Читать книгу The Club at Crow's Corner - Otis James - Страница 3

Mr. Bunny Rabbit hopped up on a fallen tree where he could the better be seen while telling his story, and where, also, he might have eyes and ears on the alert for danger. A cautious old fellow is Bunny, else he would not be alive this day, for among the wood folk there is more than one who has a fondness for rabbit pie or stew, and that member of the Rabbit family who lives to have children of his own has given good proof that he keeps his wits about him the greater portion of the time.

"I was telling you about Cheeko's foolishness, and how nearly it cost him his life," Mr. Bunny said after a pause so long that it really seemed, for the time, as if he had forgotten the story.

"Of course, old Mr. Crow flew back to the oak tree as soon as Slowly Turtle had let go of his leg, and, oh me! oh my! how he did scold about Mr. Turtle, never once seeming to think that Cheeko Squirrel had anything to do with the matter. Nearly every member of the club pretended to believe that Slowly was the only one who should be blamed, although they knew that Cheeko is a master hand at making mischief; but it so happened that he wasn't there to make trouble, and the result was that the president of the club had everything his own way.

"It was voted that Mr. Turtle should never be made welcome at Crow's Corner; that he had behaved in an unseemly manner, and ought to be shunned by every member of the club. This matter had no more than been settled when we heard Master Squirrel screaming and chattering as if he were the only real thing in the woods, and as his voice sounded nearer and nearer, telling that he was coming to join the company, I looked around to see what had become of the Professor and the 'Squire.

"If you'll believe it, they were nowhere to be seen, and I'm such a silly thing, sometimes, that I really believed they had given up the scheme I saw them working on. Then I got interested in what Mr. Crow was saying, for he started in the best he knew how to have all the members of the club vote that Slowly Turtle and his entire family should be turned out of the pond, and never allowed to come near it again.

"Cocky Robin wanted to know who'd do the 'turning out,' and how it was to be done, but the old man Crow was so angry he wouldn't go into that part of the business at all, and claimed that after the vote had been taken it would be time enough to settle what he called the 'minor points.'

"Just then up came Cheeko, his tail spread over his head and waving to and fro in that way which always makes me feel seasick. It doesn't seem possible, as I tell it to you now, but it is a fact that, not content with having been the means of giving Mr. Crow the sorest leg you ever saw on a bird, he must needs begin to brag about what he had done in the way of making trouble in the club.

"Then Mr. Jay, who had been roosting in the very top of the tree with his crest sticking straight up because of what he had done toward straightening out matters, lost his temper, and began giving Cheeko about as severe a lecture as ever any squirrel listened to, but all the while the foolish mischief-maker chattered and screamed as if he were the whole show.

"I had forgotten entirely about the 'Squire and Professor Hawk, until I saw Cheeko running along the ground toward where three or four walnuts were lying near a clump of fir bushes, and then I got right up on my hind legs and shouted to him that he'd best keep under cover if he wanted to save his skin.

"'Take care of yourself, if you can, you bob-tailed old fraud, and I'll show that a fellow about my size is able to do pretty much as he pleases in these woods.'

"Of course, every member of the club was looking at Cheeko by this time and I'll venture to say there was not one present who didn't think he was making a fool of himself by talking in such a strain, for there are precious few of us wood folk who can do as they please all the time.

"Well, Master Cheeko skipped toward the nuts, shaking his tail to show that he was a terribly brave fellow, and if 'Squire hadn't been quite so blind it would have been the last tail-shake for that squirrel. You must know that the 'Squire was hiding among the fir bushes in front of which the nuts had been laid and somewhere among the small branches was the Professor watching out to take a hand in the plan in case the first part of it missed; but, of course, we didn't know all that at the time.

"Cheeko was so eager to show the members of the club that he had no reason to be afraid of anything wearing feathers or fur that he didn't look to the right or to the left, but made straight for the nuts, and, just as he was about to pick up one, out sailed the 'Squire with a rush and a bang, which showed how angry he was.

"Now the Professor had laid the nuts in the shade of the fir bushes, so they would be sheltered from the sunlight, but yet it was considerably lighter there than in the thicket; consequently the instant the 'Squire popped his head out he had to shut his eyes, of course, so by the time he struck the ground Cheeko had jumped aside.

"If the foolish squirrel had been satisfied with thus giving 'Squire Owl the slip, he might have boasted for many a day about going straight into the old fellow's trap and coming out again without a scratch; but he must needs scream and laugh as if it were something very funny, and then Professor Hawk came into the game. Down he flew, aiming straight for Cheeko, and, with never a care as to how brightly the sun might shine, for there's nothing the matter with his eyes, and then was the time when I believed Master Cheeko was down and out for good. And so he would have been but for Mr. Crow, who, forgetting the trick Cheeko had played on him, dropped down from the top of the old oak more quickly than I ever saw a bird move before, fluttering his wings directly under the Professor's beak just as he was on the point of snapping up a fat squirrel, who would have delighted the stomachs of the little Hawks.

