Arthur Scott Bailey

“ Grouse.
"I hope," he cried, "you don't mean to say that we Grouse aren't swift!"
"No, indeed!" Nimble's mother answered hastily.
"I should hope not!" was Mr. Grouse's response to that. "For everybody knows that we go up like rockets at the slightest sign of danger."
"Exactly!" said Nimble's mother. "You are so swift that you don't really need those spots to help conceal yourself, once you're grown up."
"They're handy to have, all the same," he told her. "And as for this youngster of yours, you needn't worry much about him. He'll be safe enough in the woods. ”

“ Nimble and Dodger paid little heed to her warning, except to stop until the good lady had gone on and left them. Then, just as they were on the point of renewing their frolic, somebody spoke in a hoarse voice. It was old Mr. Crow. He sat on a low branch of a spreading pine, where he had been watching the contest for some time without being noticed.
"I'd have my fun if I wanted to," he croaked. "Ladies are too finicky. They don't know what a good time is."
Now, Mr. Crow's remarks pleased Nimble. And they pleased Dodger the Deer. ”

“ Crow's permission, the Muley Cow went on stretching her legs as much as she pleased. She jumped the pasture fence; and she jumped it back again. And when she seemed about to stop Billy Woodchuck whispered to her, "You may as well keep a-stretching them. Keep a-jumping! And when the time for the real contest with Nimble Deer comes your legs will be stretched so long that you'll beat Nimble without the slightest trouble." ”

“ In spite of all these warnings Nimble didn't feel the least bit alarmed. And the older he grew the less he heeded his mother's words. He thought she was too careful. She seemed always to be on the watch for some danger. She was forever stopping to look back, lest somebody or something might be following her. Whenever she picked out a good resting place behind a clump of evergreens, out of the wind, she never lay down without first retracing her steps for a little way and peering all around. ”

“ One morning Nimble's mother said to him, "To-night, just as the moon rises, we'll start for Farmer Green's garden patch."
He knew what that meant. It meant that he was going to know, at last, what carrots tasted like. And he was delighted.
"You've improved fast," his mother told him. "You've grown a good deal. You start to run much more quickly than you did a month ago; and you're quite speedy now. ”

“ That much he told Jimmy Rabbit when he met him in the woods a little while afterward. And Jimmy Rabbit agreed to get the news, somehow, to Fatty Coon and Cuffy Bear.
He was as good as his promise—even better. For Jimmy told everybody he met [Pg 31] that day. He explained about the excursion to the garden patch and said that every one must be ready to start just as the moon peeped over the rim of the world, for Nimble Deer's mother wouldn't wait for anybody that wasn't on hand. ”

“ Jimmy Rabbit didn't intend to invite Grumpy Weasel because he was a rascal. And Timothy Turtle wasn't to be one of the guests because he would be sure to grumble at everybody and everything.
And then there was Nimble Deer. Jimmy Rabbit said that Nimble was too big to come to his party. And every one [Pg 105] told Jimmy Rabbit that it was a pity. All the neighbors said so much that Jimmy Rabbit didn't know what to do.
"If I don't ask Nimble you won't be pleased," Jimmy complained to Billy Woodchuck. "And if I do ask him and he should happen to step on you during a dance you wouldn't like that." ”

“ Then Billy Woodchuck crawled under the fence and came hurrying up.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm just stretching my legs a bit," Nimble explained. At that answer Billy Woodchuck set up a loud clamor. "It's not fair!" he howled. "I expected the Muley Cow to win the contest. But if you're going to stretch your legs she'll certainly be beaten unless she stretches hers too."
Now, old Mr. Crow was on hand to see the fun. And not being very friendly with the Muley Cow he didn't want her to win the contest. ”

“ Crow tried to learn what the question was, Billy Woodchuck wouldn't tell him.
Later Billy was almost sorry he hadn't accepted Mr. Crow's help. For he couldn't find Jimmy Rabbit anywhere. And then Billy happened to meet Nimble Deer.
"I hear you're going to the party," [Pg 111] Billy said to him. "How are you going to keep out of the crowd?" That was the question he had wanted to ask Jimmy Rabbit.
"Keep out of the crowd!" Nimble exclaimed. "I don't expect to keep out of it. The crowd at a party is more than half the fun. Since I'm to help Jimmy Rabbit I'll have to be where the people are." ”

