Happy Jack

by Thornton W. Burgess

  "Breakfast!" called a voice from downstairs.

  "Coming!" replied Farmer Brown's boy as he put Happy Jack on the tableby a dish of nuts and began to scramble into his clothes.

  CHAPTER XXVII

  HAPPY JACK IS AFRAID TO GO HOME

  Safety first is the best rule to insure a long life.

  _Happy Jack._

  Happy Jack didn't dare go home. Can you think of anything more dreadfulthan to be afraid to go to your own home? Why, home is the dearest placein the world, and it should be the safest. Just think how you would feelif you should be away from home, and then you should learn that itwouldn't be safe for you to go back there again, and you had no otherplace to go. It often happens that way with the little people of theGreen Meadows and the Green Forest. It was that way with Happy JackSquirrel now.

  You see, Happy Jack knew that Shadow the Weasel is not one to give upeasily. Shadow has one very good trait, and that is persistence. He isnot easily discouraged. When he sets out to do a thing, usually he doesit. If he starts to get a thing, usually he gets it. No, he isn't easilydiscouraged. Happy Jack knows this. No one knows it better. So HappyJack didn't dare to go home. He knew that any minute of night or dayShadow might surprise him there, and that would be the end of him. Hemore than half suspected that Shadow was at that very time hidingsomewhere along the way ready to spring out on him if he should try togo back home.

  He had stayed in the room of Farmer Brown's boy until Mrs. Brown hadcome to make the bed. Then he had jumped out the window into the bigmaple tree. He wasn't quite sure of Mrs. Brown yet. She had kindly eyes.They were just like the eyes of Farmer Brown's boy. But he didn't feelreally acquainted yet, and he felt safer outside than inside the roomwhile she was there.

  "Oh dear, oh dear! What shall I do? I have no home, and so To keep me warm and snug and safe I have no place to go!"

  Happy Jack said this over and over as he sat in the maple tree, tryingto decide what was to be done.

  "I wonder what ails that Squirrel. He seems to be doing a lot ofscolding," said Mrs. Brown, as she looked out of the window. And thatshows how easy it is to misunderstand people when we don't know allabout their affairs. Mrs. Brown thought that Happy Jack was scolding,when all the time he was just frightened and worried and wondering wherehe could go and what he could do to feel safe from Shadow the Weasel.

  Because he didn't dare to go back to the Green Forest, he spent most ofthe day in the big maple tree close to Farmer Brown's house. The windowhad been closed, so he couldn't go inside. He looked at it longingly agreat many times during the day, hoping that he would find it open. Buthe didn't. You see, it was opened only at night when Farmer Brown's boywent to bed, so that he would have plenty of fresh air all night. Ofcourse Happy Jack didn't know that. All his life he had had plenty offresh air all the time, and be couldn't understand how people could livein houses all shut up.

  Late that afternoon Farmer Brown's boy, who had been at school all day,came whistling into the yard. He noticed Happy Jack right away. "Hello!You back again! Isn't one good meal a day enough?" he exclaimed.

  "He's been there all day," said his mother, who had come to the doorjust in time to overhear him. "I don't know what ails him."

  Then Farmer Brown's boy noticed how forlorn Happy Jack looked. Heremembered Happy Jack's fright that morning.

  "I know what's the matter!" he cried. "It's that Weasel. The poor littlechap is afraid to go home. We must see what we can do for him. I wonderif he will stay if I make a new house for him. I believe I'll try it andsee."

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  HAPPY JACK FINDS A NEW HOME

  They say the very darkest clouds Are lined with silver bright and fair, Though how they know I do not see, And neither do I really care. It's good to believe, and so I try To believe 'tis true with all my might, That nothing is so seeming dark But has a hidden side that's bright.

  _Happy Jack._

  Certainly things couldn't look much darker than they did to Happy JackSquirrel as he sat in the big maple tree at the side of Farmer Brown'shouse, and saw jolly, round, red Mr. Sun getting ready to go to bedbehind the Purple Hills. He was afraid to go to his home in the GreenForest because Shadow the Weasel might be waiting for him there. He wasafraid of the night which would soon come. He was cold, and he washungry. Altogether he was as miserable a little Squirrel as ever wasseen.

