Arthur Scott Bailey

“ Jolly Robin replied at once that he thought he could fly better than he could do anything else. And he felt so happy, because he was sure Jimmy Rabbit was 18 going to help him, that he began to laugh gaily. And he couldn’t help singing a snatch of a new song he had heard that morning. And then he laughed again.
“You’re mistaken,” Jimmy Rabbit said to him. “You fly well enough, I dare say. But there are others who can beat you at flying.... No!” he declared. “What you can do better than anybody I know is to laugh. ”

“ Everybody says that you’re a great dandy because you wear it. And since you’re my cousin, I think I ought to tell you what people are saying about you.”
“I don’t care what people say!” the Hermit exclaimed. “Those that don’t like my beautiful waistcoat can look the other way when I’m around. And if my style of dress doesn’t please you, I’d suggest that you keep out of this swamp.”
“Now, don’t get angry!” Jolly Robin begged. He gave his cousin a smile, hoping that it might make him feel pleasanter. ”

“ Jimmy told him. “All you need do is to find somebody who will hire you to laugh for him. There are people, you know, who find it very difficult to laugh. I should think they’d be glad to pay somebody to do their laughing for them.”
“Name someone!” Jolly Robin urged him.
And Jimmy Rabbit did.
“There’s old Mr. Crow!” he said. “You know how solemn he is. It’s positively painful to hear him try to laugh at a joke. ”

“ You see, the young folk grew so fast that they soon more than filled the house. So there was nothing their parents could do but persuade them to leave home and learn to fly.
One day, therefore, Mr. Robin did not bring his children’s food to the edge of the nest and drop it into their mouths. Instead, he stood on the limb a little distance away from them and showed them a plump angleworm.
The sight of that dainty was more than Jolly Robin could resist. He scrambled boldly out of the nest ”

“ Jolly Robin told him, “though he is ten times my size. This is what I mean: He’s a peaceable fellow. And though I will admit that he seems a little too proud, he hasn’t harmed anybody. So why should anybody harm him?”
“He’s a barnyard fowl and he belongs on the ground,” Jasper Jay declared. “If we let him stay up here in the air there’s no knowing what Farmer Green’s fowls will do. All his hens and roosters—and he has a hundred of ’em—may take to flying about where they don’t belong. This golden gentleman is setting them a bad example. ”

“ Crow broke away, leaving one of his tail-feathers with Uncle Sammy Coon, and flew into another tree near-by.
Then Jolly Robin laughed as if he would never stop. He thought that it must be the proper time to laugh, because Mr. Crow had said he was going to play a joke on Uncle Sammy.
Mr. Crow, however, seemed to think differently about the matter.
“Do keep quiet!” he cried. “There’s nothing to laugh at, so far as I can see.”
“But you said you were going to play a joke on Uncle Sammy Coon, didn’t you?” Jolly inquired.
“Yes!” Mr. Crow replied. “But it’s no joke to lose a tail-feather. ”

“ And since the other children were just as hungry as he was, those four growing babies kept their parents busy finding food for them. It was then that Jolly Robin learned to like angleworms. And though he ate greedily of insects and bugs, as well as wild berries, he liked angleworms best.
Jolly and his sister and his brothers could always tell when their father or their mother brought home some dainty, because the moment the parent lighted upon the limb where the nest was built they could feel their home sink slightly, from the added weight upon the branch. ”

“ The time had come when Jolly Robin was ready to begin his long journey to the South, for it was growing quite cold. On some days there was no sun at all. And even when the weather was fair the sun rose late and went to bed early. It was exactly the sort of weather Jolly Robin did not like.
“No doubt you’ll be leaving us soon,” Jasper Jay remarked to Jolly one day, when the two chanced to meet in Farmer Green’s woods, where the beeches grew. ”

“ He knew that the weather would grow warmer soon; and he was glad to be in Pleasant Valley once more, though he had to confess to himself that he liked the orchard better when the grass was green and the trees were gay with apple-blossoms.
“It’s really a beautiful place for a home,” he told himself. “I don’t wonder that Farmer Green likes to live near the orchard. And now I’ll just go over to the house and see if I can’t get a peep at him and his wife and his boy, Johnnie—and the hired-man, too.”
So Jolly Robin jumped off the bough and started through the frosty air toward 50 the farmhouse. ”

