Mother West Wind When Stories

by Thornton W. Burgess

  Produced by David Widger from page images generouslyprovided by the Internet Archive

  MOTHER WEST WIND "WHEN" STORIES

  By Thornton W. Burgess

  Author Of "Old Mother West Wind," "The Bed Time Story-Books," Etc.

  Illustrations in Color by Harrison Cady

  Boston: Little, Brown, And Company 1917

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  DEDICATION

  To all little children and to all those crowned with the glory of manyyears who still retain that priceless possession, the heart of a child,this little volume is affectionately dedicated.

  MOTHER WEST WIND "WHEN" STORIES

  I. WHEN MR. BLUEBIRD WON HIS BEAUTIFUL COAT

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  |OF all the joyous sounds of all the year there is none more loved byPeter Rabbit, and the rest of us for that matter, than the soft whistleof Winsome Bluebird in the spring. The first time Peter hears it healways jumps up in the air, kicks his long heels together, and does afunny little dance of pure joy, for he knows that Winsome Bluebird isthe herald of sweet Mistress Spring, and that she is not far behind him.It is the end of the shivery, sad time and the beginning of the happy,glad time, and Peter rejoices when he hears that sweet, soft voice whichis sometimes so hard to locate, seeming to come from everywhere andnowhere.

  So Peter loves Winsome Bluebird and never tires of seeing him about. Youknow he wears a very, very beautiful coat of blue, the blue of the skywhen it is softest, and you love to lie on your back and look up into itand dream and dream. It always has seemed to Peter that Winsome's coatis one of the loveliest he ever has seen, as indeed it is, and that itis quite right and proper and just as it should be that one having sucha beautiful voice and bringing such a beautiful message should himselfbe beautiful. He said as much one day when he had run over to theSmiling Pool to pay his respects to Grandfather Frog.

  "Chug-a-rum! Certainly. Of course," replied Grandfather Frog. "WinsomeBluebird has a beautiful nature and his beautiful coat is the rewardwhich Old Mother Nature has given him. It has been in the family eversince his grandfather a thousand times removed was brave enough tobecome the herald of Mistress Spring."

  "Oh, Grandfather Frog, that sounds like a story," cried Peter. "Please,please tell it to me, for I love Winsome Bluebird, and I know Ishall love him more when I have learned more about him. Hisgreat-great-ever-so-great-grandfather must have done something very fineto have won such a lovely reward."

  "He did," replied Grandfather Frog. "He became the herald of MistressSpring when no one else would, and bravely carried his message ofgladness and joy where it was sadly needed, in spite of cold andhardship which no one else was willing to face."

  "Please, please tell me all about it," begged Peter.

  Grandfather Frog appeared to consider for a few minutes, and Peterwaited anxiously. Then Grandfather Frog cleared his voice. "I will,"said he, "because you ought to know it. Everybody ought to know it, andWinsome Bluebird certainly never will tell it himself. He is too modestfor that. It happened a great while ago when the world was young. Mr.Bluebird was one of the quietest and most modest of all the birds. Hewore just a modest gray coat, and no one took any particular notice ofhim. In fact, he didn't even have a name. He never quarreled with hisneighbors. He never was envious of those to whom Old Mother Nature hadgiven beautiful coats, or if he were, he never showed it. He just mindedhis own affairs and did his best to do his share of the work of theGreat World, for even in the beginning of things there was something foreach one to do.

  "Old Mother Nature was very busy those days making the Great World a fitplace in which to live, and as soon as she had started a new family ofbirds or animals she had to leave them to take care of themselves andget along as best they could. Those who were too lazy or too stupid totake care of themselves disappeared, and others took their places. Therewas nothing lazy or stupid about Mr. Bluebird, and he quickly learnedhow to take care of himself and at the same time to keep on the best ofterms with his neighbors.

  "When the place where the first birds lived became too crowded and oldKing Eagle led them out into the new land Old Mother Nature had beenpreparing for them, Mr. Bluebird was one of the first to follow him. Thenew land was very beautiful, and there was plenty of room and plenty toeat for all. Then came Jack Frost with snow and ice and drove all thebirds back to the place they had come from. They made up their mindsthat they would stay there even if it were crowded. But after a whileOld Mother Nature came to tell them that soon Jack Frost would be drivenback from that wonderful new land, and sweet Mistress Spring would wakenall the sleeping plants and all the sleeping insects up there so thatit would be as beautiful as it was before, even more beautiful than theplace where they were now. She said that she should expect them to go tothe new land and make it joyous with their songs and build their homesthere and help her to keep the insects and worms from eating all thegreen things.