"Even though Mr. Crow moved so swiftly, it was the narrowest kind of squeak for Cheeko. The Professor's claws struck his back, cutting through his coat in three or four places, and he received such a blow that it was quite as much as he could do to scramble among the raspberry bushes, which, fortunately, grew near at hand. He didn't have his tail over his head then, and that's a fact; but he was about as discouraged an animal as you ever saw. How that old owl did rave and scold when he found that Cheeko had got off alive! He accused every member of the club with having had a paw or a wing in his defeat, and threatened with many a needless word to pay us off even though he had to spend every minute of his time for the next month.

"The Professor didn't say anything; but flew up on Mr. Crow's perch, looking sour as vinegar, and I said to myself then that he was the one we had the most reason to fear. You could tell by the look in his eye that he was already thinking up some wicked plan, and I really had palpitation of the heart because of imagining what he might be able to do if he set himself right down to getting revenge.

"If you'll believe it, I didn't dare stay at the foot of the tree where I could see the evil glare in his eyes, even though I was snug among the thorn bushes; but hopped off through the underbrush, taking mighty good care not to show myself in the open for a single minute, until I found poor Cheeko, who looked as if all he needed in this world was a deep, deep hole where he could die in peace.

"'Have you found out that you can't do pretty much as you please, Cheeko?' I asked, and he answered with a groan:

"'I suppose you think it is funny to talk that way when a fellow is dying,' and he tried to swing his tail a bit, but couldn't move a single hair. I can't begin to tell how badly off he was.

"Of course I couldn't help pitying him, even though he had called me a bob-tailed fraud, and after doing my best to show him that the animal, or the bird, for that matter, who boasts of what he can do, and sticks his nose into danger simply to show that he isn't afraid, is the silliest thing alive, I promised to have Mrs. Bunny fix him up the same kind of herb tea she always makes for me when I've been handled roughly by some of the wood bullies.

"He declared he couldn't get into his own house, and that even though it was possible for him to move about as lively as before the Professor hit him, he wouldn't dare go up a tree for at least two weeks, all of which showed that he realized how foolish he had been. I hunted around until I found snug quarters under the roots of an old pine, and helped him move in; but I tell you the tears came to his eyes more than once before he settled down, for his back was so sore that the least movement caused him pain. Then I started for home, little dreaming that by trying to help Cheeko I was at the same time laying a trap for my own little Sonny Bunny, which, as you shall see, I found out that I really was doing.

"Cheeko made me agree to come back as soon as possible, and, remembering that I had promised my wife some nice fresh lettuce from Mr. Man's garden that night for supper, I agreed with him that if I didn't get my chores done up early, I'd send Sonny Bunny with the herb tea.

"Now it seems that some of the neighbors had told my wife of all that happened at the club, and she was nearly frightened out of her wits because I had stayed away so long. When I told her of my promise to Cheeko, she said flatly that she wouldn't lift a paw to help an idle fellow who was always finding fault with everybody instead of getting in his winter's supply of nuts; but after hearing how badly off he was, she took it all back and set about making the herb tea.

"'If I don't get back by the time it is done, send Sonny Bunny over with some of it, and tell the little fellow to stay with Cheeko till I get there,' I said to my wife, for if anything could cheer an invalid it would be the funny capers of an innocent little rabbit like my youngest. I only wish there was time for me to tell you of all his bright doings; you should see him dancing in the swamp when the moon shines brightly, and then if you didn't say he was the cutest baby who ever wore a fur coat, it would be because you are not a judge of children.

"Well, I started off for Mr. Man's garden, taking good care to keep out of sight even though it was too late for the Professor's family to be out, and too early for either the Weasels or the Owls, and never so much as dreaming I had almost sent poor little Sonny Bunny to his death.

"I knew exactly where to find the best lettuce, and got all I wanted without being seen by Mr. Man or that meddling son of his. Then, instead of going home in a hurry, I loitered here or there to get young carrots, or a few heads of clover, thinking I would make of the dinner a regular feast.

"It was a full hour after sunset when I went into the house with such a supply of good things as would have surprised Mrs. Rabbit if she hadn't been so sorely worried about Sonny Bunny.

"'I sent him off with the herb tea very soon after you left, cautioning him to hop back before it was time for Mr. Weasel to come out, and he hasn't shown his ears here yet. You must go after him at once, Bunny, and don't let Cheeko persuade you to stay a single minute, for I am too nervous to be left alone.'"

At this point Mr. Rabbit's story was interrupted by the appearance of his wife, who, half hidden amid the ferns, beckoned him to her side.

"Stay where you are, and I'll be right back," he said in a whisper. "Don't move about too much, for she is very timid, especially since Mr. Man's boy Tommy set his dog to chase her."

Then he hopped away, and what could a body do but wait until he should be at liberty to finish the story?