“ Jimmy Rabbit stopped short in his tracks and stared at the still figure under the apple tree. For a few moments he did not speak.
“That looks to me like snow,” he said at last. And he crept up to what was left of the giant and sniffed at him. “It is snow!” he declared.
When he heard that, Jolly Robin flew to a low branch just above the giant.
“I don’t understand it,” he said. “There’s his head on the ground, with the 60 big, black eyes. They certainly aren’t made of snow.”
“No!” Jimmy Rabbit agreed, as he sniffed at the terrible eyes. “They’re butternuts—that’s what they are!” ”

“ You need brightening up. I don’t believe it’s good for you, living in this damp swamp and singing sad songs. What you ought to do is to get some clothes like mine and bring your wife over to Farmer Green’s orchard and build a nest in an apple tree.... We could have some 76 gay times together,” he said smilingly.
Like many other people Jolly Robin thought his own ways were the best. And since the Hermit was just as sure that nobody else knew how to dress, or how to sing, or how to build a house as well as he did, it is quite plain that the two cousins never could agree. ”

“ Of course, Jasper Jay knew that Bennie lived in a mud house, under the eaves of Farmer Green’s barn. So he cried at once: “Then my search is ended! I’ll come over to the barn this afternoon and fight the upstart.”
The news spread quickly—the news of the fight that was going to take place at Farmer Green’s barn. And as soon as he heard it, Jolly Robin went straight to the barn and asked the golden bird if he wouldn’t leave Pleasant Valley at once. ”

“ After he learned to fly, Jolly Robin’s father took him into the woods to spend each night in a roost where there were many other young robins, whose fathers had likewise brought them there.
Jolly learned a great deal from being with so many new friends. It was not long before he could find plenty of food for himself, without help from anyone.
He discovered, too, that there was safety in numbers. For example, if Jasper Jay made too great a nuisance of himself by bullying a young robin, a mob of robins could easily put Jasper to flight. 12
“Always help other people!” ”

“ Jolly Robin told him. “If you’ll meet me on the bridge down the road when you see Johnnie Green and old dog Spot driving the cows home from the pasture this afternoon, I’ll be glad to show you the four-armed man. And then you’ll admit that I’m not joking.”
“I’ll certainly be there—” Mr. Crow promised—“but on one condition. You must tell me now whether you have ever 99 known this queer being to fire a gun. If a two-armed man can shoot one gun, I see no reason why a four-armed man could not fire at least two guns at the same time. ”

“ Jolly Robin cried. “How do you dare do it?”
“Do what?” his cousin inquired uneasily. 71
“Why, you and your wife have built your nest on the ground!”
“Well, why shouldn’t we?” the Hermit asked. And he looked the least bit angry.
“But everybody knows that the best place for a nest is in a tree,” Jolly Robin told him.
His cousin shook his head at that.
“It’s a matter of taste,” he said. “Our family have always preferred to build their nests on the ground. And as for me, I shall continue to follow their example.... It suits me very well,” he added. ”

“ Jolly Robin laughed, because Willie had made such a funny mistake.
“You’re wrong!” he said. “In fact, I’ve been wanting to talk with you about that very thing. I want you to change your song, which is a very annoying one. 109 It’s altogether too disagreeable. I’ll teach you my ‘Cheerily-cheerup’ song. You’ll like it much better, I think. And I’m sure all your neighbors will.... Why not learn the new song right now?” Jolly asked.
But Willie Whip-poor-will made no answer. Looking at him more closely, Jolly Robin was amazed to see that he was sound asleep. ”

“ At least, he stayed there all summer long, until the time came for him to go South.
If Jolly Robin wanted to see this shy cousin, he had to go into the swamp. For the Hermit never repaid any of Jolly’s calls. He was afraid of Farmer Green 65 and the other people that lived in the farmhouse. Apple orchards, and gardens and open fields he considered good places to avoid, because he thought them dangerous.
“There’s no place to live that’s quite as safe and pleasant as a swamp,” he often remarked. “I have one brother who prefers an evergreen thicket, which doesn’t make a bad home. ”

