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diff --git a/21412.txt b/21412.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5889af1 --- /dev/null +++ b/21412.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2188 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Bobby Bobolink, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Tale of Bobby Bobolink + Tuck-me-In Tales + +Author: Arthur Scott Bailey + +Release Date: May 9, 2007 [EBook #21412] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF BOBBY BOBOLINK *** + + + + +Produced by Joe Longo and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "You Were Mistaken," Said Mrs. Bobolink. + _Frontispiece_--(_Page_ 35)] + + + + + _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + THE TALE OF + BOBBY + BOBOLINK + + BY + ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + + [Illustration] + + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY +GROSSET & DUNLAP + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I SOMEBODY IS EXPECTED 1 + II THE LATEST ARRIVAL 6 + III GREETINGS 11 + IV SINGING FOR SOME ONE 16 + V AN INVITATION 21 + VI MRS. BOBOLINK CONSENTS 26 + VII PASSING THE TEST 31 + VIII THE HOUSE IN THE MEADOW 37 + IX JOHNNIE GREEN INTRUDES 42 + X FOOLING JOHNNIE GREEN 47 + XI BOBBY'S NAMES 51 + XII MR. CROW IS DISAGREEABLE 55 + XIII MR. CATBIRD'S TRICK 60 + XIV FRIGHTENING MRS. BOBOLINK 64 + XV HAYING TIME 70 + XVI MR. FROG IS AMUSED 75 + XVII TURNING THE TABLES 81 + XVIII TIMOTHY TURTLE'S COMPLAINT 86 + XIX BOBBY'S MISTAKE 91 + XX A HERMIT'S ADVICE 96 + XXI HOW TO TAKE BAD NEWS 101 + XXII A NOISY QUARREL 106 + XXIII SLEEPY BENJAMIN BAT 111 + + + + +THE TALE OF BOBBY BOBOLINK + + + + +I + +SOMEBODY IS EXPECTED + + +ON May Day the feathered folk in Pleasant Valley began to stop, look and +listen. They were expecting somebody. + +"Have you seen him?" Rusty Wren asked Jolly Robin. + +Jolly Robin said that he hadn't; but he added that he was on the +lookout. + +"Have you heard his song?" little Mr. Chippy inquired eagerly of Mr. +Blackbird. + +"No!" that dusky rascal replied. "Not yet! Maybe he isn't coming here +this summer." Mr. Blackbird liked to tease little Mr. Chippy. And +generally when he tried to, he succeeded. + +"Oh! Don't say that!" Mr. Chippy exclaimed. "If I couldn't hear his gay +voice I shouldn't care to spend a summer here myself." + +Over the meadow, beyond the stone wall where Mr. Chippy made his home in +a wild grapevine, Mr. Meadowlark flew to the swampy place where the +rushes grew, just to find a Red-winged Blackbird that he knew, in order +to learn whether he had seen or heard the friend everybody was watching +for. + +Perched upon a swaying last year's cattail, Mr. Red-winged Blackbird +shook his head in reply. And he said that no doubt it would be a week +before the looked-for arrival. "The season's a bit backward," Mr. +Red-winged Blackbird remarked. "So I don't expect to set eyes on him +to-day--though I have known him to get here as early as May Day." + +Mr. Meadowlark confessed that he was disappointed. + +"It would be a much gayer May Day," he said, "if his rollicking song +rang over the meadow." + +"What's the matter with your own singing?" Mr. Red-winged Blackbird +asked him--meaning that in his opinion Mr. Meadowlark had no reason to +be ashamed of his own voice. + +"My song is not like his," Mr. Meadowlark answered. And he sighed as he +spoke. "To be sure, some people are kind enough to say that my singing +is unusually sweet. But you know yourself that there isn't a songster +anywhere that can carol so joyfully as Bobby Bobolink." + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird did not dispute that statement. How could he, +when the birds were all waiting so eagerly to hear Bobby Bobolink's +voice? + +"He has a way"--Mr. Meadowlark went on--"a way of making almost any +summer's day a gay holiday. He is just bubbling over with happiness; +and he can't seem to get his notes out fast enough." + +"Yes!" Mr. Red-winged Blackbird chimed in. "He's a cheerful, +happy-go-lucky chap. And he wears gay clothes, too." + +"What's the matter with your own clothes?" Mr. Meadowlark +inquired--meaning that in his opinion Mr. Red-winged Blackbird's black +suit, with the shoulders scarlet and buff, was about as striking as +anybody could want. + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird was pleased. Anybody could see that. He bowed +and spread his wings and tail, and uttered his well-known call, +"Conk-err-ee!" before he made any reply. + +"People often compliment me on my taste in colors," he said at last. +"And for year-round wear I do think _my_ suit is about as good as +anybody could ask for. But you know yourself that during the first half +of the summer Bobby Bobolink makes a cheerful sight, when his black and +white and buff back flashes above the meadow." + +And Mr. Meadowlark couldn't deny it; for he knew that it was true. + + + + +II + +THE LATEST ARRIVAL + + +BOBBY BOBOLINK did not reach Pleasant Valley in time to spend May Day +with his old friends of the summer before. And although everybody was +disappointed not to see him--and hear him--the feathered folk tried to +be cheerful and told one another that Bobby ought to arrive almost any +day. + +"He always finds it hard to leave the rice fields in the South," Mr. +Red-winged Blackbird observed with a knowing wink at old Mr. Crow, +as the two stopped for a chat on the morning after May Day. "It's +rice-planting time in the South," Mr. Red-winged Blackbird explained. +"Somewhat like corn-planting time here!" And he winked once more. + +Although Mr. Crow was in the habit of scratching up Farmer Green's +newly-planted corn, just as Bobby Bobolink uncovered the freshly-sown +rice in the South, Mr. Crow never cared to have any of his neighbors +even hint that he did such a thing. And now he glared at Mr. Red-winged +Blackbird, who continued to wink at him. + +"Is there something in your eye?" Mr. Crow inquired in his coldest +manner. + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird had no wish to make Mr. Crow angry. So he +stopped winking at once. + +"When you see your friend Bobby Bobolink you'd better tell him to leave +the corn strictly alone," Mr. Crow remarked. "Farmer Green expects to +begin planting in about three weeks. And he counts on me to watch the +field for him. If I catch Bobby Bobolink there he'll wish he had stayed +in the rice fields, down South." + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird smiled. And he told old Mr. Crow not to worry. + +"Bobby Bobolink won't touch the corn," he said. "During the first half +of the summer he lives on such things as caterpillars and grasshoppers, +with a bit of grass-seed now and then." + +Old Mr. Crow replied that he was glad to know that. + +"He's wise to leave the corn alone," he added. "If Farmer Green was on +the lookout for him--with a gun handy--Bobby Bobolink wouldn't act so +care-free as he generally does. He wouldn't sing such rollicking songs +in the meadow. And now that you've mentioned how he spends his springs +in the South, I don't wonder that he appears glad to get to Pleasant +Valley. For you may well believe that folks are not so fond of him down +there where the rice grows. And unless I'm much mistaken the planters +actually order him out of their fields." + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird told Mr. Crow that he hadn't a doubt that +everything Mr. Crow said was so. And he was just about to remark that +he should think Mr. Crow must lead a care-free, happy-go-lucky life in +winter, in the South, because Farmer Green always stayed in Pleasant +Valley the whole year round. But as he opened his bill to speak he heard +a sound over in the meadow that made him forget what was on the tip of +his tongue. + +"Did you hear that song?" he cried. "Hurrah!" + +Old Mr. Crow cocked his head on one side and listened. "Yes!" he +agreed. "There's no doubt about it. Bobby Bobolink is here at last!" + + + + +III + +GREETINGS + + +AS fast as they could fly, old Mr. Crow and Mr. Red-winged Blackbird +hurried over to the meadow, where they had heard Bobby Bobolink's +bubbling notes. + +They found him enjoying himself with a lively company of careless +bachelors--all distant cousins of Bobby Bobolink--who had travelled +with him in a roistering flock all the way from the South. + +They were all wonderful singers--those happy Bobolinks. They could +scarcely have kept still if they had wanted to. But somehow Bobby +Bobolink seemed to be just a bit the best singer of the lot. + +Perched on a fence-post, Mr. Meadowlark was drinking in Bobby's merry +songs. Jolly Robin had stolen away from the orchard to greet the +newcomer and listen to his first concert. And even Rusty Wren had +forsaken the cherry tree beside the farmhouse. Although Rusty and his +wife were in the midst of putting their summer house to rights, he had +not been able to resist telling Mrs. Wren, who did not like to have him +away from home, that he must make a short visit in the meadow, "to see a +friend." + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird called "Conk-err-ee!" several times to Bobby +Bobolink, meaning that he was glad Bobby was back in Pleasant