"What did Ah do? Ah did just what yo"alls would have done,--Ah done run!" replied Unc" Billy, looking around the little circle of forest and meadow people, listening with round eyes and open mouths. "Yes, Sah, Ah done run, and Ah didn"t turn around until Ah was safe in mah holler tree."
"Pooh!" sneered Reddy Fox, who had been listening. "You"re a coward. I wouldn"t have run! I would have waited and found out what it was. You and Peter Rabbit would run away from your own shadows."
"You don"t dare go there yourself at daybreak to-morrow!" retorted Unc" Billy.
"I do too!" declared Reddy angrily, though he didn"t have the least intention of going.
"All right. Ah"m going to be in a tree where Ah can watch to-morrow mo"ning and see if yo" are as brave as yo" talk," declared Unc" Billy.
Then Reddy knew that he would have to go or else be called a coward.
"I"ll be there," he snarled angrily, as he slunk away.
X
UNC" BILLY POSSUM TELLS JIMMY SKUNK A SECRET
Be sure before you drop a friend That you"ve done nothing to offend.
A friend is always worth keeping. Unc" Billy Possum says so, and he knows. He ought to, for he has made a lot of them in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows, in spite of the pranks he has cut up and the tricks he has played. And when Unc" Billy makes a friend, he keeps him. He says that it is easier and a lot better to keep a friend than to make a new one. And this is the way he goes about it: Whenever he finds that a friend is angry with him, he refuses to be angry himself. Instead, he goes to that friend, finds out what the trouble is, explains it all away, and then does something nice.
Jimmy Skunk and Unc" Billy had been friends from the time that Unc"
Billy came up from ol" Virginny to live in the Green Forest. In fact, they had been partners in stealing eggs from the hen-house of Farmer Brown"s boy. So when Jimmy Skunk, who had made a special call on p.r.i.c.kly Porky to find out if he had seen the strange creature without head, tail, or legs, told everybody that p.r.i.c.kly Porky had seen nothing of such a creature, he was very much put out and quite offended to hear that Unc" Billy was telling how p.r.i.c.kly Porky had said that Peter might really have some reason for his queer story. It seemed to him that either p.r.i.c.kly Porky had told an untruth or that Unc" Billy was telling an untruth. It made him very angry.
The afternoon of the day when Unc" Billy had dared Reddy Fox to go at sun-up the next morning to the hill where p.r.i.c.kly Porky lives he met Jimmy Skunk coming down the Crooked Little Path. Jimmy scowled and was going to pa.s.s without so much as speaking. Unc" Billy"s shrewd little eyes twinkled, and he grinned as only Unc" Billy can grin. "Howdy, Brer Skunk," said he.
Jimmy just frowned harder than ever and tried to pa.s.s.
"Howdy, Brer Skunk," repeated Unc" Billy Possum. "Yo" must have something on your mind."
Jimmy Skunk stopped. "I have!" he snapped. "I want to know whether it is you or p.r.i.c.kly Porky who has been telling an untruth. He told me that he hadn"t seen anything like what Peter Rabbit said chased him, and you"ve been telling around how he told you that Peter may have had good grounds for that foolish story. If Peter saw that thing, p.r.i.c.kly Porky would know it, for he hasn"t been away from home this summer.
Why would he tell me that he hasn"t seen it if he has?"
"Don" be hasty, Brer Skunk. Don" be hasty," replied Unc" Billy soothingly. "Ah haven"t said that Brer Porky told me that he had _seen_ the thing that Peter says chased him. He told the truth when he told you that he hadn"t seen any stranger around his hill. What he told me was that--" Here Unc" Billy whispered.
Jimmy Skunk"s face cleared. "That"s different," said he.
"Of course it is," replied Unc" Billy. "Yo" see Peter _did_ see something strange, even if Brer Porky didn"t. Ah have seen it mahself, and now Ah invites yo" to be over at the foot of Brer Porky"s hill at sun-up to-morrow mo"ning and see what happens when Brer Fox tries to show how brave he is. Only don" forget that it"s a secret."
Jimmy was chuckling by this time. "I won"t forget, and I"ll be there,"
he promised. "I"m glad to know that n.o.body has been telling untruths, and I beg your pardon, Unc" Billy, for thinking you might have been."
"Don" mention it, Brer Skunk, don" mention it. Ah"ll be looking fo"
yo" to-morrow mo"ning," replied Unc" Billy, with a sly wink that made Jimmy laugh aloud.
XI
WHAT HAPPENED TO REDDY FOX
Reddy Fox wished with all his might that he had kept his tongue still about not being afraid to meet the strange creature that had given Peter Rabbit such a fright. When he had boasted that he would stop and find out all about it if he happened to meet it, he didn"t have the least intention of doing anything of the kind. He was just idly boasting and nothing more. You see, Reddy is one of the greatest boasters in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows. He likes to strut around and talk big. But like most boasters, he is a coward at heart.
