XVI
CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL JUMPS FOR HIS LIFE
It isn't very often that Chatterer the Red Squirrel knows fear. That isone reason that he is so often impudent and saucy. But once in a while agreat fear takes possession of him, as when he knows that Shadow theWeasel is looking for him. You see, he knows that Shadow can go whereverhe can go. There are very few of the little people of the Green Forestand the Green Meadows who do not know fear at some time or other, but itcomes to Chatterer as seldom as to any one, because he is very sure ofhimself and his ability to hide or run away from danger.
But now as he clung to a little branch near the top of a tall pine-treein the Green Forest and looked down at the big sharp teeth of BusterBear drawing nearer and nearer, and listened to the deep, angry growlsthat made his hair stand on end, Chatterer was too frightened to think.If only he had kept his tongue still instead of saying hateful things toBuster Bear! If only he had known that Buster could climb a tree! Ifonly he had chosen a tree near enough to other trees for him to jumpacross! But he _had_ said hateful things, he _had_ chosen to sit in atree which stood quite by itself, and Buster Bear _could_ climb!Chatterer was in the worst kind of trouble, and there was no one toblame but himself. That is usually the case with those who get intotrouble.
Nearer and nearer came Buster Bear, and deeper and angrier sounded hisvoice. Chatterer gave a little frightened gasp and looked this way andlooked that way. What should he do? What _could_ he do! The groundseemed a terrible distance below. If only he had wings like Sammy Jay!But he hadn't.
"Gr-r-r-r!" growled Buster Bear. "I'll teach you manners! I'll teach youto treat your betters with respect! I'll swallow you whole, that's whatI'll do. Gr-r-r-r!"
"Oh!" cried Chatterer.
"Gr-r-r-r! I'll eat you all up to the last hair on your tail!" growledBuster, scrambling a little nearer.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Chatterer, and ran out to the very tip of the littlebranch to which he had been clinging. Now if Chatterer had only knownit, Buster Bear couldn't reach him way up there, because the tree wastoo small at the top for such a big fellow as Buster. But Chattererdidn't think of that. He gave one more frightened look down at those bigteeth, then he shut his eyes and jumped--jumped straight out for thefar-away ground.
It was a long, long, long way down to the ground, and it certainlylooked as if such a little fellow as Chatterer must be killed. ButChatterer had learned from Old Mother Nature that she had given himcertain things to help him at just such times, and one of them is thepower to spread himself very flat. He did it now. He spread his arms andlegs out just as far as he could, and that kept him from falling as fastand as hard as he otherwise would have done, because being spread out soflat that way, the air held him up a little. And then there was histail, that funny little tail he is so fond of jerking when he scolds.This helped him too. It helped him keep his balance and keep fromturning over and over.
Down, down, down he sailed and landed on his feet. Of course, he hit theground pretty hard, and for just a second he quite lost his breath. Butit was only for a second, and then he was scurrying off as fast as afrightened Squirrel could. Buster Bear watched him and grinned.
"I didn't catch him that time," he growled, "but I guess I gave him agood fright and taught him a lesson."
XVII
BUSTER BEAR GOES BERRYING
Buster Bear is a great hand to talk to himself when he thinks no one isaround to overhear. It's a habit. However, it isn't a bad habit unlessit is carried too far. Any habit becomes bad, if it is carried too far.Suppose you had a secret, a real secret, something that nobody else knewand that you didn't want anybody else to know. And suppose you had thehabit of talking to yourself. You might, without thinking, you know,tell that secret out loud to yourself, and some one might, just mighthappen to overhear! Then there wouldn't be any secret. That is the waythat a habit which isn't bad in itself can become bad when it iscarried too far.
Now Buster Bear had lived by himself in the Great Woods so long thatthis habit of talking to himself had grown and grown. He did it just tokeep from being lonesome. Of course, when he came down to the GreenForest to live, he brought all his habits with him. That is one thingabout habits,--you always take them with you wherever you go. So Busterbrought this habit of talking to himself down to the Green Forest, wherehe had many more neighbors than he had in the Great Woods.
