James Otis

“ Man was out trying to kill something.
"Off Jimmy and I went, Mr. Crow calling after us as he saw us hopping along in the direction of Mr. Man's barn:
"'You'd better take care of your own hides, instead of following that foolish Cheeko, who hasn't got a thing more than he deserved!'
"'You're a hard-hearted old bird!' Jimmy cried, and a deaf man could have told by the sound of his voice that he was angry. 'There's just a chance that we can help the poor fellow.'
"'Help nothing!' Mr. Crow cried sharply, and off he flew, as much as to say that he washed his claws of us both. ”

“ Of course Cheeko will be there too, for there is nothing going on around these woods that he doesn't try to have a paw in. We'll put the nuts where he'll see them, and you shall get in the shade where the sun won't hurt your eyes. Then, if he isn't your meat, I'll agree to furnish the dinners to-morrow.'
"The idea of two big bullies taking so much time to get the best of one little squirrel! I forgot all about Cheeko's impudence to me and, instead of looking after old Mr. Turtle, I scuttled back through the bushes to watch the villains while they laid their trap." ”

“ The worst part of Professor Hawk, so far as we members of the Fur section are concerned, is that his eyes are so sharp. He can sail around in the sky so high up that a fellow can't see him, and yet keep a mighty good watch on all that takes place beneath him! Fly! He can beat any bird I know of at that way of getting around, and when he drops down for a young rabbit or a squirrel, the chances are that it's good-bye then. ”

“ Bunny has so many scars which tell of hairbreadth escapes, and has been forced to run so many times for very life, that no mistake can be made in setting him down as an old fellow of vast experience, who could tell many an entertaining story of his own adventures; and because he is ready and willing to talk at almost any time to a friendly listener, I came to know about the Fur and Feather Club, whose meeting place is at Crow's Corner. ”

“ Down at the pond lives an old fellow by the name of Slowly Turtle, and between you and me, I don't think he has very much sense, although you can't really say he is foolish. I suppose it takes him so long to go from one place to another that he gets himself all mixed [Pg 14] up with watching out to see if he is moving. He isn't the kind of fellow you'd really want for a friend; but because he doesn't do any great harm in the world, we members of the club pass the time of day with him when we meet. ”

“ Just then up came Cheeko, his tail spread over his head and waving to and fro in that way which always makes me feel seasick. It doesn't seem possible, as I tell it to you now, but it is a fact that, not content with having been the means of giving Mr. Crow the sorest leg you ever saw on a bird, he must needs begin to brag about what he had done in the way of making trouble in the club. ”

“ Bunny is forever wanting carrots; if her head aches, there's nothing to be done but get young carrots, when they're in season, I mean. If she gets nervous about Sonny Bunny, then the only thing to straighten her out is a bunch of carrots, and so it goes on all the time, till I'm actually worn down to skin and bones ministering to her whims.
"How did I kill Grandfather Fox? That's a long story; but I'll tell it to you as soon as I finish with Jimmy Hedgehog's narrow escape, and surely he did have the slimmest squeak for his life that ever any animal had! ”

“ Yes, that was the end of the Fur and Feather Club. Mr. Crow wouldn't speak to a single soul of us for ever and ever so long; Jimmy and his folks were so angry at us all that they moved away down to the lower end of the swamp, while old Mr. Turtle took it into his foolish head that he hadn't been treated right, and threatened to make it hot for the first member of the club who dared come near the pond, which he claimed was his private property. ”

“ Bunny had told me and although I was so frightened that my teeth chattered I couldn't help creeping out a bit to see what Jimmy was doing. I had just got into a place where it was possible to have a full view of the barn, when whom should I see but that foolish Jimmy standing on his hind legs looking from one side to the other, but never behind him where was Mr. Man creeping along as if he were making ready to shoot. ”

“ A fellow like me, who is moving about through the big woods a good deal, and who keeps his ears and eyes wide open, is certain to learn a good many things in the course of his life, and since Bobby Coon led me on that terrible chase, I have come to understand that it is folly, not bravery, to venture into danger simply for the sake of trying to [Pg 131] prove that a fellow isn't afraid, when way down in his heart he knows that he is scared nearly out of his wits.
"All the members of the club say I'm the biggest coward to be found anywhere around, and suppose I am? ”

“ It's up to you to see that your mother gets home before those wicked boys can lay their hands on her, so move lively!'
"Sonny Bunny is a good deal like me in some things, and it was as if the little fellow understood the whole situation in a sniff of your nose. Before you could say Jack Robinson, in case you wanted to, he was showing his mother the way home, his little legs twinkling like drumsticks amid the bushes. ”

“ Cheeko was so eager to show the members of the club that he had no reason to be afraid of anything wearing feathers or fur that he didn't look to the right or to the left, but made straight for the nuts, and, just as he was about to pick up one, out sailed the 'Squire with a rush and a bang, which showed how angry he was. ”

“ Crow [Pg 67] said when the Professor and Cheeko's brother had disappeared. 'But if he sticks his nose into danger just for the sake of showing folks how clever he is he not only shows that he is mistaken as to the meaning of the word brave, but has proven himself very foolish.'
"You may believe it or not, but it's the solemn truth that there wasn't one of the wood folk who felt sorry for Cheeko's brother, and that's saying a good deal, for as a rule we're all broken up when anything like that happens, especially when it is done right on the club's premises. ”

“ Bunny," he said with a sigh, as he stroked his whiskers thoughtfully. "Do you know, that foolish rabbit thinks I'm wasting my time, sitting here telling you stories about the club members, because she wanted me to run over to Mr. Man's farm for more young carrots. Upon my word I'm almost ashamed to call on him so often; it really seems as if I, and other members of the Rabbit family, had gathered more than half his crop already, and surely he ought to have a few after he has spent so much time planting them for us and his boy Tommy has very nearly broken his back at the weeding. ”