  "'But first I want a herald to go before Mistress Spring to tell thosewho have lived there all through the time of snow and ice that MistressSpring is coming. Who will go as the herald of sweet Mistress Spring?'asked Old Mother Nature.

  "All the birds looked at one another and shivered, and then one by onethey tried to slip out of sight. Now Mr. Bluebird had modestly waitedfor some of his big, strong neighbors to offer to take the message ofgladness up into that frozen land, but when he saw them slip away one byone, his heart grew hot with shame for them, and he flew out before OldMother Nature. 'I'll go,' said he, bobbing his head respectfully.

  "Old Mother Nature just had to smile, because compared with some of hisneighbors Mr. Bluebird was so very small. 'What can such a little fellowas you do?' she asked. 'You will freeze to death up there, for it isstill very cold.'

  "'If you please, I can at least try,' replied Mr. Bluebird modestly. 'IfI find I can't go on, I can come back.'

  "'And what reward do you expect?' asked Old Mother Nature.

  "'The joy of spreading such good news as the coming of Mistress Springwill be all the reward I want,' replied Mr. Bluebird.

  "This reply so pleased Old Mother Nature that she then and there madeMr. Bluebird the herald of Mistress Spring and started him on his longjourney. It _was_ a long journey and a hard journey, harder, very muchharder for Mr. Bluebird than the same journey is for Winsome these days.You see, everything was new to him. And then it was so cold! He couldn'tget used to the cold. It seemed sometimes as if he certainly wouldfreeze to death. At these times, when he sat shivering and shaking, hewould remember that sweet Mistress Spring was not very far behindand that he was her herald. This would give him courage, and he wouldbravely keep on. Whenever he stopped to rest, he would whistle the newsthat Mistress Spring was coming, and sometimes, just to keep up his owncourage, he would whistle while he was flying, and he found it helped.To keep warm at night he crept into hollow trees, and it was thus helearned how snug and safe and comfortable such places were, and he madeup his mind that in just such a place he would build his nest when thetime came.

  "As he passed on he left behind him great joy, and Mistress Spring foundas she journeyed north that all in the forests and on the meadows wereeagerly awaiting her, for they had heard the message of her coming; andshe was glad and told Old Mother Nature how well her herald had done hiswork. When he had completed his errand, Mr. Bluebird built a home andwas as modest and retiring as ever. He didn't seem to think that he haddone anything out of the usual. He simply rejoiced in his heart that hehad been able to do what Old Mother Nature had requested, and it neverentered his head that he should have any other reward than the knowledgethat he had done his best and that he had brought cheer and hope tomany.

  "When Jack Frost moved down from the f
ar North in the fall, all thebirds journeyed south again, and of course Mr. Bluebird went with them.The next season when it was time for Mistress Spring to start north, OldMother Nature assembled all the birds, and this time, instead of askingwho would carry the message, she called Mr. Bluebird out before them andasked if he were willing to be the herald once more. Mr. Bluebird saidthat he would be glad to be the herald if she wished it. Then Old MotherNature told all the birds how brave Mr. Bluebird was and how faithfuland true, and she made all the other birds feel ashamed, especiallythose bigger and stronger than Mr. Bluebird. Then she said: 'WinsomeBluebird, for that is to be your name from now on, I here and nowappoint you the herald of Mistress Spring, and the honor shall descendto your children and your children's children forever and ever, and youshall be one of the most loved of all the birds. And because you are aherald, you shall have a bright coat, as all heralds should have; andbecause you are true and faithful, your coat shall be blue, as blue asthe blue of the sky.'

  "She reached out and touched Mr. Bluebird, and sure enough his sobergray coat turned the most wonderful blue. Then once more he started onhis long journey and he whistled his message more joyously than before.And because his whistle brought joy and gladness, and because he wasbeautiful to see, it came about just as Old Mother Nature had said itwould, that he was one of the most loved of all the birds, even as hisgreat-great-ever-so-great-grandson is to-day."

  Peter drew a long breath. "Thank you, Grandfather Frog," said he. "Ihave always loved Winsome Bluebird and now I shall love him more."