"What"s its name, Mother?" he inquired.
"Corn, my child."
"Well, why doesn"t Freddie Bluejay like it?" Fatty asked.
"He"s probably very fond of corn," said Mrs. c.o.o.n. "And I"ve no doubt he was afraid that you would eat up this whole field, once you started."
"I"d like to," said Fatty, with a sigh. "I"d like to eat all the corn in the world."
VII
JOHNNIE GREEN IS DISAPPOINTED
It made Fatty c.o.o.n feel sad, just to think that there was that field full of corn, and that he could never eat all of it. But Fatty made up his mind that he would do the best he could. He would visit the cornfield every night and feast on those sweet, tender kernels.
The very next night Fatty set out toward Farmer Green"s. It was hardly dark. But Fatty could not wait any longer. He could not even wait for his mother and his sisters and his brother. He hurried away alone. And when he came in sight of the cornfield he felt better. He had been the least bit afraid that the corn might be gone. He thought that maybe Farmer Green had picked it, or that some of the forest people had eaten it all. But there it was--a forest of corn, waving and rustling in the moonlight as the breeze touched it. Fatty felt very happy as he slipped through the rail-fence.
I wouldn"t dare say how many ears of corn Fatty ate that night. And he would have eaten more, too, if it hadn"t been for just one thing. A dog barked. And that spoiled Fatty"s fun. For the dog was altogether too near for Fatty to feel safe. He even dropped the ear of corn he was gnawing and hurried toward the woods.
It was lucky for Fatty that he started when he did. For that dog was close behind him in no time. There was only one thing to do: Fatty knew that he must climb a tree at once. So he made for the nearest tree in sight--a big, spreading oak, which stood all alone just beyond the fence. And as Fatty crouched on a limb he felt safe enough, though the dog barked and whined, and leaped against the tree, and made a great fuss.
Fatty looked down at the dog and scolded a little. He was not afraid.
But it made him cross to be driven out of the cornfield. And he wished the dog would go away. But the dog--it was Farmer Green"s Spot--the dog had no idea of leaving. He stayed right there and barked so loudly that it was not long before Farmer Green and his hired man came in sight. And with them was Johnnie Green and a little, young dog that had just been given to him.
When Farmer Green saw Fatty he seemed disappointed. "He"s too young to bother with," he said. "His skin"s not worth much. We"ll go "long and see what we can find."
But Johnnie Green stayed behind. He wanted that young c.o.o.n. And he intended to have him, too. Leaving the young dog to watch Fatty c.o.o.n, Johnnie went back to the farmhouse. After a while he appeared again with an axe over his shoulder. And when he began to chop away at the big oak, Fatty c.o.o.n felt very uneasy. Whenever Johnnie drove his axe into the tree, both the tree and Fatty shivered together. And Fatty began to wish he had stayed away from the cornfield. But not for long, because Johnnie Green soon gave up the idea of chopping down the big oak. The wood was so hard to cut, and the tree was so big, that Johnnie had not chopped long before he saw that it would take him all night to cut through it.
He looked up longingly at Fatty c.o.o.n. And Johnnie started to climb the tree himself. But the higher he climbed, the higher Fatty climbed. And Johnnie knew that he could never catch that plump young c.o.o.n in that way.
At last Johnnie Green started off, calling his dog after him. And then Fatty c.o.o.n came down. But he did not go back to the cornfield. He decided that he had had adventures enough for one night. But Fatty had learned something--at least he thought he had. For he made up his mind that once he climbed a tree, no man could reach him. TREES COULD NOT BE CHOPPED DOWN! That was what Fatty believed. Perhaps you will know, later, whether Fatty ever found out that he was mistaken.
VIII
A TERRIBLE FRIGHT
It was the very next night after old dog Spot had treed Fatty c.o.o.n in the big oak near the cornfield. They had finished their evening meal at Farmer Green"s house. The cows were milked, the horses had been fed, the chickens had all gone to roost. And Farmer Green looked up at the moon, rising from behind Blue Mountain.
"We"ll go c.o.o.n-hunting again to-night," he said to Johnnie and the hired man. "The corn has brought the c.o.o.ns up from the swamp. We"ll start as soon as it grows a little darker."
Well--after a while they set out for the cornfield. And sure enough! old Spot soon began to bark.