Valley and +that he hoped he was in good health, and that Bobby certainly hadn't +forgotten how to sing. + +As for old Mr. Crow, he winked at Bobby Bobolink and said in a hoarse +voice, "I hear they're planting rice down South." + +Bobby Bobolink was not like Mr. Crow, who would have flown into a rage +had any one made such a remark to him. + +"I stayed a while in the rice fields," he answered. "And if I hadn't +come away when I did," he added with a laugh, "I'd have been too fat to +fly way up here to Pleasant Valley." + +Then a torrent of notes came tumbling out of his throat as he darted +right over the head of old Mr. Crow (who stood on a hillock) and swerved +and zigzagged and wheeled through the air, until Mr. Crow almost tied +his neck into a knot, just watching him. + +"By the way," Mr. Meadowlark said in an undertone to Mr. Red-winged +Blackbird, "our friend Bobby has a different suit from the one he wore +when I last saw him." + +"When was that?" Mr. Red-winged Blackbird inquired. + +"About the middle of last summer!" Mr. Meadowlark explained. + +"Ah! This is the second suit he has had since then," said Mr. Red-winged +Blackbird. "If you had been with us in the swamp last fall you'd have +known that Bobby had a new one then. And here he is now with still +another." + +Mr. Meadowlark looked a bit troubled. + +"I liked the black one--the black one with the white and buff +trimmings," he remarked. "It was very becoming to Bobby Bobolink. I was +hoping he'd wear one like it this summer." + +"Wait!" was Mr. Red-winged Blackbird's mysterious answer. "Wait! And I +promise you won't be disappointed." + +"Anyhow, he sings as well as ever," Mr. Meadowlark declared. + + + + +IV + +SINGING FOR SOME ONE + + +THE first few days of early May had passed and with them had +flitted--somewhere--most of the jolly company in which Bobby Bobolink +had journeyed from the South. But a few of those merrymakers had +stayed--as Bobby did--in Farmer Green's meadow. They had made up their +minds to spend the summer in Pleasant Valley. + +Even old Mr. Crow, who was no lover of music, had to admit that he had +never heard such bursts of song during all the summers he had spent in +the neighborhood. It seemed as if Bobby Bobolink and his companions +were trying their best to out-sing one another, though nobody knew why +they should do that. + +But at last somebody discovered the reason. That rowdy of the woods, +Jasper Jay, spied upon the harum-scarum singers one day, when they were +all but bursting themselves in a frenzy of song. And he saw that they +were giving what Jasper called "a serenade." + +They were singing not for themselves but for a dull, yellowish-brown +lady of their own sort, who had not arrived from the South until Bobby +and his friends had been frolicking about the meadow almost a week. + +She seemed a shy creature--this young person--preferring to stay on the +ground during the serenade. But Bobby Bobolink and his companions were +bold as brass. Often they alighted on the ground near her, as if they +thought she could not hear their songs well enough when they skimmed +through the air over the grassy meadow. Amid such a jingling and +tinkling of notes it was no wonder that the little lady acted somewhat +confused. + +Jasper Jay, who was almost as great a gossip as Mr. Crow, told everybody +in the neighborhood that he had never heard such a hubbub. But then, +like his cousin Mr. Crow, Jasper was not a lover of music. And it was +true that sprightly Bobby Bobolink and his dashing friends made no +attempt to sing together. To be sure, they sang all at the same time; +but each one of them sang his own song in his own way, just as if his +was the only one that was being sung. + +They never tired of entertaining the lady. And whether the +yellowish-brown person decided that Bobby Bobolink sang louder than the +others, or whether she thought his singing was sweeter or gayer than +that of his friends, nobody ever found out. Perhaps he managed to say +something--in his song--that especially pleased her. Anyhow, it was only +a short time before Bobby Bobolink was making such remarks as these to +everybody in the meadow: + +"My wife says I have the quickest eye for a caterpillar that she ever +saw!" and "Mrs. Bobolink and I expect to begin to build a new house at +once!" + +Now, you might think that Bobby's friends, after all their singing for +the little lady, would have felt quite glum. But they were not in the +least downcast. Of course, Bobby Bobolink would not let them serenade +his wife. Indeed he promptly chased them away as soon as he knew that he +had won her. + +But they were so light-hearted that they started right away to sing for +another lady in another part of the meadow. + +She was as like the first one as two peas in a pod. And Jasper Jay +chuckled when he found out what was going on. + +He said he didn't believe they knew the difference. + + + + +V + +AN INVITATION + + +MR. MEADOWLARK was a great admirer of Bobby Bobolink. Much as he liked +to sing himself, he often remained silent when Bobby's joyous music +tinkled over the grass-tops in Farmer Green's meadow. And as Mr. +Meadowlark was listening to one of Bobby's best songs one day an idea +popped suddenly into his head. He liked this notion so well that he flew +straight across the meadow to a thicket on the edge of the woods. And +there in the undergrowth he found Buddy Brown Thrasher, who was exactly +the person he was looking for. + +"I've come over to tell you about an idea of mine," Mr. Meadowlark +announced. "It's about Bobby Bobolink. You know he has come back to +spend the summer here in Pleasant Valley. It seems to me he's in better +voice than ever. And now that he is quite grown up--you know he has a +wife--it seems to me that we couldn't do better than invite him to join +the Pleasant Valley Singing Society." + +Mr. Meadowlark had explained all this in a most eager manner. And he +couldn't help being a bit disappointed over the way Buddy Brown Thrasher +received it. He did not seem at all excited. To tell the truth, he was a +suspicious chap. He never fell in quickly with a new plan, no matter +what it might be. And more than once he had made matters somewhat +difficult for the Pleasant Valley Singing Society. He was hard to +please. Being a very brilliant singer himself, he was never what you +might call keen to take in a new member. + +When Mr. Meadowlark had told him about his idea Buddy Brown Thrasher +gave a sharp whistle, "Wheeu!" That was the only remark he made. + +"What's the matter?" Mr. Meadowlark inquired. "Don't you like my +scheme?" + +"Oh! It's worth looking into, no doubt," Buddy told him. "But I can't +say offhand whether it's a good one or not.... Of course Bobby Bobolink +would have to pass the test before we take him into the Singing +Society." + +"If that's all that's troubling you, cheer up!" Mr. Meadowlark cried. +"For Bobby Bobolink can pass the singing test as easily as flying." + +"I hope so," Buddy Brown Thrasher retorted. "I promise you that I'll be +present when Bobby sings before the Society. And if his singing isn't +what it ought to be, you can depend on me to know it." + +Well, Mr. Meadowlark couldn't object to that. So he told Buddy Brown +Thrasher that his promise was fair enough. And then Mr. Meadowlark +hurried away to call on other members of the Pleasant Valley Singing +Society and tell them about his plan. + +After he had seen and talked with every one, Mr. Meadowlark took it upon +himself to go back to the meadow, where he found Bobby Bobolink still +singing merrily. And for once Mr. Meadowlark couldn't wait for him to +finish. For there was no knowing when Bobby would stop. + +"You're invited," said Mr. Meadowlark, "to sing before the Pleasant +Valley Singing Society. And if you can pass the test you'll become a +member." + +Bobby Bobolink was somewhat doubtful as he listened to Mr. Meadowlark's +speech. + +"I'm afraid it will be difficult," he said. + +"Oh, no!" Mr. Meadowlark assured him. "You can pass the test easily +enough." + +But Bobby Bobolink told him that that wasn't what he meant. + +"I'm afraid," he explained, "my wife may not consent!" + + + + +VI + +MRS. BOBOLINK CONSENTS + + +IT had never occurred to Mr. Meadowlark that Bobby Bobolink's wife might +object to her husband's joining the Singing Society. But Bobby seemed +doubtful. + +"I'll have to ask her," he said. "You see, we're just about to build +ourselves a house. And she may think I ought not to belong to any +societies at present." + +Just then little, yellowish-brown Mrs. Bobolink came skimming over the +meadow and dropped down beside them. + +"Would you mind, my love, if I joined the Pleasant Valley Singing +Society?" Bobby asked her. + +"Perhaps you'd like to become a member yourself," Mr. Meadowlark +suggested nervously. + +But Mrs. Bobolink hastened to say that she wasn't musical. "Of course I +enjoy _hearing_ songs," she told him; "but I'm not much of a singer +myself." + +"Your husband is one of the best," Mr. Meadowlark told her hopefully. + +"Yes!" she replied. "And sometimes I think he spends almost too much of +his time practicing." + +"Oh, I can sing and work at the same time," Bobby Bobolink declared. +"When we