Mother West Wind's Children Part 11

Colder grew the weather and colder. Johnny Chuck tucked himself away to sleep all winter. Grandfather Frog went deep, deep down in the mud, not to come out again until spring. By and by the little yellow flowers dropped off the little bush, just as the other little flowers in spring had dropped off the other bushes. But they left behind them tiny little packages, one for every little flower that had been on the bush. All winter long these little packages clung to the little bush.

In the spring when the little leaves burst forth in all the little bushes, these little packages on the little bush of which I am telling you grew and grew and grew. While the other little bushes had a lot of little flowers as they had had the year before, these little brown packages on the little bush of which I am telling you kept on growing.

And they comforted the little bush because it felt that it really had something worth while.

All the summer long the little brown packages grew and grew until they looked like little nuts. When the fall came again and all the little leaves dropped off all the little bushes, and the little bush of which I am telling you was covered with another lot of little yellow flowers and was very happy, then these little brown nuts, one bright autumn day, suddenly popped open! And out of each one flew two brown shiny little seeds. You never saw such a popping and a snapping and a jumping! Pop! pop! snap! snap! hippetty hop! they went, faster than the corn pops in the corn popper. Reddy Fox, who always is suspicious, thought some one was shooting at him. Down on the ground fell the little brown shining seeds and tucked themselves into the warm earth under the warm leaves, there to stay all winter long.

And when the third spring came with all its little birds and all its little flowers and the warm sunshine, every one of these little brown seeds which had tucked themselves into the warm earth, burst its little brown skin, and up into the sunshine came a little green plant, which would grow and grow and grow, and by and by become just like the little bush I am telling you about.

When the little bush looked down and saw all these little green children popping out of the ground, it was very happy indeed, for it knew that it would no longer be lonely. It no longer felt bad when all the other bushes were covered with flowers, for it knew that by and by when all the other little bushes had lost all their leaves and all their flowers, then would come its turn, and it knew that for a whole year its little brown children would be held safe on its branches.

Now, what do you think is the name of this little bush? Why, it is the witch hazel. And sometime when you fall down and b.u.mp yourself hard grandma will go to the medicine closet and will bring out a bottle, and from that bottle she will pour something on that little sore place and it will make it feel better. Do you know what it is? It is the gift of the witch hazel bush to little boys and big men to make them feel better when they are hurt.

XII

WHY BOBBY c.o.o.n WASHES HIS FOOD

Happy-Go-Lucky Bobby c.o.o.n sat on the edge of the Laughing Brook just as round, red Mr. Sun popped up from behind the Purple Hills and Old Mother West Wind turned all her Merry Little Breezes out to romp on the Green Meadows.

Bobby c.o.o.n had been out all night. You see Bobby c.o.o.n is very apt to get into mischief, and because usually it is safer to get into mischief under cover of the darkness Bobby c.o.o.n prefers the night wherein to go abroad. Not that Bobby c.o.o.n is really bad! Oh my, no! Everybody likes Bobby c.o.o.n. But he can no more keep out of mischief than a duck can keep out of water.

So Bobby c.o.o.n sat on the edge of the Laughing Brook and he was very busy, very busy indeed. He was washing his breakfast. Really, it was his dinner, for turning night into day just turns everything topsy-turvy. So Bobby c.o.o.n eats dinner when most of the little meadow people are eating breakfast.

This morning he was very busy washing a luscious ear of sweet corn just in the milk. He dipped it in the water and with one little black paw rubbed it thoroughly. Then he looked it over carefully before, with a sigh of contentment, he sat down to put it in his empty little stomach.

When he had finished it to the last sweet, juicy kernel, he ambled sleepily up the Lone Little Path to the big hollow chestnut tree where he lives, and in its great hollow in a soft bed of leaves Bobby c.o.o.n curled himself up in a tight little ball to sleep the long, bright day away.

One of the Merry Little Breezes softly followed him. When he had crawled into the hollow chestnut and only his funny, ringed tail hung out, the Merry Little Breezes tweaked it sharply just for fun, and then danced away down the Lone Little Path to join the other Merry Little Breezes around the Smiling Pool.