Unc" Billy Possum knew this, and that is why he dared Reddy to go the next morning to the foot of the hill where p.r.i.c.kly Porky the Porcupine lives, and where Peter Rabbit had had his strange adventure, and where Unc" Billy himself claimed to have seen the same strange creature without head, tail, or legs which had so frightened Peter. Unc" Billy had said that he would be there himself up in a tree where he could see whether Reddy really did come or not, and so there was nothing for Reddy to do but to go and make good his foolish boast, if the strange creature should appear. You see, a number of little people had heard him boast and had heard Unc" Billy dare him, and he knew that if he didn"t make good, he would never hear the end of it and would be called a coward by everybody.
Reddy didn"t sleep at all well that afternoon, and when at dusk he started to hunt for his supper, he found that he had lost his appet.i.te. Instead of hunting, he spent most of the night in trying to think of some good reason for not appearing at p.r.i.c.kly Porky"s hill at daybreak. But think as he would, he couldn"t think of a single excuse that would sound reasonable. "If only Bowser the Hound wasn"t chained up at night, I would get him to chase me, and then I would have the very best kind of an excuse," thought he. But he knew that Bowser _was_ chained. Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown"s dooryard to make sure. It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown"s hen-house. He didn"t see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he had, it would have made no difference. He hadn"t a bit of appet.i.te.
No, Sir. Reddy Fox wouldn"t have eaten the fattest chicken there if it had been right before him. All he could think of was that queer story told by Peter Rabbit and Unc" Billy Possum, and the sc.r.a.pe he had got himself into by his foolish boasting. He just wandered about restlessly, waiting for daybreak and hoping that something would turn up to prevent him from going to p.r.i.c.kly Porky"s hill. He didn"t dare to tell old Granny Fox about it. He knew just what she would say. It seemed as if he could hear her sharp voice and the very words:
"Serves you right for boasting about something you don"t know anything about. How many times have I told you that no good comes of boasting?
A wise Fox never goes near strange things until he has found out all about them. That is the only way to keep out of trouble and live to a ripe old age. Wisdom is nothing but knowledge, and a wise Fox always knows what he is doing."
So Reddy wandered about all the long night. It seemed as if it never would pa.s.s, and yet he wished it would last forever. The more he thought about it, the more afraid he grew. At last he saw the first beams from jolly, round, red Mr. Sun creeping through the Green Forest. The time had come, and he must choose between making his boast good or being called a coward by everybody. Very, very slowly, Reddy Fox began to walk towards the hill where p.r.i.c.kly Porky lives.
XII
WHAT REDDY FOX SAW AND DID
Who guards his tongue as he would keep A treasure rich and rare, Will keep himself from trouble free, And dodge both fear and care.
The trouble with a great many people is that they remember this too late. Reddy Fox is one of these. Reddy is smart and sly and clever in some ways, but he hasn"t learned yet to guard his tongue, and half the trouble he gets into is because of that unruly member. You see it is a boastful tongue and an untruthful tongue and that is the worst combination for making trouble that I know of. It has landed him in all kinds of sc.r.a.pes in the past, and here he was in another, all on account of that tongue.
Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had kicked his rosy blankets off and was smiling down on the Great World as he began his daily climb up in the blue, blue sky. The Jolly Little Sunbeams were already dancing through the Green Forest, chasing out the Black Shadows, and Reddy knew that it was high time for him to be over by the hill where p.r.i.c.kly Porky the Porcupine lives. With lagging steps he sneaked along from tree to tree, peering out from behind each anxiously, afraid to go on, and still more afraid not to, for fear that he would be called a coward.
He had almost reached the foot of the hill without seeing anything out of the usual and without any signs of Unc" Billy Possum. He was just beginning to hope that Unc" Billy wasn"t there, as he had said he would be, when a voice right over his head said:
"Ah cert"nly am glad to see that yo" are as good as your word, Brer Fox, fo" we need some one brave like yo" to find out what this strange creature is that has been chasing we-uns."
Reddy looked up with a sickly grin. There sat Unc" Billy Possum in a pine tree right over his head. He knew now that there was no backing out; he had got to go on. He tried to swagger and look very bold and brave.
"I told you I"m not afraid. If there"s anything queer around here, I"ll find out what it is," he once more boasted, but Unc" Billy noticed that his voice sounded just a wee bit trembly.
"Keep right on to the foot of the hill; that"s where Ah saw it yesterday. My, Ah"m glad that we"ve got some one so truly brave!"
replied Unc" Billy.
Reddy looked at him sharply, but there wasn"t a trace of a smile on Unc" Billy"s face, and Reddy couldn"t tell whether Unc" Billy was making fun of him or not. So, there being nothing else to do, he went on. He reached the foot of the hill without seeing or hearing a thing out of the usual. The Green Forest seemed just as it always had seemed. Redeye the Vireo was pouring out his little song of gladness, quite as if everything was just as it should be. Reddy"s courage began to come back. Nothing had happened, and nothing was going to happen.
Of course not! It was all some of Peter Rabbit"s foolishness. Some day he would catch Peter Rabbit and put an end to such silly tales.