Friendly Fairies Part 3

"'Kitten fish should be seen and not heard!' the old chief catfish answered quickly. I do not believe we should harm the hawk. He is not large enough. I was thinking of the large beast who comes wading along the sh.o.r.es and eats the gra.s.ses that grow beneath the surface. You know he has to raise his head every once-in-a-while in order to breathe, so if we should all hang on to him we could pull him under the water.'

"So the catfish, although they were so frightened that their fins grew stiff, decided that they would follow their chief, for they expected he would be the first to hide under the mud when the big beast came.

"Finally old Omasko, the elk, came down to the river to feed, and the old chief catfish swam out and pulled on Omasko's whiskers, and all the other catfish cried: 'See how brave and fearless the mighty catfish are!' and they all swam out and pulled Omasko's whiskers, too. This made Omasko very angry, for he never harmed any fish in his life.

"He began jumping and pawing with his heavy hoofs, and smashed all the catfish down in the mud and when they finally came out again, which was not until two or three days later, their heads were as flat as they are now!

"That is why all catfish have flat heads," Grandfather Skeeterhawk finished.

"It served them right for being so boastful!" Johnny Cricket said.

"It served them right for trying to harm someone who never harmed them!"

Gran'pa Skeeterhawk replied, as he darted up in the air and flew over the tall cat-tails.

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CROW TALK

"Caw, Caw, Caw," one old crow cried as he faced the other two crows.

"Caw?" asked the second old crow as he plumed his feathers and screwed his head around to get a better view of the little boy lying under the tree.

"Caw-AAAAH! Ca--aaaaw!" replied the first crow.

"Those crows must be talking to each other!" d.i.c.kie Dorn thought to himself, as he lay upon his back under the big oak tree and watched the three crows.

The third crow now cried, "Awww! Ca-ca-caw!"

d.i.c.kie jumped up and ran down the hill to where Granny lived. It was a tiny little house, not much larger than a piano box, but it was plenty large enough for Granny, for Granny was only two feet high. Some people even thought Granny was a witch.

Of course d.i.c.kie knew that Granny was not a witch, for Granny was very good and kind. So d.i.c.kie knocked at Granny's tiny front door.

"Come in!" Granny cried. "Good morning, d.i.c.kie!" she said, as d.i.c.kie crawled into the tiny living room.

When d.i.c.kie took a seat upon a tiny sofa he did not know just how to ask Granny for what he wanted, so he twiddled his thumbs.

"Why do you twiddle your thumbs, d.i.c.kie?" Granny asked, as she smiled through her gla.s.ses at him.

"I was wondering what the three crows were talking of!" d.i.c.kie replied.

Granny went to her tiny cupboard and brought out a little bottle of purple fluid. She dropped three drops of this into a tiny spoon and held it to d.i.c.kie.

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"Am I to take it, Granny?"

"Yes, my dear, and you will be able to understand what the three crows are talking about."

d.i.c.kie swallowed the purple fluid, for he was very anxious to return to the big oak tree and listen to the crows. Granny watched him for a few moments with her eyes full of twinkles, then she told him to run along to the tree.

And d.i.c.kie thanked Granny and ran as fast as he could to the tree where the three crows were still talking.

The first crow cried, "I know where there is a box filled with golden pennies!"

"Ah, my brother, where?" asked the second crow.

"In the middle of the great meadow, and it will belong to the one who finds it first!"

"I know where there is a box full of candy!" the third crow cried.

"Ahhhh! Where is it, my brother?" asked the first crow.

"In the middle of the great meadow, and it will belong to the one who finds it first."

"I know where there is a box full of ice cream!" cried the second crow.

"Aha! My brother, where?" asked the third crow.

"In the middle of the great meadow, and it will belong to the one who finds it first!"

Then the crows went on talking about other things, but d.i.c.kie did not hear them, for he was running in the direction of the great meadow as fast as he could.

And when he came to the middle of the great meadow there was a large box, and in the large box were three other boxes. One contained the golden pennies, another the candy and the third was full of ice cream.

"I found it first!" d.i.c.kie cried and he took a pencil stub from his pocket and, with much twisting of mouth and thinking, he printed his name upon the box.

Then d.i.c.kie ran home as fast as he could and told Daddy Dorn. Daddy Dorn hitched up Dobbin Dorn and d.i.c.kie and Daddy went to the middle of the great meadow and put the big box in the wagon and took it home.

Then they called Mamma Dorn and they all ate some of the ice cream and candy. Then d.i.c.kie took some of the ice cream and candy and some of the golden pennies to Granny.

Then d.i.c.kie ran back home and had some more ice cream and candy, and asked Daddy if he might take some of the golden pennies downtown and buy something, and Daddy Dorn said: "Of course, d.i.c.kie Dorn, for they are your golden pennies." So d.i.c.kie took two handfuls of the golden pennies downtown and bought a fine little pony with a little round stomach, and he bought a pretty pony cart and harness. Then d.i.c.ky drove the pony back home.

By the time d.i.c.kie reached home he was hungry for more ice cream and candy, so he went to the box to get some. "Oh Mamma and Daddy!" he cried, "Come see! The box is full of candy and ice cream!" And sure enough that was the case, for although they had eaten almost all of the ice cream and candy before now the two boxes were filled again. Then Daddy Dorn took two large handfuls of golden pennies from the golden penny box and they watched the box fill up with pennies again.

"Whee!" cried d.i.c.kie Dorn. "Whee!" cried Mamma Dorn, and "Whee!"

cried Daddy Dorn. "We will give a party!" So d.i.c.kie drove around to everybody's house in his pony cart and invited everybody to come to the party.

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And they all had such a nice time they ate the ice cream box empty sixteen times and it filled right up again, and they ate the candy box empty seventeen times and it filled right up again, and d.i.c.kie and Mamma and Daddy Dorn gave everybody all the golden pennies they could carry home and emptied the penny box eighteen times, and whenever they emptied the golden penny box it filled right up again.

And every one felt very grateful to d.i.c.kie Dorn and thanked him for such a nice time, and d.i.c.kie brought Granny out of a corner where she was eating her eighth dish of ice cream and told everybody that it was Granny who had really given the party, and he told them how Granny had helped him to learn crow talk.

So the people never called Granny a witch after that, for they knew she was very good and kindly.