. Ithink he needs a lesson. Jokes that put other people in danger or makethem uncomfortable can have no excuse. My neck might have been broken inthat wild ride down the hill, and certainly I was made mostuncomfortable. I felt as if everything inside me was shaken out of placeand all mixed up. Even now my stomach feels a bit queer, as if it mightnot be just where it ought to be. By the way, what became of Peter afterhe jumped over the barrel?"
Sammy shook his head. "I don't know," he confessed. "You see, it wasvery exciting when that barrel started rolling, and we knew by thesounds that there was some one inside it. I guess Reddy Fox forgot allabout Peter. I know I did. And when the barrel broke to pieces againstthat stone down there, and you and Reddy faced each other, it was stillmore exciting. After it was over, I looked for Peter, but he was nowherein sight. He hadn't had time to reach the Old Briar-patch. I reallywould like to know myself what became of him."
Jimmy Skunk turned and looked down the hill. Then in his usual slow wayhe started back towards the broken barrel.
"Where are you going?" asked Sammy.
"To look for Peter Rabbit," replied Jimmy. "I want to ask him a fewquestions."
Jimmy Skunk ambled along down the hill. At first he was very angry as hethought of what Peter had done, and he made up his mind that Petershould be taught a lesson he would never forget. But as he ambled along,the funny side of the whole affair struck him, for Jimmy Skunk has agreat sense of humor, and before he reached the bottom of the hill hisanger had all gone and he was chuckling.
"I'm sorry if I did Reddy Fox an injustice," thought he, "but he makesso much trouble for other people that I guess no one else will be sorry.He isn't likely to bother any one for some time. Peter really ought tobe punished, but somehow I don't feel so much like punishing him as Idid. I'll just give him a little scare and let the scamp off with that.Now, I wonder where he can be. I have an idea he isn't very far away.Let me see. Seems to me I remember an old house of Johnny Chuck's notvery far from here. I'll have a look in that."
IX
JIMMY VISITS JOHNNY CHUCK'S OLD HOUSE
Jimmy Skunk was smiling as he ambled towards the old house of JohnnyChuck near the foot of the hill. There was no one near to see him, andthis made him smile still more. You see, the odor of that perfume whichhe had thrown at Reddy Fox just a little while before was very, verystrong there, and Jimmy knew that until that had disappeared no onewould come near the place because it was so unpleasant for every one. ToJimmy himself it wasn't unpleasant at all, and he couldn't understandwhy other people disliked it so. He had puzzled over that a great deal.He was glad that it was so, because on account of it every one treatedhim with respect and took special pains not to quarrel with him.
"I guess it's a good thing that Old Mother Nature didn't make us allalike," said he to himself. "I think there must be something the matterwith their noses, and I suppose they think there is something the matterwith mine. But there isn't. Not a thing. Hello! There is Johnny Chuck'sold house just ahead of me. Now we will see what we shall see."
He walked softly as he drew near to the old house. If Peter was way downinside, it wouldn't matter how he approached. But if Peter should happento be only just inside the doorway, he might take it into his head torun if he should hear footsteps, particularly if those footsteps werenot heavy enough to be those of Reddy or Granny Fox or Old Man Coyote.Jimmy didn't intend to give Peter a chance to do any such thing. IfPeter once got outside that old house, his long legs would soon put himbeyond Jimmy's reach, and Jimmy knew it. If he was to give Peter thefright that he had made up his mind to give him, he would first have toget him where he couldn't run away. So Jimmy walked as softly as he knewhow and approached the old house in such a way as to keep out of sightof Peter, should he happen to be lying so as to look out of the doorway.
At last he reached a position where with one jump he could land right onthe doorstep. He waited a few minutes and cocked his head on one side tolisten. There wasn't a sound to tell him whether Peter was there or not.Then lightly he jumped over to the doorstep and looked in at thedoorway. There was no Peter to be seen.
"If he is here, he is way down inside," thought Jimmy. "I wonder if hereally is here. I think I'll look about a bit before I go in."
Now the doorstep was of sand, as Johnny Chuck's doorsteps always are.Almost at once Jimmy chuckled. There were Peter's tracks, and theypointed straight towards the inside of Johnny Chuck's old house. Jimmylooked carefully, but not a single track pointing the other way could hefind. Then he chuckled again. "The scamp is here all right," hemuttered. "He hid here and watched all that happened and then decided tolie low and wait until he was sure that the way was clear and no onewould see him." In this Jimmy was partly right and partly wrong, as youand I know.
He stared down the long dark doorway a minute. Then he made up his mind."I'll go down and make Peter a call, and I won't bother to knock," hechuckled, and poked his head inside the doorway. But that was as far asJimmy Skunk went. Yes, Sir, that was just as far as Jimmy Skunk went.You see, no sooner did he start to enter that old house of JohnnyChuck's
than he was met by a lot of those Yellow Jackets, and they werein a very bad temper.
Jimmy Skunk knows all about Yellow Jackets and the sharp little lancesthey carry in their tails; he has the greatest respect for them. Hebacked out in a hurry and actually hurried away to a safe distance. Thenhe sat down to think. After a little he began to chuckle again. "I knowwhat happened," said he, talking to himself. "Peter Rabbit popped intothat doorway. Those Yellow Jackets just naturally got after him. Hedidn't dare come out for fear of Reddy Fox and me, and so he went ondown to Jimmy Chuck's old bedroom, and he's down there now, wonderinghow ever he is to get out without getting stung. I reckon I don't needto scare Peter to pay him for that joke. I reckon he's been punishedalready."
X
PETER RABBIT IS MOST UNCOMFORTABLE
If ever any one was sorry for having played pranks on other folks, thatone was Peter Rabbit. I am afraid it wasn't quite the right kind ofsorrow. You see, he wasn't sorry because of what had happened to JimmySkunk and Reddy Fox, but because of what had happened to himself. Therehe was, down in the bedroom of Johnny Chuck's old house, smarting andaching all over from the sharp little lances of the Yellow Jackets whohad driven him down there before he had had a chance to see whathappened to Reddy Fox. That was bad enough, but what troubled Peter morewas the thought that he couldn't get out without once again facingthose hot-tempered Yellow Jackets. Peter wished with all his might thathe had known about their home in Johnny Chuck's old house before ever hethought of hiding there.
The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk Page 2
