That really began to worry him. At first he had thought that it was all a joke on the part of the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows, and that they had made up the story about hearing him in the night. Then he began to think that it might be true that he did talk in his sleep, and this worried him a whole lot. If he did that, Hooty the Owl would surely find him sooner or later, and in the morning there wouldn"t be anything left of him but a few feathers from his fine coat.
The more he thought about it, the more worried Sammy Jay became. He lost his appet.i.te and began to grow thin. He kept out of sight whenever possible and no longer screamed "Thief! thief!" through the Green Forest. In fact his voice was rarely heard during the day. But it seemed that he must be talking just as much as ever in the night. At least everybody said that he was. Worse still, different ones said that they heard him in different places in the Green Forest and even down on the Green Meadows. Could it be that he was flying about as well as talking in his sleep? And n.o.body believed him when he said that he was asleep all night. They thought that he was awake and doing it purposely. They might have known that he couldn"t see in the night, for his eyes are made for daylight and not for darkness, like the eyes of Boomer the Nighthawk and Hooty the Owl. But they didn"t seem to think of this, and insisted that almost every night they heard him down in the alders along the Laughing Brook. Yet every morning when he awoke, Sammy would find himself just where he went to sleep the night before, safely hidden in the thickest part of a big pine-tree.
"If they are not all crazy, then I must be," said. Sammy Jay to himself, as he turned away from the breakfast which he could not eat. Then he had a happy idea. "Why didn"t I think of it before? I"ll sleep all day, and then I"ll keep awake all night and see what happens then!" he exclaimed.
So Sammy Jay hurried away to the darkest part of the Green Forest and tried to sleep through the day.
VII
SAMMY JAY SITS UP ALL NIGHT
Sammy Jay sat in the dark and shivered. Sammy was lonely, more lonely than he had ever supposed anybody could be. And to tell the truth Sammy Jay was scared. Yes, Sir, that was just the way Sammy Jay felt--scared. Every time a leaf rustled, Sammy jumped almost out of his skin. His heart went pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat. He could hear it himself, or at least he thought he could, and it seemed to him that if Hooty the Owl should happen to come along, he would surely hear it.
You see it was the first time in all his life that Sammy Jay had not gone to sleep just as soon as jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had pulled his rosy night-cap on and gone to bed behind the Purple Hills. But to-night Sammy sat in the darkest, thickest part of a big pine-tree and kept blinking his eyes to keep from going to sleep. He had made up his mind that he wouldn"t go to sleep at all that night, no matter how lonely and frightened he might be. He just would keep his eyes and his ears wide open.
What was he doing it for? Why, because all the little meadow and forest people insisted that every night lately Sammy Jay had spent a great part of his time screaming in the harsh, unpleasant way he does during the day, and some of them were very cross, because they said that he waked them up when they wanted to sleep. Now Sammy knew better. He never in his life had screamed in the night unless--well, unless he did it in his sleep and didn"t know it. So he had made up his mind to keep awake all of this night and see if in the morning any one would say that he had waked them up.
He had watched the black shadows creep through the Green Forest and grow blacker and blacker. The blacker they grew, the lonesomer he became. By and by it was so dark that he couldn"t see anything at all, and every little noise made him shiver. It is easy to be brave in daylight, but in the dark, when you cannot see a thing, every little sound seems twice as loud as it really is and gives you such a creepy, creepy feeling. Sammy Jay had it now. He felt so creepy that it seemed as if he would crawl right out of his skin. He kept saying over and over to himself: "There"s nothing to be afraid of. There"s nothing to be afraid of. I"m just as safe as if I was fast asleep." But still he shivered and shook.
By and by, looking up through the top of the big pine-tree, he saw the little stars come out one by one. They seemed to be looking right down at him and winking at him in the jolliest way. Somehow, he didn"t feel quite so lonely then, and he tried to wink back. Then little, soft, silvery bars of light began to creep through the branches of the trees and along the ground. They were moonbeams, and Sammy could see just a little, a very little. He began to feel better.
"Whooo-hoo-hoo, whooo-hoo!"
It was a terrible sound, fierce and hungry. Sammy Jay nearly fell from his perch. He opened his mouth to scream with fright. Then he remembered just in time and closed it without a sound. It was the hunting-cry of Hooty the Owl. Sammy Jay sat huddled in a little, forlorn, shivering heap, while twice more that fierce cry rang through the Green Forest. Then a shadow floated over the big pine-tree. Hooty the Owl had flown away without seeing him, and Sammy breathed easier.
VIII
SAMMY JAY IS GLAD HE SAT UP ALL NIGHT
Sammy Jay was having no trouble in keeping awake now. Not a bit! He couldn"t have gone to sleep if he wanted to--not since Hooty the Owl had frightened him almost out of his skin with his fierce, hungry hunting-call.
He was too frightened and shivery and creepy to sleep. But he didn"t want to, anyway.
