"I guess that there was more than one visitor here last night,"continued the voice of Farmer Brown's boy. "Here are the tracks of theSkunk going away from the hen-house, but I don't see any of thoseother queer tracks going away. Whoever made them must be right aroundhere now."
Back into the hen-house came Farmer Brown's boy and began to pokearound in all the corners. He moved all the boxes and looked in thegrain bin. Then he began to look in the nests. Unc' Billy could hearhim coming nearer and nearer. He was looking in the very next nest tothe one in which Unc' Billy was. Finally he looked into that verynest. Unc' Billy Possum held his breath.
Now the nest in which Unc' Billy was hiding was on the topmost row inthe darkest corner of the hen-house, and Unc' Billy had crawled downunderneath the hay. Perhaps it was because that corner was so dark, orperhaps it was because that nest was so high up, that Farmer Brown'sboy really didn't expect to find anything there. Anyway, all he sawwas the hay, and he didn't take the trouble to put his hand in andfeel for anything under the hay.
"It's queer," said Farmer Brown's boy. "It's very queer! I guess Ishall have to set some traps."
And all the time Unc' Billy Possum held his breath and lay low.
XVIII
UNC' BILLY POSSUM IS A PRISONER
"Mah home is in a holler tree-- It's a long way home! Ah wish Ah's there, but here Ah be-- It's a long way home! If Ah had only been content Instead of out on mischief bent, Ah'd have no reason to repent-- It's a long way home!"
Unc' Billy Possum lay curled up under the hay in the highest nest inthe darkest corner in Farmer Brown's hen-house. Unc' Billy didn't darego to sleep, because he was afraid that Farmer Brown's boy might findhim. And, anyway, he wanted to see just what Farmer Brown's boy wasdoing. So peeping out, he watched Farmer Brown's boy, who seemed tobe very busy indeed. What do you think he was doing? Unc' Billy knew.Yes, Sir, Unc' Billy knew just what Farmer Brown's boy was doing. Hewas setting traps.
Unc' Billy's eyes twinkled as he watched Farmer Brown's boy, for Unc'Billy knew that those traps were being set for him, and now that heknew just where each one was, of course he wasn't a bit afraid. Itseemed to Unc' Billy that it was just the greatest kind of a joke tobe watching Farmer Brown's boy set those traps, while all the timeFarmer Brown's boy thought he was hiding them so cleverly that theonly way they would be found would be by some one stepping into oneand getting caught.
"There," said Farmer Brown's boy, as he set the last trap, "I'd liketo see anything get into this hen-house now without getting caught!"
Unc' Billy almost chuckled aloud. Yes, Sir, he almost chuckled aloud.It was such a funny idea that Farmer Brown's boy should have taken allthe trouble to set those traps to catch Unc' Billy trying to get intothe hen-house, when all the time he was already in there.
Unc' Billy laughed under his breath as Farmer Brown's boy closed thedoor of the hen-house and went off whistling. "Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!Hee, hee!" Unc' Billy broke off short, right in the very middle of hislaugh. He had just thought of something, and it wasn't funny at all.With all those traps set at every opening to the hen-house, no onecould get in without getting caught, and of course no one who was incould get out without getting caught!
The joke wasn't on Farmer Brown's boy, after all; it was on Unc' BillyPossum. But Unc' Billy couldn't see that it was any joke at all. Unc'Billy was a prisoner, a prisoner in Farmer Brown's hen-house, and hedidn't know how ever he was going to get out of there.
"It's a long way home," said Unc' Billy mournfully, as he peeped outof a crack toward the Green Forest.
XIX
WHAT THE SNOW DID
Unc' Billy Possum did a lot of thinking. He was a prisoner, just asmuch a prisoner as if he were in a cage. Now Unc' Billy Possumwouldn't have minded being a prisoner in the hen-house but for twothings; he was dreadfully afraid that his old friend and partner,Jimmy Skunk, would get hungry for eggs and would get caught in thetraps, and he was still more afraid that Farmer Brown's boy wouldthink to put his hand down under the hay in the last nest of the toprow in the darkest corner. So Unc' Billy spent most of his timestudying and thinking of some way to get out, and if he couldn't dothat, of some way to warn Jimmy Skunk to keep away from Farmer Brown'shen-house.