"Let me see, let me see, what is there to tempt my appetite?" saidBuster in his deep, grumbly-rumbly voice. "I find my appetite isn't whatit ought to be. I need a change. Yes, Sir, I need a change. There issomething I ought to have at this time of year, and I haven't got it.There is something that I used to have and don't have now. Ha! I know! Ineed some fresh fruit. That's it--fresh fruit! It must be about berrytime now, and I'd forgotten all about it. My, my, my, how good someberries would taste! Now if I were back up there in the Great Woods Icould have all I could eat. Um-m-m-m! Makes my mouth water just to thinkof it. There ought to be some up in the Old Pasture. There ought to be alot of 'em up there. If I wasn't afraid that some one would see me, I'dgo up there."
Buster sighed. Then he sighed again. The more he thought about thoseberries he felt sure were growing in the Old Pasture, the more he wantedsome. It seemed to him that never in all his life had he wanted berriesas he did now. He wandered about uneasily. He was hungry--hungry forberries and nothing else. By and by he began talking to himself again.
"If I wasn't afraid of being seen, I'd go up to the Old Pasture thisvery minute. Seems as if I could taste those berries." He licked hislips hungrily as he spoke. Then his face brightened. "I know what I'lldo! I'll go up there at the very first peep of day to-morrow. I can eatall I want and get back to the Green Forest before there is any dangerthat Farmer Brown's boy or any one else I'm afraid of will see me.That's just what I'll do. My, I wish to-morrow morning would hurry upand come."
Now though Buster didn't know it, some one had been listening, and thatsome one was none other than Sammy Jay. When at last Buster lay downfor a nap, Sammy flew away, chuckling to himself. "I believe I'll visitthe Old Pasture to-morrow morning myself," thought he. "I have an ideathat something interesting may happen if Buster doesn't change hismind."
Sammy was on the lookout very early the next morning. The first JollyLittle Sunbeams had only reached the Green Meadows and had not startedto creep into the Green Forest, when he saw a big, dark form steal outof the Green Forest where it joins the Old Pasture. It moved veryswiftly and silently, as if in a great hurry. Sammy knew who it was: itwas Buster Bear, and he was going berrying. Sammy waited a little untilhe could see better. Then he too started for the Old Pasture.
XVIII
SOMEBODY ELSE GOES BERRYING
Isn't it funny how two people will often think of the same thing at thesame time, and neither one know that the other is thinking of it? Thatis just what happened the day that Buster Bear first thought of goingberrying. While he was walking around in the Green Forest, talking tohimself about how hungry he was for some berries and how sure he wasthat there must be some up in the Old Pasture, some one else wasthinking about berries and about the Old Pasture too.
"Will you make me a berry pie if I will get the berries to-morrow?"asked Farmer Brown's boy of his mother.
Of course Mrs. Brown promised that she would, and so that night FarmerBrown's boy went to bed very early that he might get up early in themorning, and all night long he dreamed of berries and berry pies. He wasawake even before jolly, round, red Mr. Sun thought it was time to getup, and he was all ready to start for the Old Pasture when the firstJolly Little Sunbeams came dancing across the Green Meadows. He carrieda big tin pail, and in the bottom of it, wrapped up in a piece of paper,was a lunch, for he meant to stay until he filled that pail, if it tookall day.
Now the Old Pasture is very large. It lies at the foot of the BigMountain, and even extends a little way up on the Big Mountain. There isroom in it for many people to pick berries all day without even seeingeach other, unless they roam
about a great deal. You see, the bushesgrow very thick there, and you cannot see very far in any direction.Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had climbed a little way up in the sky by thetime Farmer Brown's boy reached the Old Pasture, and was smiling down onall the Great World, and all the Great World seemed to be smiling back.Farmer Brown's boy started to whistle, and then he stopped.
"If I whistle," thought he, "everybody will know just where I am, andwill keep out of sight, and I never can get acquainted with folks ifthey keep out of sight."
You see, Farmer Brown's boy was just beginning to understand somethingthat Peter Rabbit and the other little people of the Green Meadows andthe Green Forest learned almost as soon as they learned to walk,--thatif you don't want to be seen, you mustn't be heard. So he didn'twhistle as he felt like doing, and he tried not to make a bit of noiseas he followed an old cow-path towards a place where he knew the berriesgrew thick and oh, so big, and all the time he kept his eyes wide open,and he kept his ears open too.