So he sat in the thickest part of the big pine-tree, shivering and creepy and miserable. He heard Bobby c.o.o.n go down the Lone Little Path on his way to Fanner Brown"s cornfield, where the corn was just beginning to get milky and sweet. Out in a patch of bright moonlight he saw Peter Rabbit jumping and dancing and having the greatest kind of a time all by himself. Pretty soon Peter was joined by his cousin, Jumper the Hare. Such antics as they did cut up! Sammy Jay almost laughed aloud as he watched. It was less lonely with them there, and he did want to call to them dreadfully. But that would never, never do, for no one must know that he was sitting up awake all night.
By and by along came Jimmy Skunk, walking out into the patch of bright moonlight. He touched noses with Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare, which is one way of saying "good evening" in the Green Forest.
"Isn"t it most time for Sammy Jay to scream in his sleep?" asked Peter Rabbit.
Sammy p.r.i.c.ked up his ears. "Scream in his sleep! Nonsense! Sammy Jay isn"t any more asleep than I am. He just screams out of pure meanness to wake up and frighten good honest folks who want to sleep. For my part, I don"t see what any one wants to sleep for on such a fine night as this, anyway. It serves "em right if they do get waked up," replied Jimmy Skunk.
"But Sammy Jay says that he doesn"t do it and doesn"t know anything about it," said Peter Rabbit. "Have you ever seen him scream in the night, Jimmy Skunk?"
"No, I don"t have to," replied Jimmy Skunk. "I guess I know his voice when I hear it, and I"ve heard it enough times the last few nights, goodness knows! Tell me this, Peter Rabbit: who else is there that cries "Thief!
thief! thief!" and screams like Sammy Jay?"
Peter shook his head. "I guess you"re right, Jimmy Skunk. I guess you"re right," he said.
"Of course I"m right. There, now!" Jimmy held up one hand to warn Peter to keep still. Sure enough, there was Sammy Jay"s voice, way over in the alders beside the Laughing Brook, and it was screaming "Thief! thief!
thief!"
They all heard it. Sammy Jay heard it, too, and scratched himself to be sure that he was awake and sitting there in the big pine-tree.
"It"s my voice, and it isn"t my voice, for I haven"t made a sound, and it"s over in the alders while I"m here in my own big pine-tree," muttered Sammy Jay to himself. "I"m glad I kept awake, but--
"Maybe I"m going crazy!
My wits are getting hazy!
That"s surely me, Yet here I be!
Oh, dear, I sure am crazy!"
IX
THE MYSTERY GROWS
"Can a body be a body, Yet not a body be?
Tell a body, anybody, Didst such a body see?"
Of course it was Sammy Jay who was humming such a foolish-sounding rhyme as that. But really, it wasn"t so foolish in Sammy"s case, after all. He had sat up wide awake all night just to try to find out why it was that all the little meadow and forest people had complained that he spent part of each night screaming "Thief! thief! thief!" just as he does in the daytime.
Now he knew. Sitting in the dark in his big pine-tree, he had heard his own voice, or what sounded like his own voice, screaming down in the alders by the Laughing Brook. Sammy had scratched himself to be sure that he was really and truly awake and not dreaming, for there was his voice down in the alders, and there was himself sitting in the big pine tree with his mouth closed as tight as he could shut it. Did ever a Jaybird have anything so queer as that to puzzle him?
Anyway, Sammy Jay knew that he didn"t scream in his sleep, and there was a whole lot of comfort in that. He could eat with a better appet.i.te now. You see, when he had been told that he was screaming in the night, Sammy had been afraid that he was doing it in his sleep; and if he was doing that, why, some dark night Hooty the Owl might hear him and find him, and that would be the end of him. Now he knew that he could go to sleep in peace, just as he always had.
Sammy Jay brushed and smoothed out his handsome blue coat and made himself as pert and smart-appearing as possible. He had been so worried lately that he hadn"t taken much care of himself, which is very unusual for Sammy Jay.
Now, however, he felt so much better that he began to think about his looks. When he had finished dressing, he started for the alders beside the Laughing Brook just to have a look around. Of course he didn"t expect to find his voice down there, for who ever saw a voice? Still he thought that he might find something that would explain the mystery.
He hunted all around in the thicket of alders beside the Laughing Brook, but nothing unusual did he find. Then for a long time he sat as still as still can be, studying and thinking. Finally he thought to himself: "I"ll just see how my voice really does sound down here," and opening his mouth he screamed:
"Thief! thief! thief!"
Then out popped Jenny Wren, and she was so mad that she couldn"t sit still a second. My, my, my, how she did scold!
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Sammy Jay! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" she sputtered. "Isn"t it enough to keep us awake half the night without coming down and screaming all day?"
"I haven"t been down here in the night, and I haven"t kept anybody awake!"
replied Sammy Jay indignantly.
Jenny Wren came right up in front of Sammy Jay and hopped up and down. She was so mad that with every word she jerked her funny little tail so that Sammy Jay almost had to laugh.