If it hadn't been for those two worries, Unc' Billy would have beenwilling to stay there the rest of the winter. It was delightfully warmand cosy. He knew which nest Mrs. Speckles always used and which oneMrs. Feathertoes liked best, and he knew that of all the eggs laid inFarmer Brown's hen-house those laid by Mrs. Speckles and Mrs.Feathertoes were the best. Having all the eggs he could eat, Unc'Billy had grown very particular. Nothing but the best, the very best,would do for him. So he would lie curled up in the last nest of thetop row in the darkest corner and wait until he heard the high-pitchedvoice of Mrs. Speckles proudly crying:
"Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut-aa-cut! I lay the finest eggs in theworld!"
Then Unc' Billy would chuckle to himself and wait a few minutes longerfor the voice of Mrs. Feathertoes, saying: "Cut, cut, cut, cut,cut-aa-cut, cut, cut, cut! No one lays such splendid eggs as I do!"Then, while Mrs. Speckles and Mrs. Feathertoes were disputing as towhich laid the best eggs, Unc' Billy would slip out and breakfast onboth those newly laid eggs.
So for almost a week Unc' Billy lived in Farmer Brown's hen-house andate the eggs of Mrs. Speckles and Mrs. Feathertoes and hid in the lastnest of the top row in the darkest corner and shivered as he heardFarmer Brown's boy tell what would happen if he caught the one who wasstealing those eggs. Sometimes the door was left open during the day,and Unc' Billy would peep out and wish that he dared to run. But hedidn't, for Bowser the Hound was always prowling around, and thenagain he was almost sure to be seen by some one.
At last one day it began to snow. It snowed all day and it snowed allnight. Rough Brother North Wind piled it up in great drifts in frontof the hen-house door and all along one side of the hen-house. Itcovered the traps so deep that they couldn't possibly catch any one.As soon as the snow stopped falling, Unc' Billy began to dig his wayup to the top from the very hole by which he had entered thehen-house. He didn't like it, for he doesn't like snow, but now washis chance to get away, and he meant to make the most of it.
XX
UNC' BILLY POSSUM WISHES HE HAD SNOWSHOES
Unc' Billy Possum didn't know whether he liked the snow more than hehated it or hated it more than he liked it, just now. Usually hedislikes the snow very much, and doesn't go out in it any more than hehas to. But this time the snow had done Unc' Billy a good turn, a verygood turn, indeed. Once out of the hen-house, Unc' Billy lost no timein starting for the Green Forest. But it was slow, hard work. You see,the snow was newly fallen and very soft. Of course Unc' Billy sankinto it almost up to his middle at every step. He huffed and he puffedand he grunted and groaned. You see Unc' Billy had slept so muchthrough the winter that he was not at all used to hard work of anykind, and he wasn't half way to the Green Forest before he was sotired it seemed to him that he could hardly move, and so out of breaththat he could only gasp. It was then that he was sure that he hatedthe snow more than he liked it, even if it had set him free from thehen-house of Farmer Brown.
Now it never does to let one's wits go to sleep. Some folks call itforgetting, but forgetting is nothing but sleepy wits. And sleepy witsget more people into trouble than anything else in the world. Unc'Billy Possum's wits were asleep when he left Farmer Brown's hen-house.If they hadn't been, he would have remembered this little saying:
The wits that live within my head Must never, never go to sleep, For if they should I might forget And Trouble on me swiftly leap.
But Unc' Billy's wits certainly were asleep. He was so tickled overthe idea that he could get out of the hen-house, that he couldn'tthink of anything else, and so he forgot. Yes, Sir, Unc' Billy forgot!What did he forget? Why, he forgot that that nice, soft snow, which sokindly buried the dreadful traps so that they could do no harm,couldn't be waded through w
ithout leaving tracks. Unc' Billy forgotall about that, until he was half way to the Green Forest, and then,as he sat down to rest and get his breath, he remembered.
There all the way from Farmer Brown's hen-house was abroad trail in the smooth white snow.]
Unc' Billy looked behind him, and he turned pale. Yes, Sir, Unc' BillyPossum turned pale! There, all the way from Farmer Brown's hen-house,was a broad trail in the smooth white snow, where he had plowed hisway through. If Farmer Brown's boy should come out to look at histraps, he would see that track at once, and all he would have to dowould be to follow it until it led him to Unc' Billy.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Whatever did Ah leave the hen-house for?" wailedUnc' Billy.
