Green Meadow Stories - Thornton W. Burgess (best novels for students txt) 📗

do but keep watch. I wish Bowser would stop barking. It makes me feel uncomfortable. Yes, sir, it makes me feel uncomfortable. Old Man Coyote got Bowser into this trouble, and he ought to get him out again, but I don’t suppose it is the least bit of use to ask him. It won’t do any harm to try, anyway.”

So Blacky started back for the Green Forest and the Old Pasture near Farmer Brown’s to look for Old Man Coyote, and for a long time as he flew he could hear Bowser’s voice with its note of homesickness and longing.

XXIV Blacky Tries to Get Help

You’ll find that nothing more worth while can be
Than helping others whose distress you see.

Bowser the Hound

On his way back to the Green Forest near Farmer Brown’s home, Blacky the Crow kept a sharp watch for Old Man Coyote. But Old Man Coyote was nowhere to be seen, and it was too late to go look for him, because jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had already gone to bed behind the Purple Hills and the Black Shadows were hurrying towards the Green Forest.

Blacky never is out after dark. You might think that one with so black a coat would be fond of the Black Shadows, but it isn’t so at all. The fact is, bold and impudent as Blacky the Crow is in daylight, he is afraid of the dark. He is quite as timid as anybody I know of in the dark. So Blacky always contrives to go to bed early and is securely hidden away in his secret roosting-place by the time the Black Shadows reach the edge of the Green Forest.

Perhaps it isn’t quite fair to say that Blacky is afraid of the dark. It isn’t the dark itself that Blacky fears, but it is one who is abroad in the dark. It is Hooty the Owl. Hooty would just as soon dine on Blacky the Crow as he would on anyone else, and Blacky knows it.

The next morning, bright and early, Blacky flew over to the Old Pasture to the home of Old Man Coyote. Just as he got there he saw Old Man Coyote coming home from an all-night hunt. “I hope you have had good hunting,” said Blacky politely.

Old Man Coyote looked up at Blacky sharply. Blacky is polite only when he wants to get something. “There was plenty of hunting, but little enough reward for it,” replied Old Man Coyote. “What brings you over here so early? I should suppose you would be looking for a breakfast.”

Now Blacky the Crow is a very wise fellow. He knows when it is to be sly and crafty and when it is best to be frank and outspoken. This was a time for the latter. “I know where Bowser the Hound is,” said Blacky. “I saw him yesterday.”

Old Man Coyote pricked up his ears and grinned. “I thought he was dead,” said he. “It’s a long time since we’ve heard from Bowser. Is he well?”

“Quite well,” replied Blacky, “but unhappy. He is homesick. I suspect that the trouble with Bowser is that he hasn’t the least idea in which direction home lies. You enjoy running, so why not go with me to pay Bowser a visit and then lead him back home?”

Old Man Coyote threw back his head and laughed in that crazy fashion of his till the very hills rang with the sound of his voice.

XXV Blacky Calls on Reddy Fox

Saying what you mean, and meaning what you say
Are matters quite as different as night is from the day.

Bowser the Hound

Blacky the Crow wasted no time with Old Man Coyote after he heard Old Man Coyote laugh. There was a note in that crazy laugh of Old Man Coyote’s that told Blacky he might just as well talk to the rocks or the trees about helping Bowser the Hound. Old Man Coyote had led Bowser into his trouble, and it was quite clear that not only did he have no regrets, but he was actually glad that Bowser was not likely to return.

“You’re a hardhearted old sinner,” declared Blacky, as he prepared to fly in search of Reddy Fox.

Old Man Coyote grinned. “It is everyone for himself, you know,” said he. “Bowser would do his best to catch me if he had the chance. So if he is in trouble, he can stay there for all of me.”

It didn’t take Blacky long to find Reddy Fox. You see, it was so early in the morning that Reddy had not retired for his daily nap. Like Old Man Coyote, he was just returning from a night’s hunt when Blacky arrived.

“Hello, Reddy!” exclaimed Blacky. “You certainly are looking in mighty fine condition. That red coat of yours is the handsomest coat I’ve ever seen. If I had a coat like that I know I should be so swelled up with pride that I just wouldn’t be able to see common folks. I’m glad you’re not that way, Reddy. One of the things I like about you is the fact that you never allow your fine coat to make you proud. That is more than I can say for some folks I know.”

Reddy Fox sat down with his big bushy tail curled around to keep his toes warm, cocked his head on one side, and looked up at Blacky the Crow as if he were trying to see right inside that black head to find out what was going on there.

“Now what has that black scamp got in his mind,” thought Reddy. “He never pays compliments unless he wants something in return. That old black rascal has the smoothest tongue in the Green Forest. He hasn’t come ’way over here just to tell me that I have a handsome coat. He wouldn’t fly over a fence to tell anybody that unless it was for a purpose.”

Aloud he said, “Good morning, Blacky. I suppose