He had never been so far from his old home on the Green Meadows before, and it was all very strange up here. It was very lovely, too. Besides, it was in this very old orchard that Polly Chuck had been born, and she knew every part of it. Johnny felt better when he found that out. So he set to work to build a home, and this time he meant business. Polly Chuck could change her mind as many times as she pleased; that was going to be their home and that was where they were going to live.
Now Johnny Chuck had grown wise in the ways of the world since he first ran away from the home where he was born. Twice since then he had built a new home, and now this would be better than either of the others. He paid no heed to Polly, when she pouted because he did not dig where she wanted him to. He went from tree to tree, big old apple-trees they were, and at the very last tree, way down in a corner near a tumbled-down stone wall, he found what he wanted--two spreading roots gave him a chance to dig between them.
Polly watched him get ready for work and she pouted some more.
"It would be a lot nicer out in that gra.s.sy place, and a lot easier to dig," said she.
Johnny Chuck smiled and made the dirt fly. "It certainly would be easier to dig," said he, when he stopped for breath, "easier for me and easier for Bowser the Hound or for old Granny Fox, if either wanted to dig us out. Now, these old roots are just far enough apart for us to go in and out. They make a beautiful doorway. But Bowser the Hound cannot get through if he tries, and he can"t make our doorway any larger. Don"t you see how safe it is?"
Polly Chuck had to own up that it was safer than a home in the open could possibly be, and Johnny went on digging. He made a long hall down to the snuggest of bedrooms, deep, deep down under ground. Then he made a long back hall, and all the sand from this he carried out the front way. By and by he made a back door at the end of the back hall, and it opened right behind a big stone fallen from the old stone wall. You would never have guessed that there was a back door there.
His new house was finished now, and Johnny Chuck and Polly Chuck sat on the door-step and watched jolly, round, red Mr. Sun go to bed behind the Purple Hills and were happy.
XV. SAMMY JAY FINDS THE NEW HOME
Johnny Chuck was missed from his old home on the Green Meadows. If he had known how much he was missed, he certainly would have tried to go back for at least a call on his old neighbors. There had been great surprise when it had been discovered that Jimmy Skunk was living in Johnny"s old house, and at first some of the little meadow people were inclined to look at Jimmy a wee bit distrustfully when he told how Johnny Chuck had given away his house.
When Johnny sent back word by the Merry Little Breezes that it was true, they believed Jimmy Skunk and forgot the unpleasant things that they had begun to hint at about him. But they one and all thought that Johnny Chuck must be crazy. Yes, Sir, they thought that Johnny Chuck must be crazy. They were sure of it when the Merry Little Breezes brought word of how Johnny had started out to see the world.
But everybody was so busy about their own affairs in the beautiful bright spring-time that they couldn"t spend much time wondering about Johnny Chuck. They missed him every time they pa.s.sed his old house and then forgot him; that is, most of the little meadow people did.
Peter Rabbit didn"t. Peter used to stop every day to gossip with Johnny Chuck and tell him all the news, and now that Johnny Chuck was no longer there, Peter missed him greatly. Jimmy Skunk was always asleep or off somewhere. Besides, he was such a traveler that he knew all the news almost as soon as Peter himself.
The Merry Little Breezes told Peter that Johnny Chuck was still on the Green Meadows, hunting for a new home, so Peter made up his mind that just as soon as Johnny got settled, Peter would hunt him up and call.
You see, he never dreamed that Johnny would leave the Green Meadows, and he thought that of course the Merry Little Breezes would tell him just where Johnny Chuck"s new house was, whenever it was built. But there is where Peter made a mistake.
The Merry Little Breezes are the friends of all the little meadow and forest people, but they wouldn"t be very long if they told everything that they find out.
Their merry tongues they guard full well And things they shouldn"t never tell, For long ago they learned the way To keep a secret night and day.
And so when they found Johnny Chuck"s new house in the corner of Farmer Brown"s old orchard, they promised Johnny that they wouldn"t tell anybody, and they didn"t. So it was a long time before any one else found out what had become of Johnny Chuck, for no one thought of looking in the corner of the old orchard.
The Merry Little Breezes used to come every day and bring Johnny Chuck the news, and he and Polly Chuck would laugh and tickle, as they thought of Peter Rabbit hunting and hunting and never finding them.
Then one morning, as Johnny Chuck sat on his door-step, half dozing in the sun with his heart filled with contentment, he happened to look up straight into two sharp eyes peering down at him from among the leaves of the apple-tree under which he had built his house. He knew those eyes. They were such sharp eyes that they were unpleasant. He didn"t even have to look for the blue and white coat of the owner to know who had found his snug home. But he pretended to keep right on dozing, and pretty soon the owner of the eyes disappeared without making a sound.
"Oh, dear," sighed Johnny Chuck, "now the whole world will know where we live, for that was Sammy Jay." Then his face brightened as he added: "Anyway, he didn"t see Polly Chuck, and he doesn"t know anything about her, so I"ll keep twice as sharp a watch as before."