"Oh! Grandfather Frog," cried a Merry Little Breeze, "tell us why it is that Bobby c.o.o.n always washes his food. He never eats it where he gets it or takes it home to his hollow in the big chestnut, but always comes to the Laughing Brook to wash it. None of the other meadow people do that."

Now Great-Grandfather Frog is counted very wise. He is very, very old and he knows the history of all the tribes of little meadow people way back to the time when the frogs ruled the world.

When the Merry Little Breeze asked him why Bobby c.o.o.n always washes his food, Grandfather Frog stopped to snap up a particularly fat, foolish, green fly that came his way. Then, while all the Merry Little Breezes gathered around him, he settled himself on his big green lily pad and began:

"Once upon a time, when the world was young, old King Bear ruled in the Green Forest. Of course old Mother Nature, who was even more beautiful then than she is now, was the real ruler, but she let old King Bear think he ruled so long as he ruled wisely.

"All the little Green Forest folk and all the little people of the Green Meadows used to take presents of food to old King Bear, so that he never had to hunt for things to eat. He grew fatter and fatter and fatter until it seemed as if his skin must burst. And the fatter he grew the lazier he grew."

Grandfather Frog paused with an expectant far-away look in his great bulging eyes. Then he leaped into the air so far that when he came down it was with a great splash in the Smiling Pool. But as he swam back to his big lily pad the leg of a foolish green fly could be seen sticking out of one corner of his big mouth, and he settled himself with a sigh of great contentment.

"Old King Bear," continued Grandfather Frog, just as if there had been no interruption, "grew fatter and lazier every day, and like a great many other fat and lazy people who have nothing to do for themselves but are always waited on by others, he grew shorter and shorter in temper and harder and harder to please.

"Now perhaps you don't know it, but the Bear family and the c.o.o.n family are very closely related. In fact, they are second cousins. Old Mr.

c.o.o.n, Bobby c.o.o.n's father with a thousand greats tacked on before, was young then, and he was very, very proud of being related to old King Bear. He began to pa.s.s some of his old playfellows on the Green Meadows without seeing them. He spent a great deal of time brushing his coat and combing his whiskers and caring for his big ringed tail.

He held his head very high and he put on such airs that pretty soon he could see no one at all but members of his own family and of the royal family of Bear.

"Now as old King Bear grew fat and lazy he grew fussy, so that he was no longer content to take everything brought him, but picked out the choicest portions for himself and left the rest. Mr. c.o.o.n took charge of all the things brought as tribute to old King Bear and of course where there were so many goodies left he got all he wanted without working.

"So just as old King Bear had grown fat and lazy and selfish, Mr. c.o.o.n grew fat and lazy and selfish. Pretty soon he began to pick out the best things for himself and hide them before old King Bear saw them.

When old King Bear was asleep he would go get them and stuff himself like a greedy pig. And because he was stealing and wanted no one to see him he always ate his stolen feasts at night.

"Now old Mother Nature is, as you all know, very, very wise, oh very wise indeed. One of the first laws she made when the world was young is that every living thing shall work for what it has, and the harder it works the stronger it shall grow. So when Old Mother Nature saw how fat and lazy and selfish old King Bear was getting and how fat and lazy and dishonest his cousin, Mr. c.o.o.n, was becoming, she determined that they should be taught a lesson which they would remember for ever and ever and ever.

"First she proclaimed that old King Bear should be king no longer, and no more need the little folks of the Green Forest and the little people of the Green Meadows bring him tribute.

"Now when old Mother Nature made this proclamation old King Bear was fast asleep. It was just on the edge of winter and he had picked out a nice warm cave with a great pile of leaves for a bed. Old Mother Nature peeped in at him. He was snoring and probably dreaming of more good things to eat. 'If he is to be king no longer, there is no use in waking him now,' said old Mother Nature to herself, 'he is so fat and so stupid. He shall sleep until gentle Sister South Wind comes in the spring to kiss away the snow and ice. Then he shall waken with a lean stomach and a great appet.i.te and there shall be none to feed him.'

