The Hollow Tree Snowed-In Part 14

"What did they do then?" asks the Little Lady. "What did the Deep Woods People all do after they got through being snowed in?"

"Well, let's see. It got to be spring then pretty soon--early spring--of course, and Mr. Jack Rabbit went to writing poetry and making garden; Mr. Robin went to meet Mrs. Robin, who had been spending the winter down South; Mr. Squirrel, who is quite young, went to call on a very nice young Miss Squirrel over toward the Big West Hills; Mr. Dog had to help Mr. Man a good deal with the spring work; Mr. Turtle got out all his fishing-things and looked them over, and the Hollow Tree People had a general straightening up after company. They had a big house-cleaning, of course, with most of their things out on the line, and Mr. 'Possum said that he'd just about as soon be snowed-in for good as to have to beat carpets and carry furniture up and down stairs all the rest of his life."

But they got through at last, and everything was nice when they were settled, only there wasn't a great deal to be had to eat, because it had been such a long, cold winter that things were pretty scarce and hard to get.

One morning Mr. 'Possum said he had had a dream the night before, and he wished it would come true. He said he had dreamed that they were all invited by Mr. Bear to help him eat the spring breakfast which he takes after his long winter nap, and that Mr. Bear had about the best breakfast he ever sat down to. He said he had eaten it clear through, from turkey to mince-pie, only he didn't get the mince-pie because Mr.

Bear had asked him if he'd have it hot or cold, and just as he made up his mind to have some of both he woke up and didn't get either.

Then Mr. 'c.o.o.n said he wished he could have a dream like that; that he'd take whatever came along and try to sleep through it, and Mr. Crow thought a little while and said that sometimes dreams came true, especially if you helped them a little. He said he hadn't heard anything of Mr. Bear this spring, and it was quite likely he had been taking a longer nap than usual. It might be a good plan, he thought, to drop over that way and just look in in pa.s.sing, because if Mr. Bear should be sitting down to breakfast he would be pretty apt to ask them to sit up and have a bite while they told him the winter news.

Then Mr. 'Possum said that he didn't believe anybody in the world but Mr. Crow would have thought of that, and that hereafter he was going to tell him every dream he had. They ought to start right away, he said, because if they should get there just as Mr. Bear was clearing off the table it would be a good deal worse than not getting the mince-pie in his dream.

So they hurried up and put on their best clothes and started for Mr.

Bear's place, which is over toward the Edge of the World, only farther down, in a fine big cave which is fixed up as nice as a house and nicer.

But when they got pretty close to it they didn't go so fast and straight, but just sauntered along as if they were only out for a little walk and happened to go in that direction, for they thought Mr. Bear might be awake and standing in his door.

They met Mr. Rabbit about that time and invited him to go along, but Mr.

Rabbit said his friendship with Mr. Bear was a rather distant one, and that he mostly talked to him from across the river or from a hill that had a good clear running s.p.a.ce on the other slope. He said Mr. Bear's taste was good, for he was fond of his family, but that the fondness had been all on Mr. Bear's side.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR.

BEAR WAS]

So the Hollow Tree People went along, saying what a nice man they thought Mr. Bear was, and saying it quite loud, and looking every which way, because Mr. Bear might be out for a walk too.

But they didn't see him anywhere, and by-and-by they got right to the door of his cave and knocked a little, and n.o.body came. Then they listened, but couldn't hear anything at first, until Mr. 'c.o.o.n, who has very sharp ears, said that he was sure he heard Mr. Bear breathing and that he must be still asleep. Then the others thought they heard it, too, and pretty soon they were sure they heard it, and Mr. 'Possum said it was too bad to let Mr. Bear oversleep himself this fine weather, and that they ought to go in and let him know how late it was.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SLEEP RIGHT WHERE HE WAS]

So then they pushed open the door and went tiptoeing in to where Mr.