XVI. SAMMY JAY PLANS MISCHIEF
Mischief may not mean to be really truly bad, But somehow it seems to make other people sad; Does a mean unpleasant thing and tries to think it fun; Then, alas, it runs away when trouble has begun.
Of all the little people who live in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows, none is more mischievous than Sammy Jay. It seems sometimes as if there was more mischief under that pert little cap Sammy Jay wears than in the heads of all the other little meadow and forest people put together. When he isn"t actually in mischief, Sammy Jay is planning mischief. You see it has grown to be a habit with Sammy Jay, and habits, especially bad habits, have a way of growing and growing.
Now Sammy Jay had no quarrel with Johnny Chuck. Oh, my, no! He would have told you that he liked Johnny Chuck. Everybody likes Johnny Chuck.
But just as soon as Sammy Jay found Johnny Chuck"s new house, he began to plan mischief. He didn"t really want any harm to come to Johnny Chuck, but he wanted to make Johnny uncomfortable. That is Sammy Jay"s idea of fun--seeing somebody else uncomfortable. So he slipped away to a thick hemlock-tree in the Green Forest to try to think of some plan to tease Johnny Chuck and make him uncomfortable.
Of course he knew that Johnny had hidden his new house in the corner of Farmer Brown"s old orchard because he wanted it to be a secret. He didn"t know why Johnny wanted it a secret and he didn"t care. If Johnny wanted it a secret, it would be fun to tell everybody about it. As he sat wondering who he should tell first; he saw Reddy Fox trotting down the Lone Little Path.
"Hi, Reddy Fox!" he shouted.
Reddy looked up. "h.e.l.lo, Sammy Jay! What have you got on your mind this morning?" said Reddy.
"Nothing much," replied Sammy Jay. "What"s the news?"
Reddy grinned. "There isn"t any news," said he. "I was just going to ask you the same thing."
It was Sammy Jay"s turn to grin, "Just as if I could tell you any news, Reddy Fox! Just as if I could tell you any news!" he exclaimed. "Why, everybody knows that you are so smart that you find out everything as soon as it happens."
Reddy Fox felt flattered. You know people who do a great deal of flattering themselves are often the very easiest to flatter if you know how. Reddy pretended to be very modest; but no one likes to be thought smart and important more than Reddy Fox does, and it pleased him greatly that Sammy Jay should think him so smart that no one could tell him any news. Sammy knew this perfectly well, and he chuckled to himself as he watched Reddy Fox pretending to be so modest.
"Have you called on Johnny Chuck at his new home yet?" asked Sammy Jay, in the most matter-of-fact way.
"No," replied Reddy, "but I mean to, soon." He said this just as if he knew all about Johnny Chuck"s new home, when all the time he hadn"t the remotest idea in the world where it was. In fact he had hunted and hunted for it, but hadn"t found a trace of it. And all the time Sammy Jay knew that Reddy didn"t know where it was. But Sammy didn"t let on that he knew.
"I just happened to be up in Farmer Brown"s old orchard this morning, so I thought I"d pay Johnny Chuck a call," said Sammy, and chuckled as he saw Reddy"s ears p.r.i.c.k up. "By the way, he thinks you don"t know where he lives now."
"Huh!" said Reddy Fox. "As if Johnny Chuck could fool me! Well, I must be moving along. Good-by, Sammy Jay."
Reddy trotted off towards the Green Meadows, but the minute he was out of sight of Sammy Jay, he turned towards Farmer Brown"s old orchard, just as Sammy Jay had known he would.
"I guess Johnny Chuck will have a visitor," chuckled Sammy Jay, as he started to look for Jimmy Skunk.
XVII. MORE MISCHIEF
Mischief"s like a s...o...b..ll Sent rolling down a hill; With every turn it bigger grows And bigger, bigger still.
Sammy Jay had started mischief by telling Reddy Fox where Johnny Chuck"s new house was. If you had asked him, Sammy Jay would have said that he hadn"t told. All he had said was that he had happened to be up in Farmer Brown"s old orchard and so had called on Johnny Chuck in his new house.
Now Reddy Fox is very sly, oh, very sly. He had pretended to Sammy Jay that he knew all the time where Johnny Chuck was living. When he left Sammy Jay, he had started in the direction of the Green Meadows, just as if he had no thought of going over to Farmer Brown"s old orchard.
But Sammy Jay is just as sly as Reddy Fox. He wasn"t fooled for one minute, not one little minute. He chuckled to himself as he started to look for Jimmy Skunk. Then he changed his mind.
"I think I"ll go up to the old orchard myself!" said Sammy Jay, and away he flew.
He got there first and hid in the top of a big apple-tree, where he could see all that went on. It wasn"t long before he saw Reddy Fox steal out from the Green Forest and over to the old orchard. Reddy was nervous, very nervous. You see, it was broad daylight, and the old orchard was very near Farmer Brown"s house. Reddy knew that he ought to have waited until night, but he knew that then Johnny Chuck would be fast asleep, Now, perhaps, Johnny Chuck, thinking that no one knew where he lived, would not be on watch, and he might be able to catch Johnny.