CHAPTER IX.
IT was late in the afternoon of the same day. In the cottage at home allwas quiet and peaceful. The grandmother was taking a nap in her room,with the squirrel curled up comfortably on the pillow beside her. In thekitchen, the fire and the kettle were having it all their own way, forthough two other members of the family were in the room, they wereeither asleep or absorbed in their own thoughts, for they gave no signof their presence. The kettle was in its glory, for Bruin had polishedit that very morning, and it shone like the good red gold. It sang itsmerriest song, and puffed out clouds of snow-white steam from itsslender spout.
"Look at me!" it said to the fire. "Am I not well worth looking at? Ifeel almost sure that I must have turned into gold, for I never used tolook like this. A golden kettle is rather a rare thing, I flattermyself. It really seems a pity that there is no one here except thestupid parrot, who has gone to sleep, and that odious raccoon, whoalways looks at me as if I were a black pot, and a cracked pot at that."
"To be sure!" crackled the fire, encouragingly. "To be sure! But nevermind, my dear! I admire you immensely, as you know, and it is mygreatest pleasure to see myself reflected in your bright face. Crick!crack! cr-r-r-r-rickety!" said the fire.
"Hm! hm! tsing! tsing! tsing!" sang the kettle. And they performedreally a very creditable duet together.
Now it happened that the parrot was not asleep, though she had had thebad taste to turn her back on the fire and the kettle. She was lookingout of the window, in fact, and wondering when the wood-pigeon wouldcome back. Though not a bird of specially affectionate nature, Miss Marywas still very fond of Pigeon Pretty, and always missed her when shewas away. This afternoon had seemed particularly long, for no one hadbeen in the kitchen save Coon, with whom she was not on very good terms.Now, she thought, it was surely time for her friend to return; and shestretched her neck, and peered out of the window, hoping to catch theflutter of the soft brown wings. Instead of this, however, she caughtsight of something else, which made her start and ruffle up herfeathers, and look again with a very different expression.
Outside the cottage stood a man,--an ill-looking fellow, with a heavypack strapped on his back. He was looking all about him, examining theoutside of the cottage carefully, and evidently listening for any soundthat might come from within. All being silent, he stepped to the window(not Miss Mary's window, but the other), and took a long survey of thekitchen; and then, seeing no living creature in it (for the raccoonunder the table and the parrot on her perch were both hidden from hisview), he laid down his pack, opened the door, and quietly stepped in.An ill-looking fellow, Miss Mary had thought him at the first glance;but now, as she noiselessly turned on her perch and looked more closelyat him, she thought his aspect positively villanous. He had a hookednose and a straggling red beard, and his little green eyes twinkled withan evil light as he looked about the cosey kitchen, with all its neatand comfortable appointments.
First he stepped to the cupboard, and after examining its contents hedrew out a mutton-bone (which had been put away for Bruin), a hunch ofbread, and a cranberry tart, on which he proceeded to make a heartymeal, without troubling himself about knife or fork. He ate hurriedly,looking about him the while,--though, curiously enough, he saw neitherof the two pairs of bright eyes which were following his every movement.The parrot on her perch sat motionless, not a feather stirring; theraccoon under the table lay crouched against the wall, as still as ifhe were carved in stone. Even the kettle had stopped singing, and onlysent out a low, perturbed murmur from time to time.
His meal finished, the rascal--his confidence increasing as the momentswent by without interruption--proceeded to warm himself well by thefire, and then on tiptoe to walk about the room, peering into cupboardsand lockers, opening boxes and pulling out drawers. The parrot's bloodboiled with indignation at the sight of this "unfeathered vulture," asshe mentally termed him, ransacking all the Madam's tidy and well-keptstores; but when he opened the drawer in which lay the six silverteaspoons (the pride of the cottage), and the porringer that Toto hadinherited from his great-grandfather,--when he opened this drawer, andwith a low whistle of satisfaction drew the precious treasures fromtheir resting-place, Miss Mary could contain herself no longer, butclapped her wings and cried in a clear distinct voice, "Stop thief!"
The man started violently, and dropping the silver back into the drawer,looked about him in great alarm. At first he saw no one, but presentlyhis eyes fell on the parrot, who sat boldly facing him, her yellow eyesgleaming with anger. His terror changed to fury, and with a mutteredoath he stepped forward.
"It was you, was it?" he said fiercely. "You'll never say 'Stop thief'again, my fine bird, for I'll wring your neck before I'm half a minuteolder."
But at this last mishap the robber, now fairly besidehimself, rushed headlong from the cottage.--PAGE 163.]
He stretched his hand toward the parrot, who for her part prepared tofly at him and fight for her life; but at that moment somethinghappened. There was a rushing in the air; there was a yell as if a dozenwild-cats had broken loose, and a heavy body fell on the robber'sback,--a body which had teeth and claws (an endless number of claws, itseemed, and all as sharp as daggers); a body which yelled and scratchedand bit and tore, till the ruffian, half mad with terror and pain,yelled louder than his assailant. Vainly trying to loosen the clutchof those iron claws, the wretch staggered backward against the hob. Wasit accident, or did the kettle by design give a plunge, and come downwith a crash, sending a stream of boiling water over his legs? Who cantell? It was a remarkable kettle. But at this last mishap the robber,now fairly beside himself, rushed headlong from the cottage, and stillbearing his terrible burden, fled screaming down the road.