His wits were all wide awake now. It wouldn't do to go back. FarmerBrown's boy would see that he had gone back, and then he would huntthat hen-house through until he found Unc' Billy. No, there wasnothing to do but to go on, and trust that Farmer Brown's boy was sosnowed in and would be kept so busy shovelling out paths, that hewould forget all about looking at his traps. Unc' Billy drew a longbreath and began to wade ahead toward the Green Forest.
"If Ah only had snowshoes!" he panted. "If Ah only had snowshoes likeMrs. Grouse."
XXI
FARMER BROWN'S BOY CHOPS DOWN A TREE
"There was an old Possum lived up in a tree; Hi, ho, see the chips fly! The sliest old thief that you ever did see; Hi, ho, see the chips fly! He ate and he ate in the dark of the night, And when the day came not an egg was in sight, But now that I know where he's making his bed, I'll do without eggs and will eat him instead! Hi, ho, see the chips fly!"
Farmer Brown's boy sang as he swung his keen axe, and the chips didfly. They flew out on the white snow in all directions. And the louderFarmer Brown's boy sang, the faster the chips flew. Farmer Brown's boyhad come to the Green Forest bright and early that morning, and hehad made up his mind that he would take home a fat Possum for dinner.He didn't have the least doubt about it, and that is why he sang as hemade the chips fly. He had tracked that Possum right up to that tree,and there were no tracks going away from it. Right up near the top hecould see a hollow, just such a hollow as a Possum likes. All he hadto do was to cut the tree down and split it open, and Mr. Possum wouldbe his.
So Farmer Brown's boy swung his axe, chop, chop, chop, and the chipsflew out on the white snow, and Farmer Brown's boy sang, never oncethinking of how the Possum he was after might feel. Of course it wasUnc' Billy Possum whose tracks he had followed. He had seen themoutside of the hen-house, just as Unc' Billy had been afraid that hewould. He couldn't very well have helped it, those tracks were sovery plain to be seen.
That had been a long, hard, anxious journey for Unc' Billy from FarmerBrown's hen-house to the Green Forest. The snow was so deep that hecould hardly wade through it. When he reached that hollow tree, he wasso tired that it was all he could do to climb it. Of course it wasn'this own hollow tree, where old Mrs. Possum and the eight littlePossums lived. He knew better than to go there, leaving a plain trackfor Farmer Brown's boy to follow. So he had been very thankful toclimb up this hollow tree. And, just as he had feared, there wasFarmer Brown's boy.
Chop, chop, chop! The snow was covered with chips now. Chop, chop,chop! The tree began to shiver and then to shake. Cra-a-ck! With agreat crash over it went!
Bowser the Hound barked excitedly, and with Farmer Brown's boy rushedto the hollow near the top to catch Mr. Possum, if he should run out.But he didn't run out. Farmer Brown's boy rapped on the tree with thehandle of his axe, but no one ran out.
"I guess he's playing dead," said Farmer Brown's boy, and began tosplit open the tree, so as to get into the hollow. And as he chopped,he began to sing again. Pretty soon he had split the tree wide open.In the bottom of the hollow was an old nest of Chatterer the RedSquirrel, and that was all. Farmer Brown's boy rubbed his eyes andstared and stared and stared. There were Unc' Billy's tracks leadingstraight up to that tree and none leading away. Did that Possum havewings?
XXII
WHERE UNC' BILLY POSSUM WAS
Where was Unc' Billy Possum? That is what Farmer Brown's boy wanted toknow. That is what Bowser the Hound wanted to know. Where was Unc'Billy Possum? He was in another hollow tree all the time and laughingtill his sides ached as he peeped out and saw how hard Farmer Brown'sboy worked.
"Ah done fool him that time," said Unc' Billy, as he watched FarmerBrown's boy wading off home through the snow, with Bowser the Hound athis heels.
"You certainly did, Unc' Billy! How did you do it?" asked a voiceright over Unc' Billy's head.
Unc' Billy looked up in surprise. There was Tommy Tit the Chickadee.Unc' Billy grinned.
"Ah just naturally expected Ah was gwine to have visitors, and so Ahprepared a little surprise. Yes, Sah, Ah done prepare a littlesurprise. Yo' see, mah tracks in the snow was powerful plain. Yes,Sah, they sho'ly was! When Ah had climbed up that tree and looked downand saw all those tracks what Ah done made, Ah began to get powerfulanxious. Yes, Sah, Ah done get so anxious Ah just couldn't get anyrest in mah mind. Ah knew Farmer Brown's boy was gwine to find thosetracks, and when he did, he was gwine to follow 'em right smart quick.Sho' enough, just before sundown, here he comes. He followed mahtracks right up to the foot of the tree whar Ah was hiding in thehollow, and Ah heard him say:
"So this is whar yo' live, is it, Mistah Possum? Ah reckon Bowser andAh'll make yo' a call to-morrow."