begin work on our new house I shall be singing most of the +time." + +"How often does your Society meet?" Mrs. Bobolink asked Mr. Meadowlark. + +"We have a little sing almost every fine day," he informed her. "But +your husband needn't come to every meeting--if he's too busy. And if +necessary he can leave before our sings are finished--except when he +takes the test." + +"The test!" Mrs. Bobolink echoed. "What's that?" + +Mr. Meadowlark explained that before becoming a member everybody had to +sing before the Society. "Those that don't sing well enough don't get +in," he added. "For instance, there's old Mr. Crow. His voice is too +hoarse. So he doesn't belong to the Society." + +Well, the moment she heard that, Mrs. Bobolink made up her mind at +once. + +"My husband can pass any singing test that you can give him!" she +exclaimed. "The idea of mentioning him and Mr. Crow in the same breath!" + +"Pardon me!" Mr. Meadowlark said hastily. "I took several breaths just +before I spoke about Mr. Crow." He hoped that he hadn't offended Bobby +Bobolink's wife. + +She wasn't really angry. But she was proud of her husband's voice. And +she wanted Mr. Meadowlark to know it. + +"I wouldn't think of such a thing as not letting Bobby join your +Society," she declared. "And as soon as we've finished our new house he +can go to every meeting you have, and stay till the end, too." + +All this time Bobby Bobolink had been listening anxiously. And when he +heard his wife's last remark he was so overjoyed that he sprang into the +air and began to sing the happiest song he knew, while he darted back +and forth above the heads of his wife and their caller. + +"Just listen to him!" Mrs. Bobolink cried, with an air of pride. "Can +you beat that?" + +Mr. Meadowlark made a modest reply. He said that in his opinion Bobby +Bobolink was the finest singer that had ever come to Pleasant Valley. + +And Mrs. Bobolink was so pleased that she confessed she hoped her +husband could take his test just as soon as possible. + +"He shall take it to-morrow!" Mr. Meadowlark promised. + + + + +VII + +PASSING THE TEST + + +THE time had come for Bobby Bobolink to sing before the Pleasant Valley +Singing Society. Mr. Meadowlark brought Bobby to the meeting, along the +rail fence between the meadow and the pasture. And he told everybody +that there wasn't really any need of such a test. + +"He's by far the finest singer in all these parts," Mr. Meadowlark +declared. + +There were a few who might have disputed his statement, had not Bobby +Bobolink been present. They were too polite, however, to do anything +like that. But Mr. Meadowlark himself had a voice of remarkable +sweetness. And many thought that it couldn't be equalled. + +"Bobby Bobolink will have to sing for us, just like anybody else, before +we make him a member of this Society," Buddy Brown Thrasher cried, after +he had given a whistle, "Wheeu!" as if to say that he, for one, doubted +Mr. Meadowlark's words. For Buddy Brown Thrasher liked his own singing +about as well as any he had ever heard. In the morning, and again at +night, he was fond of perching himself on the topmost twig of a tree, +where nobody could help seeing him, and singing a song over and over +again. It was his favorite song--and the only one he knew. And having +practiced it all his life, how he could sing it! + +Well, after Buddy Brown Thrasher's remarks there was only one thing to +be done. Bobby Bobolink must sing for the Society. And Mr. Meadowlark +turned to him and told him that he might begin at once. + +So Bobby alighted on the end of a fence-rail and such a torrent of song +burst upon the ears of his listeners as they had never heard before. The +notes came tumbling so quickly one upon another that most of the members +of the Singing Society began to look bewildered. Bobby Bobolink's +singing was almost too fast for even their sharp ears. + +He hadn't sung long before somebody interrupted him. Somebody called in +a loud voice, "I object!" + +It was Buddy Brown Thrasher that spoke. Bobby Bobolink stopped short in +the middle of his song. And at once a great clamor arose, when all the +other members asked Buddy what he meant. + +"I mean," said Buddy Brown Thrasher, as soon as he could make himself +heard, "I mean that Bobby Bobolink is playing a trick on us. He has +about half a dozen of his friends hidden in the pasture. And they're +helping him. They're singing with him." + +Everybody was astonished. And as for Bobby Bobolink, he couldn't seem to +say a word for himself. + +Luckily he didn't need to. For just then his wife came bustling up and +settled herself right in the midst of the Singing Society. + +Proud as she was of her husband's voice, she hadn't been able to stay +away from the meeting. So she had hovered near-by, where she could hear +everything without being seen. + +"Sir!" she said to Buddy Brown Thrasher. "Kindly point out these hidden +friends of my husband!" + +Buddy Brown Thrasher looked somewhat uneasy. + +"I--I haven't _seen_ anybody in the bushes," he stammered. + +"Find them!" Mrs. Bobolink ordered. Her manner was so stern that Buddy +Brown Thrasher did not dare disobey. He searched high and low. But he +couldn't find a bird anywhere in the pasture. + +"You see you were mistaken," Mrs. Bobolink told him severely. + +Everybody agreed with her. And then and there they made Bobby Bobolink a +member of the Pleasant Valley Singing Society. There was no doubt that +he had sung his song without a bit of help. + +"It was wonderful!" everybody exclaimed--everybody but Buddy Brown +Thrasher. He muttered that it was no wonder he made a mistake, for he +didn't know the song himself. And he said it was much too fast for his +taste. + + + + +VIII + +THE HOUSE IN THE MEADOW + + +BOBBY BOBOLINK and his wife had talked a good deal about the home they +were going to have. + +And unlike some people, who are forever planning things but never begin +the actual doing of them, they soon set to work to build their nest. + +First, of course, they had to find a pleasant place for it. So they +looked the ground over carefully. Bobby Bobolink favored the exact +center of the big meadow building site, for he said that if Johnnie +Green ever came into the meadow he was more likely to take a short cut +across a corner of it than he was to walk straight through the middle. + +"You may not know," he said to his wife, "that Farmer Green doesn't care +to have the grass on the farm trampled down." + +But Mrs. Bobolink replied that there were other things to think of. She +said that she liked to live in a rather moist place--that such a spot +was comfortable in hot weather. And furthermore she wanted to be near +water. "If you need a drink on a warm day it's not always convenient to +go far out of your way for it," she pointed out. + +Well, Bobby Bobolink saw at once that Mrs. Bobolink had made up her +mind, and there was no use trying to change it. Besides, he wanted to +please her. + +"Then, my dear, where would you like to have our house built?" he +asked. + +"I should prefer to settle in the lower end of the meadow, near Cedar +Swamp," she replied. "The ground thereabouts is just damp enough to suit +me. And there's always plenty of water to drink in the swamp.... +Besides," she added, "it's somewhat marshy in that part of the meadow. + +"And you won't find Johnny Green trespassing down there. He might get +his feet wet!" + +Bobby Bobolink turned his head away so that his wife wouldn't notice the +smile that flitted across his face. He saw that Mrs. Bobolink didn't +know Johnnie Green very well. + +In summer Johnnie almost always went barefooted. And he never minded +getting his feet wet any more than Paddy Muskrat did. + +But if his wife wanted their nest near the swamp, Bobby Bobolink was +willing to oblige her. + +"Very well!" he said. "Let's go down there now and look for the best +place to build." + +So off they flew. And after a careful search they discovered a snug +little hollow in the ground that entirely suited them both. + +Since the spot was somewhat moist, early in the season as it was the +grass grew thick and high all around, making a fine screen to prevent +prying eyes from seeing what was to be hidden there. + +Having decided on their building site, Bobby Bobolink and his wife began +to gather weed stems, leaves and coarse grasses, all left over from the +year before and dried by the spring sunshine. Those served for the +outside of the nest. As for the inside, they lined that with soft, fine +grasses, because they expected to keep something precious in that nest +before a great while. + + + + +IX + +JOHNNIE GREEN INTRUDES + + +BOBBY BOBOLINK and his wife had finished their new nest. + +"There!" Mrs. Bobolink exclaimed, as she gave the lining of soft grasses +a final pat. "There's not another thing to be done to it." + +"It's perfect!" Bobby told her. "But I think I can make one slight +improvement, for we mustn't forget Henry Hawk." And while his wife +looked on somewhat anxiously he bent a few grass stalks over so that +they completely hid the nest from anybody passing overhead. + +"Henry Hawk will never spy our nest now," Bobby remarked a few minutes +later, as he flew back and forth over the spot and