  He had just made up his mind that he would have to go look for a hollowin one of the trees in the Old Orchard in which to spend the night, whenaround the corner of the house came Farmer Brown's boy with somethingunder one arm and dragging a ladder. He whistled cheerily to Happy Jackas he put the ladder against the tree and climbed up. By this time HappyJack had grown so timid that he was just a little afraid of FarmerBrown's boy, so he climbed as high up in the tree as he could get andwatched what was going on below. Even if he was afraid, there wascomfort in having Farmer Brown's boy near.

  For some time Farmer Brown's boy worked busily at the place where thebranch that Happy Jack knew so well started out from the trunk of thetree towards the window of Farmer Brown's boy's room. When he had fixedthings to suit him, he went down the ladder and carried it away withhim. In the crotch of the tree he had left the queer thing that he hadbrought under his arm. In spite of his fears, Happy Jack was curious.Little by little he crept nearer. What he saw was a box with a roundhole, just about big enough for him to go through, in one end, and infront of it a little shelf. On the shelf were some of the nuts that heliked best.

  For a long time Happy Jack looked and looked. Was it a trap? Somehow hecouldn't believe that it was. What would Farmer Brown's boy try to traphim for when they were such good friends? At last the sight of the nutswas too much for him. It certainly was safe enough to help himself tothose. How good they tasted! Almost before he knew it, they were gone.Then he got up courage enough to peep inside. The box was filled withsoft hay. It certainly did look inviting in there to a fellow who had nohome and no place to go. He put his head inside. Finally he went whollyin. It was just as nice as it looked.

  "I believe," thought Happy Jack, "that he made this little house justfor me, and that he put all this hay in here for my bed. He doesn't knowmuch about making a bed, but I guess he means well."

  With that he went to work happily to make up a bed to suit him, and bythe time the first Black Shadow had crept as far as the big maple tree,Happy Jack was curled up fast asleep in his new house.

  CHAPTER XXIX

  FARMER BROWN'S BOY TAKES A PRISONER

  The craftiest and cleverest, the strongest and the bold Will make mistakes like other folks, young, middle-aged, and old.

  _Happy Jack._

  Happy Jack Squirrel was happy once more. He liked his new house, thehouse that Farmer Brown's boy had made for him and fastened in the bigmaple tree close by the house in which he himself lived. Happy Jack andFarmer Brown's boy were getting to be greater friends than ever. Everymorning Happy Jack jumped over to the window-sill and then in at theopen window of the room of Farmer Brown's boy. There he was sure to finda good breakfast of fat hickory nuts. When Farmer Brown's boy overslept,as he did sometimes, Happy Jack would jump up on the bed and waken him.He thought this great fun. So did Farmer Brown's boy, though sometimeswhen he was very sleepy he pretended to scold, especially on Sundaymornings when he did not have to get up as early as on other days.

  Of course, Black Pussy had soon discovered that Happy Jack was living inthe big maple tree, and she spent a great deal of time sitting at thefoot of it and glaring up at him with a hungry look in her eyes,although she wasn't hungry at all, for she had plenty to eat. Severaltimes she climbed up in the tree and tried to catch him. At first he hadbeen afraid, but he soon found out that Black Pussy was not at all athome in a tree as he was. After that, he rather enjoyed having her tryto catch him. It was almost like a game. It was great fun to scold ather and let her get very near him and then, just as she was sure thatshe was goi
ng to catch him, to jump out of her reach. After a while shewas content to sit at the foot of the tree and just glare at him.

  Happy Jack had only one worry now, and this didn't trouble him a greatdeal. It was possible that Shadow the Weasel might take it into his headto try to surprise him some night. Happy Jack knew that by this timeShadow must know where he was living, for of course Sammy Jay had foundout, and Sammy is one of those who tells all he knows. Still, being soclose to Farmer Brown's boy gave Happy Jack a very comfortable feeling.