"He"s treed!" said Farmer Green, pretty soon. And they all hurried over to the edge of the woods, where Spot had chased a c.o.o.n up into a tall chestnut tree. In the moonlight they could see the c.o.o.n quite plainly.
"Another little feller!" cried Farmer Green. "I declare, all the c.o.o.ns that come to the cornfield seem to be young ones. This one"s no bigger than the one we saw last night."
Now, although Farmer Green never guessed it, it was Fatty c.o.o.n who was up there in the tall chestnut. He had run almost to the woods this time, before he had to take to a tree. In fact, if Spot hadn"t been quite so close to him Fatty could have reached the woods, and then he would have just jumped from one tree to another. But there were no trees near enough the big chestnut for that. Fatty had to stay right there and wait for those men to pa.s.s on. He wasn"t afraid. He felt perfectly safe in his big tree. And he only smiled when Johnnie Green said to his father--
"I wish I had that young c.o.o.n. He"d make a fine pet."
"A pet!" exclaimed Farmer Green. "You remember that pet fox you had, that stole my chickens?"
"Oh, I"d be careful," Johnnie promised. "Besides, don"t you think we ought to catch him, so he won"t eat any more corn?"
Farmer Green smiled. He had been a boy himself, once upon a time, and he had not forgotten the pet c.o.o.n that he had owned when he was just about Johnnie"s age.
"All right!" he said at last. "I"ll give you one more chance, Johnnie.
But you"ll have to see that this young c.o.o.n doesn"t kill any of my poultry."
Johnnie promised that nothing of the sort should happen. And then his father and the hired man picked up their axes; and standing on opposite sides of the tall chestnut tree, they began to chop.
How the chips did fly! At the very first blow Fatty knew that this was an entirely different sort of chopping from that which Johnnie had attempted the night before. The great tree shook as if it knew that it would soon come crashing down upon the ground.
And as for Fatty c.o.o.n, he could not see but that he must fall when the tree did. He, too, shivered and shook. And he wrapped himself all the way around a limb and hung on as tight as ever he could.
IX
JOHNNIE GREEN LOSES HIS PET
Now, Farmer Green and his hired man had not chopped long before they stopped to breathe. They had not chopped long--but oh! what great, yawning holes they had made in the big chestnut! From the limb where he clung Fatty c.o.o.n looked down. The tree no longer shook. And Fatty felt better at once. You see, he thought that the men would go away, just as Johnnie had gone away the night before. But they had no such idea at all.
"Which way are you going to fell her?" the hired man asked. He said HER, meaning the TREE, of course.
"That way!" said Farmer Green, pointing toward the woods. "We"ll have to drop her that way, or she"ll fall right across the road, and of course THAT would never do."
"But will she clear the trees on the edge of the woods?" The hired man appeared somewhat doubtful.
"Oh, to be sure--to be sure!" answered Farmer Green.
And with that they set to work again. But this time they both chopped on the same side of the tree--the side toward the woods.
Now, if Fatty c.o.o.n was frightened before, you will believe that he was still more frightened when the big chestnut tree began to sag. Yes! it began to lean toward the woods. Slowly, slowly it tipped. And Fatty was scared half out of his mind. He climbed to the very top of the tree, because he wanted to get just as far away from those men as he could.
And there he waited. There was nothing else he could do. Yes! he waited until that awful moment should come when the tree would go crashing down upon the ground. What was going to happen to him then? Fatty wondered.
And while he was wondering there sounded all at once a great snapping and splitting. And Fatty felt the tree falling, falling. He could hear Johnnie Green shouting. And he shut his eyes and held fast to his branch. Then came the crash.
When Fatty c.o.o.n opened his eyes he expected to see Johnnie Green all ready to seize him. But to his great surprise he was still far above the ground. You see, Farmer Green had been mistaken. Either the big chestnut tree was taller than he had guessed, or the woods were nearer than he had thought. For instead of dropping upon the ground, Fatty"s tree had fallen right against another tree on the edge of the woods. And there it lay, half-tipped over, with its branches caught fast in the branches of that other tree.
It was no wonder that Johnnie Green shouted. And he shouted still more loudly when he saw Fatty scramble out of the big chestnut and into the other tree, and out of that tree and into another, and then out of THAT tree. Fatty was going straight into the woods.