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diff --git a/28293.txt b/28293.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5be7db9 --- /dev/null +++ b/28293.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2500 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Jolly Robin, 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 Jolly Robin + +Author: Arthur Scott Bailey + +Illustrator: Harry L. Smith + +Release Date: March 9, 2009 [EBook #28293] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN + + + + +TUCK-ME-IN TALES +(Trademark Registered) + +BY +ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + +AUTHOR OF +SLEEPY-TIME TALES + +(Trademark Registered) + +The Tale of Jolly Robin +The Tale of Old Mr. Crow +The Tale of Solomon Owl +The Tale of Jasper Jay +The Tale of Rusty Wren +The Tale of Daddy Longlegs +The Tale of Kiddie Katydid +The Tale of Buster Bumblebee +The Tale of Freddy Firefly +The Tale of Betsy Butterfly +The Tale of Bobby Bobolink +The Tale or Chirpy Cricket +The Tale of Mrs. Ladybug +The Tale of Reddy Woodpecker +The Tale of Grandmother Goose + + + + +[Illustration: Jolly Robin Asks Jasper Jay About The Sign +Frontispiece--(Page 44)] + + + + +TUCK-ME-IN TALES + +THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN + +BY +ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + +Author of +"SLEEPY-TIME TALES" +(Registered Trademark) + +ILLUSTRATED BY +HARRY L. SMITH + +NEW YORK +GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS + +Made in the United States of America + + + + +Copyright, 1917, by +GROSSET & DUNLAP + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I Nestlings 1 + II Learning to Fly 6 + III The Wide, Wide World 11 + IV What Jolly Did Best 16 + V Laughing for Mr. Crow 21 + VI Tickling a Nose 26 + VII A New Way to Travel 33 + VIII Jolly is Left Behind 38 + IX Jolly's Mistake 43 + X The White Giant 48 + XI What a Snowball Did 53 + XII Jolly Feels Better 57 + XIII The Hermit 64 + XIV One or Two Blunders 69 + XV Lost--A Cousin! 74 + XVI Jealous Jasper Jay 80 + XVII Only a Rooster 86 + XVIII On Top of the Barn 91 + XIX Curious Mr. Crow 96 + XX The Four-Armed Man 101 + XXI A Doleful Ditty 107 + XXII Shocking Manners 112 + XXIII A Cold Greeting 117 + + + + +THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN + + + + +I + +NESTLINGS + + +Of course, there was a time, once, when Jolly Robin was just a +nestling himself. With two brothers and one sister--all of them, like +him, much spotted with black--he lived in a house in one of Farmer +Green's apple trees. + +The house was made of grass and leaves, plastered on the inside with +mud, and lined with softer, finer grass, which his mother had chosen +with the greatest care. + +But Jolly never paid much attention to his first home. What +interested him more than anything else was food. From dawn till dark, +he was always _cheeping_ for something to eat. And since the other +children were just as hungry as he was, those four growing babies kept +their parents busy finding food for them. It was then that Jolly Robin +learned to like angleworms. And though he ate greedily of insects and +bugs, as well as wild berries, he liked angleworms best. + +Jolly and his sister and his brothers could always tell when their +father or their mother brought home some dainty, because the moment +the parent lighted upon the limb where the nest was built they could +feel their home sink slightly, from the added weight upon the branch. + +Then the youngsters would set up a loud squalling, with a great +craning of necks and stretching of orange-colored mouths. + +Sometimes, when the dainty was specially big, Mr. or Mrs. Robin would +say, "_Cuck! cuck!_" That meant "Open wide!" But they seldom found it +necessary to give that order. + +Somehow, Jolly Robin managed to eat more than the rest of the +nestlings. And so he grew faster than the others. He soon learned a +few tricks, too. For instance, if Mrs. Robin happened to be sitting on +the nest, to keep her family warm, when Mr. Robin returned with a +lunch for the children, Jolly had a trick that he played on his +mother, in case she didn't move off the nest fast enough to suit him. + +He would whisper to the rest of the children. And then they would +jostle their fond parent, lifting her up above them, and sometimes +almost upsetting her, so that she had hard work to keep from falling +off the nest. + +Mrs. Robin did not like that trick very well. But she knew that Jolly +would not annoy her with it long. Indeed, he was only eleven days old +when he left his birthplace and went out into the wide world. + +You see, the young folk grew so fast that they soon more than filled +the house. So there was nothing their parents could do but persuade +them to leave home and learn to fly. + +One day, therefore, Mr. Robin did not bring his children's food to the +edge of the nest and drop it into their mouths. Instead, he stood on +the limb a little distance away from them and showed them a plump +angleworm. + +The sight of that dainty was more than Jolly Robin could resist. He +scrambled boldly out of the nest; and tottering up to his father on +his wobbling legs, he snatched the tempting morsel out of his proud +parent's bill. + +Jolly never went back to the nest after that. The next day Mrs. Robin +coaxed the other children from home in the same