tried in vain to +catch a glimpse of their new home. "If I can't see it as near as I am, +Henry Hawk will never find it as he sails high above the meadow, for all +his eyes are terribly sharp." + +Mrs. Bobolink then told her husband that his improvement was a fine one. +And Bobby was so well pleased that he sang a song for his wife, while +she rested from her labors. + +After that they flew off and told all their friends that their new home +was built. But they didn't invite anybody to a house-warming, for that +was not their way. They never so much as told people where their house +was hidden. They were afraid that some gossip might drop a hint to old +Mr. Crow, or his noisy cousin, Jasper Jay, or perhaps Mr. Blackbird. +And later there would be something in the nest that would have made a +dainty meal for any one of those rascals. No! Mr. and Mrs. Bobolink did +not intend to have their nest robbed of its treasure--not if they could +help it! + +Now, it was only a short time later that Bobby Bobolink and his wife +shared a wonderful secret. Five grayish-white eggs, each quite pointed +at one end, lay in their nest. And nobody but themselves was a bit the +wiser. + +To be sure, the neighbors remarked that Bobby Bobolink was simply +bursting with song. He was more musical than ever. But they never +dreamed what it was that could make him even happier than he had +always been. + +At last there came a time when Bobby--though he was just as +happy--seemed to have less leisure for singing. And then it was +easy for the neighbors to guess the reason for that, because it +was plain that the Bobolink family was not gathering great numbers +of grasshoppers and caterpillars merely for the fun of it. + +Hidden as the little Bobolinks were in the tall grass, no stranger found +them. Of course, Mrs. Bobolink went to some trouble to keep the secret +of her nest in the family. Whenever she left her home she moved along +the ground a little way before rising into view. And when she returned +she alighted some distance off and scurried through the grass until she +reached home. + +By taking such pains she kept others from knowing exactly where her nest +was. And nothing had happened to alarm her until one day she caught +sight of Johnnie Green. He had come into the meadow to hunt for +strawberries. And to Mrs. Bobolink's dismay he was headed straight for +her house. + + + + +X + +FOOLING JOHNNIE GREEN + + +WHEN Mrs. Bobolink saw Johnnie Green, carrying a tin pail, come +walking through the meadow straight towards her house she was +terribly frightened. She was not afraid for herself. Her only +thought was of her children, who were still too young to leave +the nest. + +Somehow Mrs. Bobolink felt sure that Johnnie was searching for her nest, +for he had his head bent toward the ground, as if he were looking for +something. And that bright tin pail! Mrs. Bobolink viewed it with alarm. +She just knew that it was meant to carry off her children! + +Of course Johnnie Green was only looking for strawberries. But Mrs. +Bobolink didn't know that. All at once she remembered how she had +objected to having her nest in the very center of the meadow, although +her husband had told her that he thought it the safest place. And it +came back to her, too, how she had said that Johnnie Green would never +come into the lower end of the meadow, near Cedar Swamp, for fear of +getting his feet wet. + +Poor Mrs. Bobolink choked as she thought how foolish she had been. But +it was too late to move now. And she didn't see what she was going to +do. She wished Bobby was at home, though she had no idea how he could +have headed off Johnnie Green who was fast drawing nearer. + +As soon as she could speak she called "Chenk, chenk!" at the top of her +voice. She could think of nothing else to say. + +Luckily Bobby was not far away. And hearing his wife's alarm call, he +turned to hurry home. But seeing Johnnie Green, he swerved sharply aside +and dropped down upon a tuft of grass not too near the nest. + +And then Bobby Bobolink made a great fuss. He cried "Chink, chink!" over +and over again, now fluttering into the grass, now bobbing into sight +again. Johnnie Green couldn't help noticing him. + +"There must be a nest there!" he exclaimed under his breath. And he ran +quickly to the spot where Bobby was acting so queerly. But when he got +there Johnnie found nothing. + +Bobby Bobolink had fooled him. He never knew how near he came to +stumbling upon the nest, before Bobby played that trick on him. + +Mrs. Bobolink was greatly relieved when Johnnie Green left her end of +the meadow. And she told her husband that she had never supposed Johnnie +would come where it was so damp, for fear of getting his feet wet. + +Bobby Bobolink did not tell her that he had known all the time that a +little water never troubled Johnnie Green--so long as he didn't have to +wash his face in it. + + + + +XI + +BOBBY'S NAMES + + +EVERYBODY--almost--liked Bobby Bobolink. His neighbors in Farmer +Green's meadow enjoyed his singing. And they thought him the merriest +harum-scarum they had ever known. He was even cheerful to look at, too. +For with every bright day that passed, Bobby Bobolink's dress took on a +gayer hue. The truth was that the yellowish tips of his feathers were +wearing away, leaving him a handsome suit of black, set off by a +generous patch of creamy yellow on the back of his neck, with enough +white on his back and shoulders to make a most jaunty costume. + +Most of the field people enjoyed Bobby Bobolink's company, for he was +always in high spirits. And many of them were vain enough to like to +be seen with him, on account of his dashing appearance. Mr. Red-winged +Blackbird was especially fond of Bobby's companionship. And he was +forever speaking of his old friend, Bobby Bobolink, and acting as if +he knew Bobby a great deal better than anybody else did. + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird never tired of telling the neighbors about the +good times he and Bobby had together when they were in the South. And he +related many things about Bobby that some of the feathered folk hadn't +heard of. + +"There isn't anybody in the valley that has more names than Bobby +Bobolink," Mr. Red-winged Blackbird said to Mr. Crow one day. "Some +people call him the Reed Bird. And down South they scarcely know the +name Bobolink. Down there everybody calls him the Rice Bird. And there's +an island far off in the southern seas where people speak of him as the +Butter Bird." + +Now, if the truth must be known, old Mr. Crow was a bit jealous of +Bobby Bobolink. It was said--by those that ought to have known--that +Mr. Crow didn't like it because Bobby Bobolink was not only a member +of the Pleasant Valley Singing Society, but its finest singer as well. +Unfortunately, Mr. Crow's husky voice had always prevented his joining +the Society. And somehow--having heard that Bobby was very fond of +rice--Mr. Crow could not get the notion out of his head that he might +be just as fond of corn. + +If Mr. Crow thought anybody but himself liked corn he was sure to be +spiteful towards him. You might have thought, from the way Mr. Crow +acted, that Farmer Green didn't raise enough corn to go around. + +"How does it happen," Mr. Crow inquired slyly of Mr. Red-winged +Blackbird, "that your friend Bobby Bobolink has all these names? It +can't be--can it--that he is a rogue and is always changing his name +so people won't know who he is?" + +"Certainly not!" Mr. Red-winged Blackbird snapped. "Only a stupid person +would ask such a question as that." + +Just then Bobby Bobolink himself flashed across the meadow and joined +them. And Mr. Red-winged Blackbird began to talk about the weather. + +He was afraid that Mr. Crow intended to be disagreeable. + + + + +XII + +MR. CROW IS DISAGREEABLE + + +ALTHOUGH Mr. Red-winged Blackbird talked about the weather as fast as +he could, his chatter did not prevent Mr. Crow from interrupting him, +because the old gentleman was determined to be disagreeable to Bobby +Bobolink, and nothing could stop him. + +"Your friend here has been talking about you," he told Bobby Bobolink +with a wise smile. "He says you have a good many names." + +"Yes!" Bobby told Mr. Crow. "That's quite true." + +Mr. Crow coughed; and he shot a sidelong look at Mr. Red-winged +Blackbird. + +"It must be pleasant to have so many fine names," Mr. Crow then added, +with a smirk. + +"Oh, very!" Mr. Red-winged Blackbird answered for his friend. + +Mr. Crow turned a snapping eye on him, and croaked: + +"There's at least one name you left out among the lot you mentioned to +me. You said he was known as the Reed Bird, the Rice Bird, and the +Butter Bird. But there's one more bird still to be added to the list." + +"Is there?" + +"Yes!" Mr. Crow replied. "Maybe I know more about your chum than you do. +Perhaps you weren't aware that in spite of all the elegant names you've +spoken of, he's nothing but a Skunk Blackbird after all!" And with a +loud haw-haw Mr. Crow rose upon the breeze and flapped into the woods. +That was a favorite trick of his. After making some specially rude +remark he would hurry away before anybody had time to think of a retort. + +"The idea!" Mr. Red-winged