“ Then they started off together toward the orchard to look at the headless stranger who had given Jolly Robin such a fright the day before. Jimmy Rabbit went bounding along with great leaps, while Jolly Robin flew above him and tried not to go too fast for his long-eared friend.
Once in the orchard, Jolly led Jimmy to 59 the spot where he had seen Johnnie Green knock off the giant’s head with the snowball.
“Here he is!” Jolly Robin whispered—for he was still somewhat afraid of the giant, in spite of his having lost his head. “He doesn’t seem as big as he was yesterday. ”

“ Now, the mere thought of wearing a red 75 waistcoat made the Hermit feel faint. Some people say that all great singers are like that. If they don’t like a thing, they can’t bear even to think about it. And it was a fact that the words “red waistcoat” had always made Jolly Robin’s cousin shudder. ”

“ Now, there were two things for which this cousin of Jolly Robin’s was noted. He was an exquisite singer; and he always wore a fine, spotted waistcoat.
Jolly always admired the Hermit’s singing. But he didn’t like his spotted waistcoat at all.
“That cousin of mine is too much of a 66 dandy,” Jolly remarked to his wife one day. “I’m going to pay him a visit this afternoon. And I shall speak to him about that waistcoat he’s so fond of wearing. It’s well enough for city birds to dress in such finery. But it’s a foppish thing for anybody to wear way up here in the country.” ”

“ Now, the real reason why Jasper wanted 92 to knock the golden rooster off his high perch was because he was so handsome. Jasper’s fine blue suit looked quite dull beside the golden dress of the stranger. And that was more than Jasper could stand.
“Here I go!” Jasper cried. And he left his friends and flew straight at the golden fowl.
Jasper struck the rooster such a hard blow that he spun around on his perch twice. But he didn’t lose his balance. And he never said a single word.
“I’ll pull out his tail-feathers this time!” Jasper squawked, as he darted at the stranger again. ”

“ Crow—“when there’s anything to laugh at.”
“But didn’t Tommy Fox make a joke?” Jolly Robin asked. 28
“A very poor one!” old Mr. Crow replied. “A very poor joke, indeed!... I see,” he added, “I see you’ve not had much experience laughing for people. And here’s where you make a mistake. You laugh at other people’s jokes, which is all wrong. After this you must laugh at my jokes—do you understand?”
Jolly Robin said he understood. And Mr. Crow remarked that he was glad there would be no more trouble.
“And now,” the old fellow said, “now we’ll go over to the swamp, where Uncle Sammy Coon lives. ”

“ Willie Whip-poor-will is a good-for-nothing rascal. Everybody talks about the way he prowls through the woods all night and seldom goes to bed before morning. And his wife is no better than he is. They’re 118 too shiftless even to build themselves a nest. ”

“ But he did not like to admit it. “He’s a great credit to the neighborhood,” said old Mr. Crow. “And you’d better let him alone, if you should happen to find him, because he’s solid gold, you know. And if you flew 83 at him and tried to peck him, just as likely as not you’d break your bill on him, he’s so hard.” ”

“ Luckily, his mother happened to be at home. She went to Jolly at once and told him not to be afraid.
“Nothing will hurt you,” she said, “if 7 you’ll only keep still. But if you squall like that, the cat will find you.” ”

“ Maybe one reason why he never went to visit Jolly was because he couldn’t endure the sight of his bright red vest.
Of course, Jolly Robin knew nothing about all this.
“Red would be very becoming to you,” he continued. “And it’s certainly a cheerful color, too. ”

“ But old Mr. Crow did not laugh.
“There you go, making a noise again!” he said crossly. “A person’s not safe in your company.” And he hurried off 105 across the meadow. Mr. Crow was always very nervous when he was near the farmhouse.
But Jolly Robin stayed right there until the hired-man walked back to the barn. He saw then that what Mr. Crow had told him was really so. And he never stopped laughing until long after sunset.
106 XXI A DOLEFUL DITTY
Jolly Robin often complained about the wailing of Willie Whip-poor-will. Willie lived in the woods, which were not far from the orchard. ”