fashion. And though it +may seem a heartless act, it was really the best thing that could have +happened to Jolly and his sister and his brothers. + +You see, they had to learn to fly. And so long as they stayed in the +nest they could never learn a difficult feat like flying. + + + + +II + +LEARNING TO FLY + + +After Jolly Robin had gulped down the fat angleworm with which his +father had coaxed him to leave the nest, he clung desperately to the +limb. With no food in sight he had plenty of time to look about him +and to be alarmed. + +The day was not gone before he had a great fright. He tumbled out of +the apple tree and fell squawking and fluttering upon the ground. + +Luckily, his mother happened to be at home. She went to Jolly at once +and told him not to be afraid. + +"Nothing will hurt you," she said, "if you'll only keep still. But if +you squall like that, the cat will find you." + +It may seem strange, but his mother's words frightened Jolly all the +more. They scared him so thoroughly that he stopped making a noise, +anyhow. And that was how he learned never to talk when he was on the +ground near a house where a cat might live. + +"Now," said Jolly's mother, as soon as he was still, "I'll teach you a +new game. Just watch me!" And spreading her wings, she flapped them, +and sprang into the air. + +Soon Jolly was trying to imitate her. And it was not long before he +found himself gliding a short distance, skimming along just off the +ground. + +But in spite of all his efforts, he couldn't help falling again. +Though his mother tried to show him how to fly into a tree-top, Jolly +Robin seemed unable to learn the trick. + +At last Mr. Robin said to his wife: + +"I'll teach him the rest. You've made a good beginning. But he must +learn more at once. There's no telling when the cat may come into the +orchard to hunt for field-mice. And you know what would happen then." + +His wife shuddered. But Mr. Robin told her not to worry. + +"I'll soon have this youngster so he can fly as well as anybody," he +declared. + +So he went and hopped about on the ground with Jolly for a little +while, showing him how to find worms beneath the grass carpet of the +orchard. + +And then, in a loud voice, Mr. Robin suddenly cried: + +"The cat! The cat!" And he flew into an old tree near-by. + +Jolly Robin had never seen Farmer Green's cat. But he had heard that +she was a dreadful, fierce creature. And when his father shouted her +name Jolly was so startled that he forgot he didn't quite know how to +fly. Before he knew what he was doing, he followed his father right up +into the old apple tree and perched himself on a low branch. + +That was the way he learned to fly, for he never had the least trouble +about it afterward. And as soon as he realized that he had actually +flown from the ground to the bough he was so pleased that he began to +laugh merrily. + +As for the cat, she was not in the orchard at all. Indeed, Jolly's +father had not said that she was. You see, he had played a joke on his +son. + +Now, up to that time Jolly Robin had not been named. You must +remember that he was not two weeks old. And having three other +children of the same age, his parents had not been able to think of +names for all of them. + +But this big youngster laughed so heartily that his father named him +"Jolly," on the spot. And "Jolly" he remained ever afterward. + + + + +III + +THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD + + +After he learned to fly, Jolly Robin's father took him into the woods +to spend each night in a roost where there were many other young +robins, whose fathers had likewise brought them there. + +Jolly learned a great deal from being with so many new friends. It was +not long before he could find plenty of food for himself, without help +from anyone. + +He discovered, too, that there was safety in numbers. For example, if +Jasper Jay made too great a nuisance of himself by bullying a young +robin, a mob of robins could easily put Jasper to flight. + +"_Always help other people!_" That was a motto that all the youngsters +had to learn. And another was this: "_Follow your father's lead!_" + +Later in the season, in October, when the robin cousins and uncles and +aunts and sisters and brothers and all the rest of the relations made +their long journey to their winter homes in the South, Jolly found +that there was a good reason for such rules. If he hadn't followed his +father then he might have lost his way, because--since it was the +first time he had ever been out of Pleasant Valley--he knew nothing +whatever about travelling. + +He looked forward with much interest to the journey, for as the days +grew shorter he heard a great deal of talk about the trip among his +elders. And while he was waiting for the day when they should leave he +became acquainted with many new and delicious morsels to eat. He +roamed about picking wild grapes, mulberries and elderberries. And he +did not scorn a large, green katydid when he chanced to find one. + +There was always some new dainty to be sampled; though as the weather +grew colder Jolly began to understand that in winter Pleasant Valley +would not be so fine a place to live. + +However, he managed to find food enough so that he continued to grow +rapidly. The night after he found a mountain ash on a hillside, full +of bright red berries, his