“ Bunny and Sonny were clean out of the muss, so off I went limperty, limperty, limp, taking my own time and leading that crowd of boys and sling-shots straight into the swamp, where I was allowing they'd pitch head over heels into the mud till they were in such shape that their mothers couldn't help whipping them soundly when they got home.
"Mr. Man's boy Tommy wasn't quite so simple as I'd taken him to be, for when he came to the edge of the swamp he fired one shot that never came anywhere near touching me, and yelled to the fellows behind:
"'Hold up, or we'll be in the mud up to our necks! ”

“ I may not be able to make such a terrible show of fighting; but when it comes to getting the best of whatever is being passed around your Mr. Bunny Rabbit doesn't often get left, more especially if Jimmy Hedgehog is the only fellow he has to beat.
"Oh, yes, I was telling how the club meeting wound up when Professor Hawk came around to make trouble. Well, as I was saying, Cheeko's brother and I were snuggled together under the thorns, watching that wicked bird out of both eyes and thanking our lucky stars that the old 'Squire wasn't alive to take a hand in the game. ”

“ I wonder why it is that the Fox family have such a hankering for rabbit pie, stew, or even [Pg 154] plain rabbit? Of course, they don't turn up their noses at a good plump partridge, and they know how to catch him, too, when the snow is deep; but I verily believe there's nothing goes quite so near the right spot in a fox's stomach as rabbit meat. Mr. Crow says that years and years ago, when the mountains were only grown into little hills, Clote Scarpe, the Great Spirit who made all the birds and animals, used to walk around listening to any complaint his creatures might make. ”

“ I don't want to say anything that may sound like bragging, but it's a fact that when I get right down to business in the woods there aren't many members of the club who can come anywhere near me for speed—there's no telling how fast I can run when it gets right down to a pinch, and I was needing all my feet just then, for Mr. Towser isn't anybody's fool when it comes to a race, owing to his legs being so long. ”

“ If he hadn't said that he couldn't work his plan without Mr. Turtle, I'd been perfectly willing to stay at home till he finished the job, whatever it might be; but when he talked as if old Slowly was the only one who could help him, I got agitated. Just think of it! Getting a fellow to help you who makes a two-days' [Pg 166] journey of it from the pond to the big oak! It twisted me terribly to figure out what Mr. Turtle could do to help the president, and I really had to leave home the very minute Mrs. Bunny was willing, to see how the thing was going to be worked. ”

“ It didn't seem to me as if I had any call to mix up in the show, even though the president kept singing out for me to jump in and catch the crazy hedgehog, for when you find me mixing myself up with a lot of quills that are moving around as Jimmy's were then you'll catch Butcher Weasel asleep. ”

“ Turtle?' Jimmy asked, ruffling up his quills so's to make himself look as big as he felt, and old Slowly said, [Pg 179] speaking as if the breath had about gone out of his body:
"'I'm in a mighty bad way, Mr. Hedgehog, and I allow you're the only one in all the big woods who can give me a lift. I've never done anything wrong to you, and a young chap ought to be willing to help a poor old fellow who's got the misery in his tooth that I'm having.'
"'Of course, I'll do what I can, Mr. Turtle,' and Jimmy bristled around like a red and green auto that's gone wrong in its steering-gear. ”

“ I gave Bobby a real serious scolding for breaking up the fun so soon, for I had been aching to see how much of a fight they would have made and, besides, I had the least little bit of a hope that the Senator might have done up Mr. Towser, for there are times when that dog makes the lives of us club members a burden with sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong. ”

“ We call him the Senator because he doesn't amount to half as much as he thinks he does, and goes around pushing his chest out [Pg 119] as if he were the most dangerous thing in the big woods, when all of us at the club know that he's only a big bunch of fur that doesn't dare to make any kind of fight, large as he is, unless Mr. Man gets him in a corner where it's a case of putting in the big licks to save his own skin. I do think a bear is about the most useless creature we have among us ”

“ A cautious old fellow is Bunny, else he would not be alive this day, for among the wood folk there is more than one who has a fondness for rabbit pie or stew, and that member of the Rabbit family who lives to have children of his own has given good proof that he keeps his wits about him the greater portion of the time. ”

“ After a while I managed to shake some sense into him, and off we started for home, knowing by the yelps and hootings that the fight was still going on, with Mr. Weasel holding his tongue all the while, but most likely sawing a good deal of wood. ”

“ You can make up your mind that I did a power of thinking in a few seconds, and even if I am just the least little bit cowardly when it comes to fighting, I'm a master hand at finding my way out of a bad scrape. ”

“ Bunny had more leisure he went back [Pg 12] to Crow's Corner and was speedily made a member of the club.
"We don't have any regular hours for meeting," Mr. Bunny said while first telling about the association. "When 'Squire Owl or Professor Hawk have had such a big dinner that they forget to be hungry, we get together around the tree, those of us who belong to the fur section, with the associates of the feather department on the branches, and then it is that you might hear some rare stories if you happened along that way." ”

“ He commits murder just to please his wicked self, and oftentimes doesn't stop to suck a single drop of blood from his victim. A desperately wicked old fellow is Mr. Weasel, and even the 'Squire and the Professor are afraid of him.
"Yes, yes, I'm going to tell you how much trouble I got poor little Sonny Bunny into, through trying to help Cheeko Squirrel after he had so needlessly poked his nose into danger. ”