Blackbird exclaimed to Bobby Bobolink, gazing +after Mr. Crow with an injured air. "He insulted you!" + +To his great surprise Bobby laughed heartily. + +"Mr. Crow is a wise old bird," he said, "He generally knows what he's +talking about." + +"You don't mean to say that he was telling the truth, do you?" Mr. +Red-winged Blackbird demanded. + +"I do!" Bobby Bobolink admitted. + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird edged away slightly. Skunks, he knew, would +rather eat a bird than not. And he couldn't help wondering whether a +Skunk Blackbird might be as dangerous. + +"Then some people do call you that!" he faltered. + +"Yes! But I don't care," Bobby Bobolink answered carelessly. "It's only +because of these clothes I'm wearing at present--black, you know, with +stripes of white down each side and meeting on my back." + +Mr. Red-winged Blackbird stared at him. + +"Then," he asked, "that's the only way you're like a Skunk?" + +"Certainly!" said Bobby. And he laughed so merrily that Mr. Red-winged +Blackbird had to believe him. + +"I was scared, for a moment," he confessed. "I was afraid you might take +it into your head to eat me." + +Bobby Bobolink seemed to think that a huge joke. And he sang several +humorous songs before he turned to Mr. Red-winged Blackbird and said: + +"I can tell you one thing. I'd rather be called a Skunk Blackbird than +a Skunk Crow, any day!" + + + + +XIII + +MR. CATBIRD'S TRICK + + +In a clump of lilac bushes near Farmer Green's garden Mr. Catbird made +his home. He was an odd fellow, very friendly toward everybody in the +farmhouse, except the cat, whom he dearly loved to tease. When she +passed through the garden on her way to the meadow to hunt for mice, +Mr. Catbird was quite likely to begin mewing. It always made Miss Kitty +furious to be mocked. And sometimes she crept into the bushes herself, +hoping to surprise Mr. Catbird and teach him a lesson. But she never +caught him. + +Now, the cat was not the only one whose calls Mr. Catbird imitated. +Although he liked almost all his bird neighbors and was especially kind +and helpful when they were in trouble, nothing pleased him more than to +sing their songs. Knowing as they did that he was always ready to feed +any nestlings that were left to fend for themselves, and that he was +quick to help any of the small feathered folk to fight an enemy, his +neighbors did not care how much Mr. Catbird mocked them. It was only +his way of having fun; so they didn't mind. + +Mr. Catbird was always prankish and full of spirits. And feeling all +ready for a lark one morning and not knowing what else to do, he decided +to visit the meadow and play a trick on Bobby Bobolink and his wife. + +So when the Bobolinks were away from home on a short trip Mr. Catbird +flew to their end of the meadow and hid in a bush not far from the spot +where they had built their nest on the ground. + +From his hiding place Mr. Catbird watched closely. And soon he saw Mrs. +Bobolink, followed shortly by her husband, come skimming across the +meadow and settle down in the grass. + +Well, Mr. Catbird was so delighted with the trick he was about to play +on them that first he spread his feathers, and then he tucked them close +about his slim body, while he bobbed about on the branch where he sat, +giving his tail a flirt now and then as if he were so amused that he +simply couldn't keep still. + +After spending some minutes in that fashion Mr. Catbird peeped out of +his bush again and began what he expected would be a perfect imitation +of one of Bobby Bobolink's songs. But somehow there seemed to be +something wrong. They were very strange notes that he uttered. And the +moment she heard them Mrs. Bobolink said aloud to her husband, "What in +the world is that queer call? I never heard anything like it in all my +days!" + +Bobby Bobolink couldn't tell her. And since they had no idea who was +lurking near their home nor exactly where he was, they kept quite still, +hidden as they were by the tall grasses. + +Mr. Catbird had heard what they said. And he was slightly upset, for he +had intended that they should think there was a strange Bobolink in the +meadow. + +"I'll have to try again," he said to himself. "Next time I'll do +better." + + + + +XIV + +FRIGHTENING MRS. BOBOLINK + + +Not knowing who gave the strange cry near their home, Bobby Bobolink and +his wife held their breaths and waited. They never dreamed that it was +their good friend, Mr. Catbird, hidden in a bush near-by, who was trying +to imitate one of Bobby's songs. + +Meanwhile that fun-loving fellow smiled broadly to himself. And giving +his tail an upward toss he opened his mouth once more, only to give +voice to one of the oddest sounds that was ever heard in Pleasant +Valley. + +Mr. Catbird knew right away that he hadn't caught the trick of mocking +Bobby Bobolink. So he stopped short. + +"I wonder what's the matter with me," he murmured. "Can it be that I've +caught a cold and didn't know it?" + +He cleared his throat and made ready to attempt Bobby Bobolink's song +once more. But he waited a moment, for he could hear Bobby talking to +his wife. + +"Don't be alarmed!" he was saying. "It sounded to me as if somebody had +a frog in his throat." + +"I hope you're not mistaken," was Mrs. Bobolink's somewhat doubting +answer. + +"I thought I heard him choke a moment ago," Bobby told her. "We'll keep +still until we know where the noise comes from." + +Mr. Catbird winced. He was not used to hearing anybody speak of his +singing as "noise." And he made up his mind that he would sing a song +in Bobby Bobolink's best manner. So again he opened his mouth. + +He hadn't sung half a dozen notes before Bobby Bobolink's wife gave a +shrill scream. + +"Oh, dear!" she cried. "That's a terrible noise. It hurts my ears to +hear it." + +Mr. Catbird had stopped when Mrs. Bobolink screamed. A puzzled look came +over his face. + +"I don't see what's the matter with me to-day," he said under his +breath. "This is the first time I ever tried to mock anybody and made +such a bungle of it.... Perhaps I'm trying to sing too fast," he added. +"So I'll sing slower next time." + +But his slow notes were queerer still. Though he tried to make them +rollicking and merry, he succeeded only in giving a number of doleful +whines. + +"That won't do!" he exclaimed. "I declare, I haven't caught the trick +yet." And to his great distress he heard Mrs. Bobolink weeping. + +Now, Mr. Catbird had only wanted to have a jolly time with the Bobolink +family. He had intended to sing one of Bobby's songs a few times, until +they were puzzled; and then he had expected to dash out of the bush +where he was hiding and have a good laugh with Mr. and Mrs. Bobolink. +But somehow his plans were turning out all wrong. + +"What shall I do?" Mr. Catbird groaned. "Here I've gone and frightened +Bobby Bobolink's wife! Something's the matter with my voice. And I don't +dare to try another song for fear she'll fall into a faint." + +Then an idea flashed into his head. "If she knows who's hiding in this +bush Mrs. Bobolink won't be frightened!" And thereupon he mewed almost +exactly like Farmer Green's cat. But the sound was just different enough +for Bobby Bobolink to know at once who made it. + +"It's all right!" he told his wife merrily. "Don't worry! Mr. Catbird is +hiding somewhere. He has been teasing us!" + +Then Mr. Catbird came out of the bush and apologized like the gentleman +he was. + +"I didn't mean to frighten Mrs. Bobolink," he explained. "I was only +trying to mock you. But there's something wrong with my voice. I think +I'll have to go and see Aunt Polly Woodchuck, the herb doctor." + +Bobby Bobolink only laughed harder than ever. + +"There's nothing the matter with you!" he cried. "There isn't anybody +that can imitate my songs--unless it's one of the Bobolink family. I +sing too fast for you--that's the trouble." + +Well, Mr. Catbird looked vastly relieved. + +"I'm glad to know that," he said. "And I'll never try to mock you +again." + +"I should hope not!" Mrs. Bobolink told him. "For I never heard such a +frightful noise in all my days." + + + + +XV + +HAYING TIME + + +BY the time the Bobolink youngsters were beginning to learn to fly +Mrs. Bobolink noticed something about her husband that caused her +some uneasiness. Bobby Bobolink was unusually jolly. And since his +wife didn't know of anything to make him feel happier than he had +always been, she couldn't help worrying for fear something was +troubling him. For Bobby Bobolink almost never let anything dash +his high spirits. He often said that there was nothing so uplifting +as a rousing song--unless it was a good pair of wings! + +Mrs. Bobolink thought and thought. But so far as she could see +everything was going smoothly. Already the children gave promise +of becoming fine fliers, taking as naturally to the air as ducks +to water. And it was a great year for grasshoppers; so Bobby +Bobolink couldn't be worrying about a scarcity of food. + +Bobby's wife thought of this, that and the other thing. But she could +hit on nothing that wasn't exactly as it should be. So at last she +decided to ask her husband what it was that was troubling him and +making him