“ Again and again he said to his mother, "Can't we go down to Farmer Green's garden patch to-night? If we wait much longer somebody else will eat all the carrots before we get a taste of them." Or maybe he would exclaim, "Let's have some carrots for supper! Please!"
It was no wonder that Nimble's mother grew very tired of his teasing. At last she said to him, when he was urging her to take him down the hill and across the meadow to Farmer Green's vegetable garden, "There's no sense in our going down there now. The carrots aren't big enough yet. They aren't ready to eat. ”

“ Nimble followed him.
"Now," Jimmy Rabbit went on, "step inside this thicket and let only your head and neck stick out!"
"What shall I do with my antlers?" Nimble asked him. "They won't come off, because it's the wrong time of year to shed them."
"Oh! I want your antlers to show too," Jimmy Rabbit assured him.
So Nimble did exactly as Jimmy Rabbit had told him.
Then Jimmy sat up a little way off, cocked his head on one side, and looked at [Pg 115] Nimble. "That's fine!" he declared. "When the moon comes up everybody will be able to see you—except what's hidden by the evergreens." ”

“ Nimble's mother agreed with a happy glance at her son.
"I can't say he favors his mother," Mr. Grouse remarked.
"Oh, I had spots enough when I was young," she explained. "You see, all our family lose our spots as we grow up."
"I'm glad to say," Mr. Grouse said with a flirt of his tail, "that all our family [Pg 11] keep their spots, every one of them."
"We get to be so swift-footed that we don't need spots," said Nimble's mother. ”

“ They had mock battles that became famous all around Blue Mountain. And of all the "two-pointers" that lived in that neighborhood, Nimble and his friend Dodger the Deer were known as the best sham-fighters. They could look fiercer and act angrier than any of their young friends. And the way they tore into each other was almost enough to frighten you, if you had seen them.
Old Mr. Crow said it was worth flying a mile to watch one of their set-tos. ”

“ Mr. Grouse replied, "but it wouldn't be any use."
"Why not?" Nimble asked him. "Don't you think we'll see Cuffy again?"
"Oh, we'll see him," Mr. Grouse answered. "But it won't be till towards spring. For there's no doubt that Cuffy Bear has fallen into his winter's sleep."
And then Nimble exclaimed that Cuffy Bear had yawned as he turned away to enter the cave. He hadn't even begged pardon, nor covered his mouth with a paw.
"No doubt he was very, very sleepy," said Mr. Grouse. ”

“ It was seldom that Nimble wandered so far up the steep and thickly wooded slopes. But old dog Spot was ranging about the lower woods. And for once Nimble did not run for Cedar Swamp when he heard the old dog bay. Instead he climbed steadily until he was sure that he had shaken Spot off his trail.
Nimble had stopped for a drink at the spring which marked the beginning of Broad Brook and there he met Cuffy Bear, who was just turning away from the ice-framed pool. "Aren't you a long way from home?" ”

“ So he began to squall.
"She mustn't stretch her legs any more than Nimble stretches his," he objected in his hoarse croak. "Nimble jumped the fence twice to stretch his legs. She has jumped once already. Let her jump the [Pg 99] fence once more and then they'll be even and the real contest can begin."
"That's fair enough," said Jimmy Rabbit. But Billy Woodchuck began to chatter and scold.
"It's a trick—a trick of Mr. Crow's!" he cried. "If the Muley Cow jumps once more to stretch her legs she'll be on the wrong side of the fence. She won't be in the back pasture then. ”

“ Billy Woodchuck and Fatty Coon had come early to Jimmy Rabbit's party. And Jimmy had told them to hang their hats and coats upon his new hat-rack—meaning Nimble Deer's antlers. But when they tried to do as they were bid they found that the antlers were beyond their reach. ”