  Now all this time Farmer Brown's boy had not forgotten Shadow the Weaseland how he had driven Happy Jack out of the Green Forest, and he hadwondered a great many times if it wouldn't be a kindness to the otherlittle people if he should trap Shadow and put him out of the way. Butyou know he had given up trapping, and somehow he didn't like to thinkof setting a trap, even for such a mischief-maker as Shadow. Thensomething happened that made Farmer Brown's boy very, very angry. Onemorning, when he went to feed the biddies, he found that Shadow hadvisited the henhouse in the night and killed three of his best pullets.That decided him. He felt sure that Shadow would come again, and hemeant to give Shadow a surprise. He hunted until he found the littlehole through which Shadow had got into the henhouse, and there he set atrap.

  "I don't like to do it, but I've got to," said he. "If he had beencontent with one, it would have been bad enough, but he killed threejust from the love of killing, and it is high time that something bedone to get rid of him."

  The very next morning Happy Jack saw Farmer Brown's boy coming from thehenhouse with something under his arm. He came straight over to the footof the big maple tree and put the thing he was carrying down on theground. He whistled to Happy Jack, and as Happy Jack came down to seewhat it was all about, Farmer Brown's boy grinned. "Here's a friend ofyours you probably will be glad to see," said he.

  At first, all Happy Jack could make out was a kind of wire box. Then hesaw something white inside, and it moved. Very suspiciously Happy Jackcame nearer. Then his heart gave a great leap. That wire box was a cage,and glaring between the wires with red, angry eyes was Shadow theWeasel! He was a prisoner! Right away Happy Jack was so excited that heacted as if he were crazy. He no longer had a single thing to be afraidof. Do you wonder that he was excited?

  CHAPTER XXX

  A PRISONER WITHOUT FEAR

  A bad name is easy to get but hard to live down.

  _Happy Jack._

  Shadow the Weasel was a prisoner. He who always had been free to go andcome as he pleased and to do as he pleased was now in a little narrowcage and quite helpless. For once he had been careless, and this was theresult. Farmer Brown's boy had caught him in a trap. Of course, heshould have known better than to have visited the henhouse a second timeafter killing three of the best pullets there. He should have knownthat Farmer Brown's boy would be sure to do something about it. Thetruth is, he had yielded to temptation when common sense had warned himnot to. So he had no one to blame for his present difficulty buthimself, and he knew it.

  At first he had been in a terrible rage and had bitten at the wiresuntil he had made his mouth sore. When he had made sure that the wireswere stouter than his teeth, he wisely stopped trying to get out in thatway, and made up his mind that the only thing to do was to watch for achance to slip out, if the door of the cage should happen to be leftunfastened.

  Of course it hurt his pride terribly to be made fun of by those whoalways had feared him. Happy Jack Squirrel was the first one of these tosee him. Farmer Brown's boy had put the cage down near the foot of thebig maple tree in which Happy Jack was living, because Shadow had drivenhim out of the Green Forest. As soon as Happy Jack had made sure thatShadow really and truly was a prisoner and so quite harmless, he hadacted as if he were crazy. Perhaps he was--crazy with joy. You see, heno longer had anything to be really afraid of, for there was no one butShadow from whom he could not get away by running into his house. BillyMink was the only other one who could follow him there, and Billy wasnot likely to come climbing up a tree so close to Farmer Brown's house.

  So Happy Jack raced up and down the tree in the very greatestexcitement, and his tongue went quite as fast as his legs. He wantedeverybody to know that Shadow was a prisoner at last. At first he didnot dare go very close to the cage. You see, he had so long fearedShadow that he was still afraid of him even though he was so helpless.But little by little Happy Jack grew bolder and came very close. Andthen he began doing something not at all nice. He began calling Shadownames and making fun of him, and telling him how he wasn't afraid ofhim. It was all very foolish and worse--it was like hitting a foe whowas helpless.

  Of course Happy Jack hastened to tell everybody he met all about Shadow,so it wasn't long before Shadow began to receive many visitors. WheneverFarmer Brown's boy was not around there was sure to be one or more ofthe little people who had feared Shadow to taunt him and make fun ofhim. Somehow it seems as if always it is that way when people get intotrouble. You know it is very easy to appear to be bold and brave whenthere is nothing to be afraid of. Of course that isn't bravery at all,though many seem to think it is.

  IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE SHADOW BEGAN TO RECEIVE MANYVISITORS.]

  Now what do you think that right down in their hearts all these littlepeople who came to jeer at Shadow the Weasel hoped they would see? Why,they hoped they would see Shadow afraid. Yes, Sir, that is just whatthey hoped. But they didn't. That is where they were disappointed. Notonce did Shadow show the least sign of fear. He didn't know what FarmerBrown's boy would do with him, and he had every reason to fear that ifhe was not to be kept a prisoner for the rest of his natural life,something dreadful would be the end. But he was too proud and too braveto let any one know that any such fear ever entered his mind. Whateverhis faults, Shadow is no coward. He boldly took bits of meat whichFarmer Brown's boy brought to him, and not once appeared in the leastafraid, so that, much as he disliked him, Farmer Brown's boy actuallyhad to admire him. He was a prisoner, but he kept just as stout a heartas ever.

  CHAPTER XXXI

  WHAT FARMER BROWN'S BOY DID WITH SHADOW

  Ribble, dibble, dibble, dab! Some people have the gift of gab! Some people have no tongues at all To trip them up and make them fall.

  _Happy Jack._

  It is a fact, one of the biggest facts in all the world, that tonguesmake the greatest part of all the trouble that brings uncomfortablefeelings, and bitterness and sadness and suffering and sorrow. If itwasn't for unruly, careless, mean tongues, the Great World would be amillion times better to live in, a million times happier. It is becauseof his unruly tongue that Sammy Jay is forever getting into trouble. Itis the same way with Chatterer the Red Squirrel. And it is just the sameway with a great many little boys and girls, and with grown-ups as well.

  When the little people of the Green Forest and Green Meadows who fearShadow the Weasel found that he was a prisoner, many of them tookparticular pains to visit him when the way was clear, just to make funof him and tease him and tell him that they were not afraid of him andthat they were glad that he was a prisoner, and that they were suresomething dreadful would happen to him and they hoped it would. Shadowsaid never a word in reply. He was too wise to do that. He just turnedhis back on them. But all the time he was storing up in his mind allthese hateful things, and he meant, if ever he got free again, to makelife very uncomfortable for those whose foolish tongues were trying tomake him more miserable than he already felt.

  But these little people with the foolish tongues didn't stop to think ofwhat might happen. They just took it for granted that Shadow never againwould run wild and free in the Green Forest, and so they just let theirtongues run and enjoyed doing it. Perhaps they wouldn't have, if theycould have known just what was going on in the mind of Farmer Brown'sboy. Ever since he had found Shadow in the trap which he had set for himin the henhouse, Farmer Brown's boy had been puzzling over what heshould do with his prisoner. At first he had thought he would keep himin a cage the rest of his life
. But somehow, whenever he looked intoShadow's fierce little eyes and saw how unafraid they looked, he got tothinking of how terrible it must be to be shut up in a little narrowcage when one has had all the Green Forest in which to go and come. Thenhe thought that he would kill Shadow and put him out of his misery atonce.

  "He killed my pullets, and he is always hunting the harmless littlepeople of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows, so he deserves to bekilled," thought Farmer Brown's boy. "He's a pest."

  Then he remembered that after all Shadow was one of Old Mother Nature'slittle people, and that he must serve some purpose in Mother Nature'sgreat plan. Bad as he seemed, she must have some use for him. Perhaps itwas to teach others through fear of him how to be smarter and takebetter care of themselves and so be better fitted to do their parts. Themore he thought of this, the harder it was for Farmer Brown's boy tomake up his mind to kill him. But if he couldn't keep him a prisonerand he couldn't kill him, what could he do?

  He was scowling down at Shadow one morning and puzzling over this when ahappy idea came to him. "I know what I'll do!" he exclaimed. Withoutanother word he picked up the cage with Shadow in it and started offacross the Green Meadows, which now, you know, were not green at all butcovered with snow. Happy Jack watched him out of sight. He had gone inthe direction of the Old Pasture. He was gone a long time, and when hedid return, the cage was empty.