Bear was. They thought, of course, he would be in bed, but he wasn't. He was sitting up in a big arm-chair in his dressing-gown, with his feet up on a low stool, before a fire that had gone out some time in December, with a little table by him that had a candle on it which had burned down about the time the fire went out. His pipe had gone out too, and they knew that Mr. Bear had been smoking, and must have been very tired and gone to sleep right where he was, and hadn't moved all winter long.

It wasn't very cheerful in there, so Mr. 'Possum said maybe they'd better stir up a little fire to take the chill off before they woke Mr. Bear, and Mr. 'c.o.o.n found a fresh candle and lighted it, and Mr.

Crow put the room to rights a little, and wound up the clock, and set it, and started it going. Then when the fire got nice and bright they stood around and looked at Mr. Bear, and each one said it was a good time now to wake him up, but n.o.body just wanted to do it, because Mr.

Bear isn't always good-natured, and n.o.body could tell what might happen if he should wake up cross and hungry, and he'd be likely to do that if his nap was broken too suddenly. Mr. Possum said that Mr. Crow was the one to do it, as he had first thought of this trip, and Mr. Crow said that it was Mr. 'Possum's place, because it had been in his dream. Then they both said that as Mr. 'c.o.o.n hadn't done anything at all so far, he might do that.

Mr. 'c.o.o.n said that he'd do it quick enough, only he'd been listening to the way Mr. Bear breathed, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be ready to wake up for a week yet, and it would be too bad to wake him now when he might not have been resting well during the first month or so of his nap and was making it up now. He said they could look around a little and see if Mr. Bear's things were keeping well, and perhaps brush up his pantry so it would be nice and clean when he did wake.

Then Mr. Crow said he'd always wanted to see Mr. Bear's pantry, for he'd heard it was such a good place to keep things, and perhaps he could get some ideas for the Hollow Tree; and Mr. 'Possum said that Mr. Bear had the name of having a bigger pantry and more things in it than all the rest of the Deep Woods People put together.

So they left Mr. Bear all nice and comfortable, sleeping there by the fire, and lit another candle and went over to his pantry, which was at the other side of the room, and opened the door and looked in.

Well, they couldn't say a word at first, but only just looked at one another and at all the things they saw in that pantry. First, on the top shelf there was a row of pies, clear around. Then on the next shelf there was a row of cakes--first a fruit-cake, then a jelly-cake, then another fruit-cake and then another jelly-cake, and the cakes went all the way around, too, and some of them had frosting on them, and you could see the raisins in the fruit-cake and pieces of citron. Then on the next shelf there was a row of nice cooked partridges, all the way around, close together. And on the shelf below was a row of meat-pies made of chicken and turkey and young lamb, and on the shelf below that there was a row of nice canned berries, and on the floor, all the way around, there were jars of honey--nice comb honey that Mr. Bear had gathered in November from bee-trees.

Mr. Crow spoke first.

"Well, I never," he said, "never in all my life, saw anything like it!"

And Mr. 'c.o.o.n and Mr. 'Possum both said:

"He can't do it--a breakfast like that is too much for _any_ bear!"

Then Mr. Crow said:

"He oughtn't to be _allowed_ to do it. Mr. Bear is too nice a man to lose."

And Mr. 'Possum said:

"He _mustn't_ be allowed to do it--we'll help him."

"Where do you suppose he begins? said Mr. 'c.o.o.n.

"At the top, very likely," said Mr. Crow. "He's got it arranged in courses."

"I don't care where he begins," said Mr. 'Possum; "I'm going to begin somewhere, now, and I think I will begin on a meat-pie."

And Mr. Crow said he thought he'd begin on a nice partridge, and Mr.

'c.o.o.n said he believed he'd try a mince-pie or two first, as a kind of a lining, and then fill in with the solid things afterward.

So then Mr. 'Possum took down his meat-pie, and said he hoped this wasn't a dream, and Mr. Crow took down a nice brown partridge, and Mr.