“ Her little spotted fawn, Nimble, kept close beside her. Slowly as his mother moved, he found the traveling none too easy. And he was glad when she [Pg 10] stopped in a pocket-like clearing. There she spoke to a proud speckled bird who was sitting on a log and amusing himself by spreading his tail feathers into a beautiful fan.
"Good morning, Mr. Grouse!" said Nimble's mother.
"Good morning, madam!" replied the gentleman with the fan. "What a handsome child you have! There's nothing quite like spots—or speckles—to add to a person's looks." ”

“ Nimble did not spend all his spare moments with the other Spike Horns. Once in a while he met Cuffy Bear prowling about near the foot of Blue Mountain. But Nimble never had a mock battle with Cuffy. Cuffy Bear was a famous boxer. And in each of his paws he carried long sharp claws. What if Cuffy should forget to pull in those claws sometime, when he struck you a playful tap? Ah! That wouldn't be very pleasant! This was what Nimble thought about the matter. So he never butted Cuffy Bear nor pricked him with his spikes.
[Pg 61] On the whole they found each other good company. ”

“ So Nimble hoped, secretly, that he would have five-point antlers in another two years.
As soon as his new horns were ready Nimble and his friend Dodger the Deer began their mock battles again. And Nimble found them greater fun than ever.
Dodger was a spry fellow. He was [Pg 80] quick as a flash at dodging. When Nimble ran at him with head lowered and horns aimed straight at him Dodger could wait until Nimble all but struck him, before leaping aside. And then Nimble would go rushing past him. ”

“ In one leap Nimble sprang completely around and followed Jimmy Rabbit across the meadow, up through the pasture and over the stone wall into the woods. There they lost each other.
The next morning Nimble met his mother along the ridge that ran down toward Cedar Swamp.
[Pg 58] "I went down to the carrot patch last night," he told her. "And I must say I don't see why you're so fond of carrots. They're not half as good as some big green balls that I found in the garden. I call the carrot leaves tough. But the big green balls have very tender leaves." ”

“ After that nobody saw him—nor Aunt Polly Woodchuck's bonnet—again that night.
The whole company scattered and vanished like baby grouse surprised in the woods. And when old dog Spot reached the clump of evergreens a few moments later he found nothing to show that there had been a party there—that is, he found nothing except a battered hat and a rusty coat lying on the ground.
[Pg 127] Spot sniffed at them. "Unless I'm mistaken, Uncle Jerry Chuck has forgotten something," he murmured. "No doubt he'll be back here in a little while." ”

“ Nimble agreed. [Pg 67] "All this snow has fallen since Cuffy crawled into the cave."
"Why don't you go inside yourself?" Peter Mink inquired with something very like a sneer.
"I'm too tall," said Nimble. "Besides, I don't like caves. I keep out of them."
"So do I!" Peter Mink declared—though everybody knew that he went everywhere—even under the ice along Broad Brook and Swift River.
Poor Nimble didn't know what to do. He felt that he ought to go for help, somewhere. But he had promised Cuffy Bear to wait for him. ”

“ And then Nimble checked his headlong rush and merely clashed his horns pleasantly against Dodger's.
There was something about the sound that sent a thrill through Nimble and started his coat to bristling along his backbone with a queer, creepy feeling.
One day in the fall Nimble's mother came upon them in the woods when they were having one of their sham fights.
"You'd better stop that!" she said to them severely. "Somebody will get hurt [Pg 81] sooner or later if you're not careful." ”

“ Uncle Jerry muttered to himself. "I'll take it." And then he said, "This is a good coat! I'll take it." Then he looked closely at another hat. "This is a good one, too!" he remarked. "I might lose the other. ”

“ At that Nimble gave a groan.
"S-s-h!" Jimmy Rabbit laid a paw [Pg 122] upon his lips. "Keep still! Stuffed animals never talk. If you don't look out somebody will hear you."
And then he hurried away to join his guests. He did not want to leave them alone too long. He feared they might be saying things to each other about his new hat-rack.
Contents
[Pg 123]
XXIV UNCLE JERRY CHUCK
Soon Jimmy Rabbit's friends arrived at his party in throngs. And soon Nimble Deer's antlers bristled with hats and coats of many kinds and colors.
"I must look like a Christmas tree," Nimble thought. ”