"Now old Mother Nature always has a warm heart and she was very fond of Bobby c.o.o.n's grandfather a thousand times removed. So when she saw what a selfish glutton and thief he had become she decided to put him to sleep just as she had old King Bear. But first she would teach Mr.

c.o.o.n that stolen food is not the sweetest.

"So old Mother Nature found some tender, juicy corn just in the milk which Mr. c.o.o.n had stolen from old King Bear. Then she went down on the Green Meadows where the wild mustard grows and gathering a lot of this she rubbed the juice into the corn and then put it back where Mr.

c.o.o.n had left it.

"Now I have told you that it was night when Mr. c.o.o.n had his stolen feasts, for he wanted no one to see him. So no one was there when he took a great bite of the tender, juicy corn old Mother Nature had put back for him. Being greedy and a glutton, he swallowed the first mouthful before he had fairly tasted it, and took a second, and then such a time as there was on the edge of the Green Forest! Mr. c.o.o.n rolled over and over with both of his forepaws clasped over his stomach and groaned and groaned and groaned. He had rubbed his eyes and of course had got mustard into them and could not see. He waked up all the little Green Forest folk who sleep through the night, as good people should, and they all gathered around to see what was the matter with Mr. c.o.o.n.

"Finally old Mother Nature came to his relief and brought him some water. Then she led him to his home in the great hollow in the big chestnut tree, and when she had seen him curled up in a tight little ball among the dried leaves she put him into the long sleep as she had old King Bear.

"In the spring, when gentle Sister South Wind kissed away all the snow and ice, old King Bear, who was king no longer, and Mr. c.o.o.n awoke and both were very thin, and both were very hungry, oh very, very hungry indeed. Old King Bear, who was king no longer, wasn't the least mite fussy about what he had to eat, but ate gladly any food he could find.

"But Mr. c.o.o.n remembered the burning of his stomach and mouth and could not forget it. So whenever he found anything to eat he first took it to the Laughing Brook or the Smiling Pool and washed it very carefully, lest there be some mustard on it.

"And ever since that long ago time, when the world was young, the c.o.o.n family has remembered that experience of Mr. c.o.o.n, who was second cousin to old King Bear, and that is why Bobby c.o.o.n washes his food, travels about at night, and sleeps all winter," concluded Grandfather Frog, fixing his great goggle eyes on a foolish green fly headed his way.

"Oh thank you, thank you, Grandfather Frog," cried the Merry Little Breezes as they danced away over the Green Meadows. But one of them slipped back long enough to get behind the foolish green fly and blow him right up to Grandfather Frog's big lily pad.

"Chug-a-rum," said Grandfather Frog, smacking his lips.

XIII

THE MERRY LITTLE BREEZES HAVE A BUSY DAY

Old Mother West Wind came down from the Purple Hills in the shadowy coolness of the early morning, before even jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had thrown off his rosy coverlids for his daily climb up through the blue sky. The last little star was blinking sleepily as Old Mother West Wind turned her big bag upside down on the Green Meadows and all her children, the Merry Little Breezes, tumbled out on the soft green gra.s.s.

Then Old Mother West Wind kissed them all around and hurried away to hunt for a rain cloud which had gone astray. The Merry Little Breezes watched her go. Then they played hide and seek until jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had climbed out of bed and was smiling down on the Green Meadows.

Pretty soon along came Peter Rabbit, lipperty-lipperty-lip.

"h.e.l.lo, Peter Rabbit!" shouted the Merry Little Breezes. "Come play with us!"

"Can't," said Peter Rabbit. "I have to go find some tender young carrots for my breakfast," and away be hurried, lipperty-lipperty-lip.

In a few minutes Jimmy Skunk came in sight and he seemed to be almost hurrying along the Crooked Little Path down the hill. The Merry Little Breezes danced over to meet him.

"h.e.l.lo, Jimmy Skunk!" they cried. "Come play with us!"