"When I heard him say that, Ah felt right bad. Yes, Sah, Ah sho'ly didfeel right smart bad. Ah studied and Ah studied how Ah was gwine tofool Farmer Brown's boy and Bowser the Hound. If Ah climbed down andwent somewhere else, Ah would have to leave tracks, and that boy donebound to find me just the same. Ah done wish Ah had wings like yo' andBrer Buzzard.
"So po' ol' Unc' Billy sat studying and studying and getting mo' andmo' troubled in his mind. By and by Ah noticed that a branch from thatholler tree rubbed against a branch of another tree, and a branch ofthat tree rubbed against a branch of another tree, and if Ah made aright smart jump from that Ah could get into this tree, which had aholler just made fo' me. Ah didn't waste no mo' time studying. No,Sah, Ah just moved right away, and here Ah am."
"And you didn't leave any tracks, and you didn't have any wings," saidTommy Tit the Chickadee.
"No," said Unc' Billy, "but Ah done find that yo' can most always finda way out, if yo' look hard enough. Just now, Ah am looking rightsmart hard fo' a way to get home, but Ah reckon mah eyesight amfailing; Ah don' see any yet."
"Dee, dee, dee!" laughed Tommy Tit merrily. "Be patient, Unc' Billy,and perhaps you will."
XXIII
HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL MAKES AN UNEXPECTED CALL
Happy Jack Squirrel likes the snow. He always has liked the snow. Itmakes him feel frisky. He likes to run and jump in it and dig littleholes in it after nuts, which he hid under the leaves before the snowfell. When his feet get cold, all he has to do is to scamper up a treeand warm them in his own fur coat. So the big snowstorm which made somuch trouble for Unc' Billy Possum just suited Happy Jack Squirrel,and he had a whole lot of fun making his funny little tracks allthrough that part of the Green Forest in which he lives.
Happy Jack didn't know anything about Unc' Billy Possum's troubles. Hesupposed that Unc' Billy was safe at home in his own big hollow tree,fast asleep, as he had been most of the winter. Happy Jack couldn'tunderstand how anybody could want to sleep such fine weather, but thatwas their own business, and Happy Jack had learned a long time ago notto worry about other people's business.
After frisking about he would stop to rest. Then he would sit up verystraight and fold his hands across his breast, where they would getnice and warm in the fur of his coat. His beautiful, great gray tailwould be arched up over his back. His bright eyes would snap andtwinkle, and then he would shout just for joy, and every time heshouted he jerked his big tail. Farmer Brown's boy called it barking,but it was Happy Jack's way of shouting.
"I love to romp!
I love to play! I'm happy, happy, all the day! I love the snow, so soft and white! I love the sun that shines so bright! I love the whole world, for, you see, The world is very good to me!"
By and by Happy Jack came to the hollow tree that Farmer Brown's boyhad cut down because he thought that Unc' Billy Possum was inside ofit.
"Hello!" exclaimed Happy Jack. "That's one of the old storehouses ofmy cousin, Chatterer the Red Squirrel! I've got an old storehouse nearhere, and I guess I'll see if I have left any nuts in it."
He scampered over to another hollow tree standing near. He scamperedup the tree as only Happy Jack can and whisked in at the open doorwayof the hollow. Now Happy Jack had been in that hollow tree so oftenthat he didn't once think of looking to see where he was going, and helanded plump on something that was soft and warm! Happy Jack was sosurprised that he didn't know what to do for a second. And then all ina flash that something soft and warm was full of sharp claws andsharper teeth, and an angry growling tilled the hollow tree.
Happy Jack was so frightened that he scrambled out as fast as hecould. When he was safely outside, he grew very angry to think thatany one should be in his storehouse, even if it was an old one. Hecould hear a very angry voice inside, and in a minute who shouldappear at the doorway but Unc' Billy Possum.
Unc' Billy had been waked out of a sound sleep, and that was enoughto make any one cross. Besides, he had been badly frightened, and thatmade him crosser still.