That is how he happened to hear a little cry, a very faint little cry.If he had been whistling, he wouldn't have heard it at all. He stoppedto listen. He never had heard a cry just like it before. At first hecouldn't make out just what it was or where it came from. But one thinghe was sure of, and that was that it was a cry of fright. He stoodperfectly still and listened with all his might. There it wasagain--"Help! Help! Help"--and it was very faint and sounded terriblyfrightened. He waited a minute or two, but heard nothing more. Then heput down his pail and began a hurried look here, there, and everywhere.He was sure that it had come from somewhere on the ground, so he peeredbehind bushes and peeped behind logs and stones, and then just as he hadabout given up hope of finding where it came from, he went around alittle turn in the old cow-path, and there right in front of him waslittle Mr. Gartersnake, and what do you think he was doing? Well, Idon't like to tell you, but he was trying to swallow one of the childrenof Stickytoes the Tree Toad. Of course Farmer Brown's Boy didn't lethim. He made little Mr. Gartersnake set Master Stickytoes free and heldMr. Gartersnake until Master Stickytoes was safely out of reach.
XIX
BUSTER BEAR HAS A FINE TIME
Buster Bear was having the finest time he had had since he came downfrom the Great Woods to live in the Green Forest. To be sure, he wasn'tin the Green Forest now, but he wasn't far from it. He was in the OldPasture, one edge of which touches one edge of the Green Forest. Andwhere do you think he was, in the Old Pasture? Why, right in the middleof the biggest patch of the biggest blueberries he ever had seen in allhis life! Now if there is any one thing that Buster Bear had rather haveabove another, it is all the berries he can eat, unless it be honey.Nothing can quite equal honey in Buster's mind. But next to honey givehim berries. He isn't particular what kind of berries. Raspberries,blackberries, or blueberries, either kind, will make him perfectlyhappy.
"Um-m-m, my, my, but these are good!" he mumbled in his deepgrumbly-rumbly voice, as he sat on his haunches stripping off theberries greedily. His little eyes twinkled with enjoyment, and he didn'tmind at all if now and then he got leaves, and some green berries in hismouth with the big ripe berries. He didn't try to get them out. Oh, my,no! He just chomped them all up together and patted his stomach fromsheer delight. Now Buster had reached the Old Pasture just as jolly,round, red Mr. Sun had crept out of bed, and he had fully made up hismind that he would be back in the Green Forest before Mr. Sun hadclimbed very far up in the blue, blue sky. You see, big as he is andstrong as he is, Buster Bear is very shy and bashful, and he has nodesire to meet Farmer Brown, or Farmer Brown's boy, or any other ofthose two-legged creatures called men. It seems funny but he actually isafraid of them. And he had a feeling that he was a great deal morelikely to meet one of them in the Old Pasture than deep in the GreenForest.
So when he started to look for berries, he made up his mind that hewould eat what he could in a great hurry and get back to the GreenForest before Farmer Brown's boy was more than out of bed. But when hefound those berries he was so hungry that he forgot his fears andeverything else. They tasted so good that he just had to eat and eatand eat. Now you know that Buster is a very big fellow, and it takes alot to fill him up. He kept eating and eating and eating, and the morehe ate the more he wanted. You know how it is. So he wandered from onepatch of berries to another in the Old Pasture, and never once thoughtof the time. Somehow, time is the hardest thing in the world toremember, when you are having a good time.
Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun climbed higher and higher in the blue, bluesky. He looked down on all the Great World and saw all that was goingon. He saw Buster Bear in the Old Pasture, and smiled as he saw what aperfectly glorious time Buster was having. And he saw something else inthe Old Pasture that made his smile still broader. He saw Farmer Brown'sboy filling a great tin pail with blueberries, and he knew that FarmerBrown's boy didn't know that Buster Bear was anywhere about, and he knewthat Buster Bear didn't know that Farmer Brown's boy was anywhere about,and somehow he felt very sure that he would see something funny happenif they should chance to meet.