so remarkably cheerful. + +"I don't like to upset you, my dear," he said in response to her +question. "But I may as well tell you that we ought to move at the +earliest possible moment." + +"Move!" she cried. "Oh, no! I don't want to move. I'm quite contented +with this house. It's in just the place I like." + +"I'm sorry," said Bobby. "But we shall have to move all the same. And +when I tell you why, I think you'll agree with me that the sooner we +move the better it will be for us." + +Little Mrs. Bobolink replied very firmly that she would have to hear a +good reason before she would consent to move an inch. + +So Bobby told her. "Haying time has come!" + +"What of that?" his wife inquired. "Farmer Green doesn't expect us to +help him, does he?" + +"Oh, no!" Bobby answered with a short laugh. "But he'll cut the grass +all over the meadow. And even if our children should escape with their +lives, there's still Henry Hawk to think of. He could see them easily +enough, with the grass all gone from above the nest." + +That was reason enough for Mrs. Bobolink. She wanted to move right +away. But there was something to prevent that. + +"We certainly can't leave here till the children have learned to fly +better than they do now," she said. "But as soon as they can handle +themselves well enough we'll go. We'll know--won't we--when Farmer Green +begins to mow?" + +"Indeed we will!" Bobby cried. "The mowing-machine makes a terrible +clatter. And we'll have to quit the neighborhood in a hurry when we hear +it, for it moves fast, and cuts the grass down like fire." + +Mrs. Bobolink was all a-flutter. And she spent so much time teaching her +children to fly that they learned surprisingly fast. By the time an odd +_clackety-clack_ sounded across the meadow early one fine morning the +Bobolink family was all ready to move. + +Mrs. Bobolink was gathering her children hastily about her when Bobby +came hurrying back from a trip to the farm buildings. He had seen--as +well as heard--the mowing-machine. And he knew there was no time to +waste. + +"Are you ready?" he called as he fluttered quickly down beside his +family. + +"Yes!" said Mrs. Bobolink. + +"You haven't forgotten anything?" + +She counted her children carefully before answering. + +"No!" she said. "There are five of them here." And then, a look of +dismay came over her face. + +"My goodness!" she exclaimed. "I've forgotten to pick out a place to +move to!" + + + + +XVI + +MR. FROG IS AMUSED + + +WITH the clatter of the mowing-machine growing louder every moment, +Bobby Bobolink didn't stop to ask his wife to what place she would like +to move. + +"Follow me!" he cried. And rising quickly he headed for Cedar Swamp, +with Mrs. Bobolink and their five children trailing after him. + +It was the quickest move you ever saw--if you had only seen it! In a few +minutes they were settled in the swamp. And to Bobby Bobolink's relief +his wife declared that she liked their new home, because it was in a +good damp place and there was plenty of good water to drink. + +After moving to Cedar Swamp Bobby Bobolink often met a spry gentleman +who lived there. His name was Ferdinand Frog. And being a tailor, he +always took special notice of everybody's clothes. For himself Mr. Frog +preferred a dark green suit, somewhat spotted, and a white waistcoat. +And since he spent a great deal of his time in the water, his white +waistcoat always looked very spick-and-span. Yes! Ferdinand Frog was an +elegant person. And being somewhat shallow-brained, he was rather vain +of his appearance, and was likely to snicker at other people if their +clothes seemed to him the least bit odd. + +Now, Bobby Bobolink had noticed from the first that whenever he met Mr. +Frog he began to titter. But since Bobby was always ready with a laugh +himself, he supposed that Mr. Ferdinand Frog was merely bubbling over +with good spirits. So he used to pass the time of day with the gay +tailor and maybe sing a jolly song for him. + +And all the while Mr. Frog would grin widely and giggle. + +At last Bobby Bobolink noticed that Mr. Frog's bulging eyes were always +looking him up and down, from head to feet. And before long it dawned on +Bobby Bobolink that the tailor was not laughing _with_ him. + +No! There was no doubt that Ferdinand Frog was laughing _at_ him. And +there is a great difference between these two kinds of laughter. + +All at once Bobby Bobolink began to feel uncomfortable. And though he +had intended to sing another song for Mr. Frog, he did not do it. +Instead he said a hasty good-day and hurried home to his wife. + +"My dear," Bobby said to Mrs. Bobolink in an anxious voice, "do you see +anything queer about my appearance?" + +She looked him over carefully. + +"Why, no!" she answered at last. "Why do you ask me such an odd +question?" + +"Well," said Bobby, "Mr. Frog, the tailor, is always staring at me in +the oddest fashion and snickering as if he saw something that amused +him." + +"Don't worry about that simpleton!" Mrs. Bobolink cried. "You look a +great deal better than he does. And as for your voices, there's really +no comparison. Yours is one of the finest in Pleasant Valley; but +Ferdinand Frog's is nothing but a croak. It's even worse than old Mr. +Crow's!" + +After that Bobby Bobolink felt better. He knew that his wife was +particular. And if she said he looked all right then he was sure he +could have no cause to be uneasy. + +"It must be only Mr. Frog's queer eyes," he said to Mrs. Bobolink. "I've +been thinking that he saw something strange about me. But I must be +mistaken." + +Nevertheless, the very next time Bobby met Mr. Frog the tailor burst out +laughing, right in his face. And again his eyes rolled from Bobby's head +to his feet, and back again, in a most unpleasant leer. + +"What on earth do you see to laugh at?" Bobby Bobolink demanded. + +"Tee-hee!" Mr. Frog giggled. "Don't you know?" + +"No, I don't!" Bobby snapped. + +"It's your clothes!" Mr. Frog told him. "You've got them on upside +down!" + + + + +XVII + +TURNING THE TABLES + + +MR. FROG had given Bobby Bobolink a great surprise. He had said that +Bobby was wearing his clothes upside down. + +After making that unpleasant remark Mr. Frog burst into a gale of +laughter. And it was some time before he could say anything more. +While he held his sides and laughed, Bobby Bobolink tried to look +at his own reflection in a pool of water. But so far as he could +see there was nothing unusual about his suit. He was puzzled; but +there was no use asking Mr. Frog any questions just then Bobby +knew that he would have to wait until the silly tailor's fit of +laughing had passed. + +At last Mr. Frog grew calmer. He drew forth a big handkerchief from +his sleeve and wiped his eyes. + +"You're certainly the funniest sight I've ever seen!" he exclaimed. + +"I wish you'd explain about my suit being upside down," Bobby said. +"I've worn it this way for almost two months. And only yesterday my wife +told me there was nothing wrong with it." + +"Ah!" Mr. Frog cried. "She doesn't know about the styles. If she did, +she'd know what was the matter. Your waistcoat is black; and you wear +bright colors on your back. Anybody that follows the fashions as I do +could tell you that your coat should be black, and that the yellow and +white ought to be on your waistcoat. That's one of the rules: Coat dark, +waistcoat bright and gay! Look at me!" And Mr. Frog drew himself up +proudly and leaned against a stump, with his feet crossed, exactly as if +he was having his picture taken. + +Bobby Bobolink looked at him. And all at once he burst out laughing. + +Now it was Mr. Frog's turn to feel uncomfortable. + +"What's the matter?" he asked. "Isn't my tie straight?" + +"Oh, I dare say your tie's correct," Bobby Bobolink told him. "But +there's something queer about you. Maybe it's because your feet are so +big!" And he laughed harder than ever; for Mr. Frog certainly looked +funny. + +Now, Mr. Frog's feet were a great trial to him. He had always wanted +small ones. But somehow he had never been able to change them. + +"They aren't really as big as they look," he remarked, gazing down at +his feet mournfully. "You see, trousers are being worn very tight this +summer. And that always makes the feet seem bigger.... My feet can't +look peculiar." + +"Then," said Bobby Bobolink, "it must be something else that amuses me. +It must be your mouth!" + +"My mouth!" Mr. Frog repeated, as his jaw dropped. "What's the matter +with that?" + +"It's so big!" Bobby cried. + +Now, Mr. Frog had always been terribly sensitive about the size of his +mouth. + +"I'll tell you something about my mouth," he said. "Once it was smaller +than yours. But I've smiled so much it has stretched a bit, though I +hoped nobody had noticed that." + +"Well," Bobby Bobolink told him, "I'm better off than you are, Mr. Frog. +For I expect to have a new suit this fall. But how are you going to +change your mouth--or your feet, either?" + +That was a question that Mr. Frog couldn't answer. He made no attempt to +reply, but plunged into the water and swam away. + +And he never again laughed at anybody's clothes all that summer. + + + + +XVIII + +TIMOTHY TURTLE'S COMPLAINT + + +IT happened