'c.o.o.n stood up on a chair and slipped a mince-pie out of a pan on the top shelf, and everything would have been all right, only he lost his balance a little and let the pie fall. It made quite a smack when it struck the floor, and Mr. 'Possum jumped and let his pie fall, too, and that made a good deal more of a noise, because it was large and in a tin pan.

Then Mr. Crow blew out the light quick, and they all stood perfectly still and listened, for it seemed to them a noise like that would wake the dead, much more Mr. Bear, and they thought he would be right up and in there after them.

But Mr. Bear was too sound asleep for that. They heard him give a little cough and a kind of a grunt mixed with a sleepy word or two, and when they peeked out through the door, which was open just a little ways, they saw him moving about in his chair, trying first one side and then the other, as if he wanted to settle down and go to sleep again, which he didn't do, but kept right on grunting and sniffing and mumbling and trying new positions.

Then, of course, the Hollow Tree People were scared, for they knew pretty well he was going to wake up. There wasn't any way to get out of Mr. Bear's pantry except by the door, and you had to go right by Mr.

Bear's chair to get out of the cave. So they just stood there, holding their breath and trembling, and Mr. 'Possum wished now it _was_ a dream, and that he could wake up right away before the nightmare began.

Well, Mr. Bear he turned this way and that way, and once or twice seemed about to settle down and sleep again; but just as they thought he really had done it, he sat up pretty straight and looked all around.

Then the Hollow Tree People thought their time had come, and they wanted to make a jump, and run for the door, only they were afraid to try it.

Mr. Bear yawned a long yawn, and stretched himself, and rubbed his eyes open, and looked over at the fire and down at the candle on the table and up at the clock on the mantel. The 'c.o.o.n and 'Possum and the Old Black Crow thought, of course, he'd know somebody had been there by all those things being set going, and they expected him to roar out something terrible and start for the pantry first thing.

But Mr. Bear didn't seem to understand it at all, or to suppose that anything was wrong, and from what he mumbled to himself they saw right away that he thought he'd been asleep only a little while instead of all winter.

"Humph!" they heard him growl, "I must have gone to sleep, and was dreaming it's time to wake up. I didn't sleep long, though, by the way the fire and the candle look, besides it's only a quarter of ten, and I remember winding the clock at half after eight. Funny I feel so hungry, after eating a big supper only two hours ago. Must be the reason I dreamed it was spring. Humph! guess I'll just eat a piece of pie and go to bed."

So Mr. Bear got up and held on to his chair to steady himself, and yawned some more and rubbed his eyes, for he was only about half awake yet, and pretty soon he picked up his candle and started for the pantry.

Then the Hollow Tree People felt as if they were going to die. They didn't dare to breathe or make the least bit of noise, and just huddled back in a corner close to the wall, and Mr. 'Possum all at once felt as if he must sneeze right away, and Mr. 'c.o.o.n would have given anything to be able to scratch his back, and Mr. Crow thought if he could only cough once more and clear his throat he wouldn't care whether he had anything to eat, ever again.

And Mr. Bear he came shuffling along toward the pantry with his candle all tipped to one side, still rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up, and everything was just as still as still--all except a little scratchy sound his claws made dragging along the floor, though that wasn't a nice sound for the Hollow Tree People to hear. And when he came to the pantry door Mr. Bear pushed it open quite wide and was coming straight in, only just then he caught his toe a little on the door-sill and _stumbled_ in, and that was too much for Mr. 'Possum, who turned loose a sneeze that shook the world.

Then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'c.o.o.n made a dive under Mr. Bear's legs, and Mr.

'Possum did too, and down came Mr. Bear and down came his candle, and the candle went out, but not any quicker than the Hollow Tree People, who broke for the cave door and slammed it behind them, and struck out for the bushes as if they thought they'd never live to get there.

But when they got into some thick hazel brush they stopped a minute to breathe, and then they all heard Mr. Bear calling "Help! Help!" as loud as he could, and when they listened they heard him mention something about an earthquake and that the world was coming to an end.