"Um-m-m, um-m-m," mumbled Buster Bear with his mouth full, as he movedalong to another patch of berries. And then he gave a little gasp ofsurprise and delight. Right in front of him was a shiny thing just fullof the finest, biggest, bluest berries! There were no leaves or greenones there. Buster blinked his greedy little eyes rapidly and lookedagain. No, he wasn't dreaming. They were real berries, and all he hadgot to do was to help himself. Buster looked sharply at the shiny thingthat held the berries. It seemed perfectly harmless. He reached out abig paw and pushed it gently. It tipped over and spilled out a lot ofthe berries. Yes, it was perfectly harmless. Buster gave a little sighof pure happiness. He would eat those berries to the last one, and thenhe would go home to the Green Forest.
XX
BUSTER BEAR CARRIES OFF THE PAIL OF FARMER BROWN'S BOY
The question is, did Buster Bear steal Farmer Brown's boy's pail? Tosteal is to take something which belongs to some one else. There is nodoubt that he stole the berries that were in the pail when he found it,for he deliberately ate them. He knew well enough that some one musthave picked them--for whoever heard of blueberries growing in tin pails?So there is no doubt that when Buster took them, he stole them. But withthe pail it was different. He took the pail, but he didn't mean to takeit. In fact, he didn't want that pail at all.
You see it was this way: When Buster found that big tin pail brimmingfull of delicious berries in the shade of that big bush in the OldPasture, he didn't stop to think whether or not he had a right to them.Buster is so fond of berries that from the very second that his greedylittle eyes saw that pailful, he forgot everything but the feast thatwas waiting for him right under his very nose. He didn't think anythingabout the right or wrong of helping himself. There before him were moreberries than he had ever seen together at one time in all his life, andall he had to do was to eat and eat and eat. And that is just what hedid do. Of course he upset the pail, but he didn't mind a little thinglike that. When he had gobbled up all the berries that rolled out, hethrust his nose into the pail to get all that were left in it. Justthen he heard a little noise, as if some one were coming. He threw uphis head to listen, and somehow, he never did know just how, the handleof the pail slipped back over his ears and caught there.
This was bad enough, but to make matters worse, just at that very minutehe heard a shrill, angry voice shout, "Hi, there! Get out of there!" Hedidn't need to be told whose voice that was. It was the voice of FarmerBrown's boy. Right then and there Buster Bear nearly had a fit. Therewas that awful pail fast over his head so that he couldn't see a thing.Of course, that meant that he couldn't run away, which was the thing ofall things he most wanted to do, for big as he is and strong as he is,Buster is very shy and bashful when human beings are around. He growledand whined and squealed. He tried to back out of the pail and couldn't.He tried to shake it off and couldn't. He tried to pull it off, butsomehow he couldn't get hold of it. Then there was another yell. IfBu
ster hadn't been so frightened himself, he might have recognized thatsecond yell as one of fright, for that is what it was. You see FarmerBrown's boy had just discovered Buster Bear. When he had yelled thefirst time, he had supposed that it was one of the young cattle who livein the Old Pasture all summer, but when he saw Buster, he was just asbadly frightened as Buster himself. In fact, he was too surprised andfrightened even to run. After that second yell he just stood still andstared.
Buster clawed at that awful thing on his head more frantically thanever. Suddenly it slipped off, so that he could see. He gave onefrightened look at Farmer Brown's boy, and then with a mighty "Woof!" hestarted for the Green Forest as fast as his legs could take him, andthis was very fast indeed, let me tell you. He didn't stop to pick out apath, but just crashed through the bushes as if they were nothing atall, just nothing at all. But the funniest thing of all is this--he tookthat pail with him! Yes, Sir, Buster Bear ran away with the big tin pailof Farmer Brown's boy! You see when it slipped off his head, the handlewas still around his neck, and there he was running away with a pailhanging from his neck! He didn't want it. He would have given anythingto get rid of it. But he took it because he couldn't help it. And thatbrings us back to the question, did Buster steal Farmer Brown's boy'spail? What do you think?
XXI
SAMMY JAY MAKES THINGS WORSE FOR BUSTER BEAR
"Thief, thief, thief! Thief, thief, thief!" Sammy Jay was screaming atthe top of his lungs, as he followed Buster Bear across the Old Pasturetowards the Green Forest. Never had he screamed so loud, and never hadhis voice sounded so excited. The little people of the Green Forest, theGreen Meadows, and the Smiling Pool are so used to hearing Sammy crythief that usually they think very little about it. But every blessedone who heard Sammy this morning stopped whatever he was doing andpricked up his ears to listen.