that the Bobolink family moved to Cedar Swamp just when +Timothy Turtle had arrived there for a short outing. It was Mr. Turtle's +custom to leave his home in Black Creek now and than and spend a few +days in some other neighborhood. He said that after living in the creek +as many years as he had it did him good to get a change once in a while. +About every forty years he paid a visit to the Beaver Pond on the other +side of Blue Mountain. But he visited Cedar Swamp oftener than that, +because it was nearer his home. + +There was scarcely anybody that was glad to see Mr. Turtle. He was +a snappish, surly old chap. And he was forever finding fault with +everybody and everything. It seemed as if you couldn't please him, +no matter how much you tried. He had spent less than a week in Cedar +Swamp before every one voted him a nuisance. And he had invitations, +daily, to go back where he came from. + +But Timothy Turtle announced in no uncertain tones that he wouldn't go +till he was ready. He said that it was a waste of breath to urge him to +leave, and that those that didn't care for his company might move. He +promised that he wouldn't stop anybody--unless he happened to get hold +of him! + +Naturally every one took pains to keep out of Timothy Turtle's reach. It +was well known that when his powerful jaws closed upon a person's leg, +for instance, its unlucky owner might as well not try to get away till +Timothy was ready to let him go. And if it happened to be his head that +Timothy Turtle seized--well, then he was unluckier still! + +If Timothy Turtle was grumpy before Bobby Bobolink moved to Cedar Swamp, +it would be hard to say what he was afterward. For Bobby Bobolink's +happy songs drove Timothy Turtle almost crazy. He said that if he had +known he would have to listen to such merry singing he would have taken +his outing in the Beaver Pond, though he wasn't really due there for +thirty-nine years, because he had visited the Beaver colony only the +summer before. + +When Timothy heard Bobby Bobolink's song ringing through the swamp he +hurried as fast as he could toward the place where it seemed to come +from. Timothy did that, not because he wanted to hear the singing +better, but because he had something to say to the singer. He wanted to +tell him to keep still. And he had a good many disagreeable remarks on +the tip of his tongue, all ready to fling at Bobby Bobolink. + +But somehow Mr. Turtle never succeeded in finding Bobby. After Mr. +Turtle had swum in one direction he was sure to hear the song in +another. Sometimes he would even leave the water and crawl over the +soggy, boggy turf; and that was slow work for Timothy Turtle. You +may be sure it did not improve his temper to find that his journeying +had been all in vain. + +It happened that at last somebody told Bobby Bobolink that Mr. Turtle +wanted to speak to him. And being most obliging, Bobby set out to find +Timothy. "It's a shame," he said, "to disappoint an old gentleman." + +Anybody could tell, from that remark, that he didn't know Timothy +Turtle. + + + + +XIX + +BOBBY'S MISTAKE + + +AFTER a good deal of searching Bobby Bobolink discovered Timothy Turtle +in a pool in Cedar Swamp, sunning himself on an old stump that was half +under water. + +"Good morning, Mr. Turtle!" Bobby cried. "Is it true that you have +something to say to me?" + +And feeling quite happy and care-free, Bobby began to sing one of his +most sprightly songs. For Mr. Turtle was a slow old fellow. It took him +some time to answer a question, especially when he was dozing. + +But the moment Bobby Bobolink began to sing old Mr. Timothy Turtle came +to life instantly. And he was so angry at hearing that rollicking song +that much as he wanted to, he couldn't speak. Somehow the words seemed +to stick in his throat. + +And for a few moments Timothy was afraid he was going to choke. + +Now Bobby Bobolink was such a lively person that he couldn't keep +still long. Especially when he was singing he liked to be on the +move. So when he saw that Timothy Turtle wasn't going to speak +immediately Bobby leaped from the bush where he was perched and +began flying joyously over the swamp. + +All the time he sang with all his might, making so much music that he +could not hear Timothy Turtle calling to him at last. + +Once in a while Bobby wheeled above Mr. Turtle, so that the old fellow +might enjoy his best notes. He little knew that Mr. Turtle was crying to +him to stop, for goodness' sake! And noticing that Timothy's mouth was +moving, Bobby Bobolink said to himself: + +"He looks terribly fierce; but of course he's only commanding me not to +stop singing." + +It was no wonder that Bobby Bobolink thought as he did, because his +neighbors were always begging him to sing something for them. + +"It must be that Mr. Turtle wanted to see me so he could ask me to sing +some songs for him," Bobby thought. And wishing to please Timothy +Turtle, Bobby Bobolink sang as he hadn't sung all summer long. + +At last Timothy Turtle felt that he couldn't bear to hear another note. +And flopping off the stump, he splashed into the water and sank to the +bottom of the swamp, where he buried his head in the mud. + +And there he stayed until he dared hope that Bobby Bobolink had stopped +singing, or gone away to a distant part of the country. + +"Has anybody seen Timothy Turtle?" Bobby Bobolink kept calling as soon +as he noticed that Mr. Turtle had vanished. But no one knew where the +old fellow was. And at last Bobby gave up looking for him. But he +thought it strange that Timothy hadn't waited to hear the rest of his +song. + +"I hope he isn't ill," Bobby told his friends. + +But they only laughed. + +"Timothy Turtle is altogether too old and tough to have much the matter +with him," they said. "If he's ill, it's nothing but ill temper." + + + + +XX + +A HERMIT'S ADVICE + + +THERE was another, besides Timothy Turtle, who was not pleased when +Bobby Bobolink moved to Cedar Swamp at haying time. But this was a +very different sort of person. It was Jolly Robin's cousin, Mr. Hermit +Thrush. Everybody called him "the Hermit" for short, because he was a +quiet gentleman, who did not like to attract attention, but preferred +to spend his time in a thicket on the edge of the swamp. He had a +beautiful, sweet song, which he sang in a calm, unruffled fashion when +he thought nobody was near. + +The Hermit loathed noisy, boisterous people. And he disliked loud +clothes, too--no matter who wore them. He had even been known to speak +in a slighting way of his cousin, Jolly Robin, not only because he was +so sprightly and cheerful, but because he always wore a red waistcoat. + +The Hermit himself clung to more sober colors. His coat was olive-brown, +his tail somewhat paler in hue, and his waistcoat of quite a light +shade, spotted with black. + +As a rule he had little to say to his neighbors. But soon after Bobby +Bobolink came to the swamp to live the Hermit began to talk more freely. +He began to make complaints, saying that he had chosen Cedar Swamp as a +quiet place to live and it was upsetting to him to have any one as +harum-scarum as Bobby Bobolink settle in the neighborhood. + +And one day the Hermit even spoke to Bobby Bobolink himself and took him +to task, although nobody had introduced Bobby to him. And generally the +Hermit wouldn't speak to anybody who hadn't made his acquaintance like +that. + +"Young man!" said the Hermit solemnly, when he chanced to meet the +newcomer near the thicket where the Hermit lived, "I'm going to give +you a bit of advice. I'm going to warn you that if you don't behave +differently you'll come to some bad end." + +Now, Bobby Bobolink supposed that of course the speaker was only joking. +He knew that some people could joke when they wore a long face. So he +laughed heartily. And thinking what a jolly chap the stranger in the +spotted waistcoat was, he began to sing. + +"There you go!" the Hermit exclaimed as a look of pain crossed his +refined face. "You can't even keep still long enough to hear a little +valuable advice. Do stop that annoying noise of yours and listen to +what I have to say!" + +Bobby Bobolink was so surprised to hear anybody speak in such a way of +his singing that he broke right off in the middle of a note, making a +squeaky sound that caused the Hermit to shudder. + +"Now try to control yourself," said the Hermit. "And if you can only +learn to stop making that jingling, jangling music perhaps you'll be +able to save yourself from a sad fate." + +Bobby Bobolink stared at the Hermit as if he couldn't believe what his +own ears told him. + +"What are you talking about?" he demanded. + +With great care the Hermit flicked a bit of moss off his waistcoat +before answering. And then he said, "Don't you know that some day when +you're in the midst of a frenzy of song you're going to explode? And +then there'll be nothing left of you except a cloud of feathers!" + + + + +XXI + +HOW TO TAKE BAD NEWS + + +FOR once Bobby Bobolink's heart seemed to come right up into his mouth. +Usually he never let anything dash his high spirits. If matters didn't +go exactly as they should with him he would laugh and say that probably +they would be different to-morrow. And