At the same moment the door of the grandmother's room was openedhurriedly, and the old lady cried, in a trembling voice, "What hashappened? What is it? Coon! Mary! are you here?"
"I am here, Madam!" replied the parrot, quickly. "Coon has--has juststepped out, with--in fact, with an acquaintance. He will be backdirectly, no doubt."
"But that fearful noise!" said the grandmother. "Was that--"
"The acquaintance, dear Madam!" replied Miss Mary, calmly. "He wasexcited!--about something, and he raised his voice, I confess, higherthan good breeding usually allows. Yes. Have you had a pleasant nap?"
The good old lady, still much mystified, though her fears were set atrest by the parrot's quiet confidence, returned to her room to put onher cap, and to smooth the pretty white curls which her Toto loved. Nosooner was the door closed than the squirrel, who had been fairlydancing up and down with curiosity and eagerness, opened a fire ofquestions:--
"Who was it? What happened? What did he want? Who knocked down thekettle? Why didn't you want Madam to know?" etc.
Miss Mary entered into a full account of the thrilling adventure, andhad but just finished it when in walked the raccoon, his eyes sparkling,his tail cocked in its airiest way.
"Well?" cried the parrot, eagerly, "is he gone?"
"Yes, my dear, he is gone!" replied Coon, gayly. "Oh, dear me! what apleasant ride I have had! Why didn't you come too, Miss Mary? You mighthave held on by his hair. It would have been such fun! Yes, I went onquite a good bit with him, just to show him the way, you know. And thenI bade him good-by, and begged him to come again; but he didn't say hewould."
Coon shook himself, and fairly chuckled with glee, as did also his twocompanions; but presently Miss Mary, quitting her perch, flew to thetable, and holding out her claw to the raccoon, said gravely:--
"Coon, you have saved my life, and perhaps the Madam's and Cracker'stoo. Give me your paw, and receive my warmest thanks for your timelyaid. We have not been the best of friends, lately," she added, "but Itrust all will be different now. And the next time you are invited to aparty, if you fancy a feather or so to complete your toilet, you haveonly to mention it, and I shall be happy to oblige you."
"And for my part, Miss Mary," responded the raccoon warmly, "I beg youto consider me
the humblest of your servants from this day forth. If youfancy any little relish, such as snails or fat spiders, as a change fromyour every-day diet, it will be a pleasure to me to procure them foryou. Beauty," he continued, with his most gallant bow, "is enchanting,and valor is enrapturing; but beauty and valor _combined_, are--"
"Oh, come!" said the squirrel, who felt rather crusty, perhaps, becausehe had not seen the fun, and so did not care for the fine speeches,"stop bowing and scraping to each other, you two, and let us put thisdistracted-looking room in order before Madam comes in again. Pick upthe kettle, will you, Coon? Look! the water is running all over thefloor."
The raccoon did not answer, being apparently very busy setting thechairs straight; so Cracker repeated his request, in a sharper voice.
"Do you hear me, Coon? Please pick up that kettle. I cannot do itmyself, for it is twice as big as I am, but I should think you couldlift it easily, now that it is empty."
The raccoon threw a perturbed glance at the kettle, and then said in atone which tried to be nonchalant, "Oh! the kettle is all right. It willget up, I suppose, when it feels like it. If it should ask me to helpit, of course I would; but perhaps it may prefer the floor for a change.I--I often lie on the floor, myself," he added.
The squirrel stared. "What do you mean?" he said. "It isn't alive! Totosaid it wasn't."
The raccoon beckoned him aside, and said in a low tone, "My goodCracker, Toto _says_ a great many things, and no doubt he thinks theyare all true. But he is a young boy, and, let me tell you, he does _not_know everything in the world. If that thing is not alive, why did itjump off its seat just at the critical moment, and pour hot water overthe robber's legs?"
"Did it?" exclaimed the squirrel, much impressed.
"Yes, it did!" replied the raccoon, emphatically. "I saw it with theseeyes. And I don't deny that it was a great help, Cracker, and that I wasvery glad the kettle did it. But see, now! when a creature has no moreself-respect than to lie there for a quarter of an hour, with its headon the other side of the room, without making the smallest attempt toget up and put itself together again, why, I tell you frankly _I_ don'tfeel much like assisting it. You never knew one of _us_ to behave inthat sort of way, did you, now?"
"N-n-no!" said Cracker, doubtfully. "But then, if any of us were to loseour heads, we should be dead, shouldn't we?"
"Exactly!" cried the raccoon, triumphantly. "And when that thing losesits head, it _isn't_ dead. That's just the difference. It can go withoutits head for an hour! I've seen it, when Toto took it off--the head, Imean--and forgot to put it on again. I tell you, it just _pretends_ tobe dead, so that it can be taken care of, and carried about like a baby,and given water whenever it is thirsty. A secret, underhand, slycreature, I call it, and I sha'n't touch it to put its head on again!"
And that was all the thanks the kettle got for its pains.