more likely than not he would +burst into the jolliest song he knew. Singing like that always helped +him amazingly, when a good many people would have moped and looked glum. +But now the gloomy warning of Jolly Robin's mournful cousin, the Hermit +Thrush, threw a sudden dread into him. + +"Why"--he asked the Hermit in a quavering voice--"why do you think I'm +likely to explode some day when I'm singing?" + +"I don't _think_ that. I _know_ it," the Hermit corrected him. "No +bird can crowd one note upon another the way you do without running +a terrible risk. If you don't do differently, some fine day your +wife is going to miss you. And when the neighbors search for you, +and find nothing but a few feathers scattered on the ground, they'll +know what has happened to you." + +Bobby Bobolink actually began to tremble as the Hermit described the +terrible end that awaited him. He was so alarmed that all he could say +was, "My goodness!" + +"I thought I ought to tell you," the Hermit went on. "I thought maybe +you didn't understand. And now that you've a wife and children, too, +of course you ought to take care of yourself. You won't want any such +accident to happen to you." + +"No, indeed!" Bobby Bobolink assured him. "And you must tell me how I +can sing fast--as I always do--and yet do it safely." + +"Ah!" the Hermit exclaimed. "That can't be done. You must sing more +slowly, as I do. Take plenty of time for every note. And above all, +don't sing very often!" + +"Oh! I never could sing that way!" Bobby Bobolink cried. "I have to sing +joyful songs. And you know you always sing that kind in quick time." + +"Pardon me!" said the Hermit, who was a most polite person. "I never +sing joyful songs. So you see you are mistaken." + +"Well, if you sang the sort I do you'd know that they have to be given +in a lively fashion," Bobby told him. "I don't see how it would be +possible to make a song sound merry if it had to be sung slowly." + +The Hermit pondered over that speech. + +"There's only one thing for you to do," he said at last. "You must +select only mournful songs.... You know you sing them in slow time." + +"Pardon me!" Bobby Bobolink said, for he was determined to be just as +polite as the Hermit. "I never sing mournful songs. So you see you are +mistaken." + +Now, for some reason the Hermit thought that a rude remark, though it +was quite like one that he had made himself but a few moments before. He +drew himself up stiffly and said that he didn't care to talk with Bobby +Bobolink any further. "You know," he added, "we haven't been +introduced." + +Somehow that amused Bobby. Before he knew what he was doing he had +laughed aloud. And the moment he laughed he felt so happy once more that +he couldn't help singing. So he started right in the middle of a song, +where it was the liveliest. And finding, when he had finished, that he +hadn't exploded, but felt better for the effort, he never paid any more +heed to the Hermit's solemn warning. + +As for the Hermit, he went straight off to the other side of Cedar Swamp +to live. He claimed that he simply had to have quiet. And there was no +such thing, with Bobby Bobolink around. + + + + +XXII + +A NOISY QUARREL + + +One odd thing marked Bobby Bobolink's flights. He never flew in a +straight course, as old Mr. Crow did, but darted this way and that, +crossing and turning and wheeling, until it seemed sometimes--to +onlookers--that he was sure to skid into a tree and meet with an +accident. And usually Bobby Bobolink would sing with such zest +while he was frisking about in the air that it was a marvel to +many how he could do two things like that, at the same time, and +yet put so much life into each. + +Old Mr. Crow claimed that the reason why Bobby Bobolink didn't fly +straight was because he had his mind too much on his singing. + +"He's nothing but a music-box with wings," Mr. Crow often croaked. "As a +flier he couldn't even beat crazy Benjamin Bat." + +It was the general opinion that Benjamin Bat could make a longer journey +between two points than anybody else in Pleasant Valley. And there were +some that disputed Mr. Crow's statement. Jasper Jay even went out of his +way to tell Mr. Crow that he had heard of his remark, and that he was +mistaken. And they had such a wrangle that they annoyed Mr. Hermit +Thrush, way over on the other side of Cedar Swamp. Old Mr. Crow and +Jasper Jay were cousins. And everybody knows that there is nothing +worse than a cousinly quarrel. + +In order to quiet them, the Hermit left his mossy retreat, in a dense +thicket, found the two cousins, and asked them, "What are you two +quarrelling about now?" + +Neither Jasper Jay nor Mr. Crow was noted for his gentlemanly manners. +They both tried to explain at the same time. And it made the Hermit +wince to listen to their loud, harsh voices. He was himself a quiet +bird; his voice was very sweet. + +"There's only one way to settle your dispute," the Hermit said when the +two cousins had succeeded in making their trouble clear. "You must +arrange a race between this Bobolink person and Benjamin Bat." + +"Impossible! You don't know what you're talking about!" Jasper Jay and +Mr. Crow both cried at the same time. + +The Hermit shuddered. He was not accustomed to such language. It hurt +his gentle nature to be spoken to like that. But he managed to stay +there while the cousins told him that such a race as he had suggested +couldn't be arranged, because Benjamin Bat was always asleep in the +daytime, and Bobby Bobolink took his rest at night. The two could +never meet. + +"Perhaps," said the Hermit, "I could persuade Benjamin Bat to change his +habits for once. Maybe he would be willing to stay awake some day, just +to oblige me." + +"Bobby Bobolink is an obliging fellow," Jasper Jay remarked. "Why don't +you ask him to stay awake some night?" + +But the Hermit said that that wouldn't suit him at all. "The Bobolink +person would be sure to sing his most boisterous song," he said, "and it +would wake me up and spoil my night's sleep. Let me speak to Benjamin +Bat!" he urged the two cousins. + +And in the end they let him have his way. + + + + +XXIII + +SLEEPY BENJAMIN BAT + + +LEAVING the two noisy cousins (Jasper Jay and old Mr. Crow) Mr. Hermit +Thrush hurried back across Cedar Swamp and went straight to an old +hemlock tree, where he knew he would find Benjamin Bat asleep. + +Hanging by his heels head downward from a limb, Benjamin Bat did not +hear the Hermit speak to him until that soft-spoken gentleman had called +to him several times. + +But at last Benjamin Bat opened his eyes and stared around in a +bewildered fashion. It was broad daylight. And he couldn't see +what had disturbed him. He seemed somewhat alarmed too, until +the Hermit said, "Don't be frightened! It's only I!" + +Well, Benjamin Bat knew right away that nobody but the Hermit would +speak in just that way. And he was much relieved to know that it wasn't +Solomon Owl that had awakened him. + +"I'm glad you roused me," he said, "though generally I hate to have my +sleep broken. But just now I was having a nightmare. I was dreaming that +a monstrous Katydid was chasing me. And if you hadn't called to me I +don't know what would have happened.... I think," he added, "I must have +dined too heartily--on Katydids--last night." + +The Hermit couldn't help looking a bit shocked. He had never approved of +Benjamin Bat, who prowled about at night when all respectable people +were at home and asleep. And as for over-eating, that was something the +Hermit wouldn't think of doing. But if he must choose between Benjamin +Bat and Bobby Bobolink for a neighbor, of the two the Hermit preferred +Benjamin Bat, because Benjamin was always asleep in the daytime, while +at night he never disturbed the Hermit's rest. + +"I've come to ask a favor of you," Mr. Hermit Thrush explained. "Perhaps +you don't know there's a noisy nuisance hereabouts who calls himself +Bobby Bobolink?" + +"I do," Benjamin Bat admitted. "But I've never seen him--nor even heard +him." + +"Then you are a sound sleeper indeed," the Hermit observed. "He's always +a-jingling and a-jangling." + +"That sounds as if he might be a bell," Benjamin Bat remarked. + +"He's a bird," the Hermit explained. And then he proceeded to tell +Benjamin Bat how Mr. Crow and Jasper Jay had quarrelled because +Mr. Crow said that Bobby Bobolink couldn't beat Benjamin Bat in +a race, while Jasper Jay claimed that he could. "What I'd like +you to do is to have a race with Bobby Bobolink to-morrow," the +Hermit announced. + +But Benjamin Bat shook his head. + +"It doesn't interest me," he said. "Let Mr. Crow and Jasper Jay quarrel +all they want to!" + +And before the Hermit had time to coax him to change his mind, Benjamin +Bat fell fast asleep. Nor could the Hermit rouse him again. + + +THE END + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Bobby Bobolink, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF BOBBY BOBOLINK *** + +***** This file should be named 21412.txt or 21412.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/4/1/21412/ + +Produced by Joe Longo and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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