father said that he seemed much taller than +he had been that morning. + +"You must have eaten a great many of those berries," said Mr. Robin. + +"Well, I notice one thing," Jolly observed. "My waistcoat is fast +losing its black spots. And it's redder than it was. The red berries +certainly colored it in some way." + +Mr. Robin replied that he had never heard of such a thing happening. +He looked curiously at his son's waistcoat. + +"It _does_ seem to look different," he said. "It's brighter than it +was." + +Really, that was only because Jolly was fast growing up. But neither +he nor his father stopped to think of that. And since Jolly had +learned that motto, "_Follow your father's lead_," he thought his +waistcoat ought to be just as red as old Mr. Robin's was. + +So Jolly visited the mountain ash each day and fairly stuffed himself +with the bright red fruit. + +It did him no harm, anyhow. And he enjoyed eating it. + +And the next spring, when Jolly Robin returned to Pleasant Valley, +after spending the winter in the South, there was not a redder +waistcoat than his in all the neighborhood. + + + + +IV + +WHAT JOLLY DID BEST + + +Jolly Robin had something on his mind. For several days he had been +turning a certain matter over in his head. But in spite of all his +thinking, he seemed unable to find any answer to the question that was +troubling him. So at last he decided he would have to ask somebody to +help him. + +And that was why Jolly stopped Jimmy Rabbit near the garden one day. + +"I want your advice," he told Jimmy Rabbit. + +"Certainly!" that young gentleman replied. And he sat himself down +upon his wheelbarrow and looked very earnest. "If it's anything about +gardening," he said, "I should advise you to raise cabbages, by all +means." + +But Jolly Robin said he wasn't thinking of planting a garden. + +"In fact," he explained, "the trouble is, I don't know what to do. I'd +like to have some regular work, you know. And since you've had a good +deal of experience, having run a tooth-pulling parlor, a barber-shop, +and a shoe-store, I thought you might be able to tell me what would be +a good business for me to take up." + +For a few minutes Jimmy Rabbit did not speak. But he nodded his head +wisely. + +"Let me see!" he said at last. "What's the thing you do best?" + +Jolly Robin replied at once that he thought he could fly better than +he could do anything else. And he felt so happy, because he was sure +Jimmy Rabbit was going to help him, that he began to laugh gaily. And +he couldn't help singing a snatch of a new song he had heard that +morning. And then he laughed again. + +"You're mistaken," Jimmy Rabbit said to him. "You fly well enough, I +dare say. But there are others who can beat you at flying.... No!" he +declared. "What you can do better than anybody I know is to _laugh_. +And if I were you I should make laughing my regular business." + +That idea struck Jolly Robin as being so funny that he laughed harder +than ever. And Jimmy Rabbit nodded his head again, as if to say, "I'm +right and I know it!" + +At last Jolly Robin stopped laughing long enough to ask Jimmy to +explain how anyone could make a business of laughing. "I don't see how +it could be done," said Jolly Robin. + +"Why--it's simple enough!" Jimmy told him. "All you need do is to find +somebody who will hire you to laugh for him. There are people, you +know, who find it very difficult to laugh. I should think they'd be +glad to pay somebody to do their laughing for them." + +"Name someone!" Jolly Robin urged him. + +And Jimmy Rabbit did. + +"There's old Mr. Crow!" he said. "You know how solemn he is. It's +positively painful to hear him try to laugh at a joke. I'm sure he +would be delighted with this idea. And if I were you I'd see him +before somebody else does." + +Jolly Robin looked puzzled. + +"Who would ever think of such a thing but you?" he asked. + +"Nobody!" Jimmy Rabbit replied. "But I like the scheme so well that I +almost wish I hadn't mentioned it. And unless you make your bargain +with old Mr. Crow at once I may decide to go into the laughing +business myself.... My advice to you," he said, "is to hurry!" + +So Jolly Robin thanked him. And then he flew away to find old Mr. +Crow. + +Of course, he went to the cornfield first. + + + + +V + +LAUGHING FOR MR. CROW + + +Sure enough! old Mr. Crow was in the cornfield. And though he was +feeling somewhat peevish that morning, because a coon had disturbed +his rest the night before, he listened to what Jolly Robin had to +say. + +"I've come to ask you a question," Jolly told him. "I've decided to go +into business--the laughing business. And I want to inquire if you +wouldn't like to engage me to do your laughing for you." + +Well, that struck old Mr. Crow as being very funny. He forgot all +about his loss of sleep. And his eye twinkled quite merrily. He tried +to laugh, too; but it was a pitiful attempt--no more than a hoarse +cackle, which was, as Jimmy Rabbit had said, positively painful. Old +Mr. Crow seemed to realize that he was making a very queer sound. He +hastily turned his laugh into a cough and pretended that he had a +kernel of corn stuck in his throat. + +"What are your prices?" he asked Jolly Robin. "Are you going to charge +by the day or by the laugh?" + +"Just as you prefer!" Jolly answered. + +"Well, I'll have to think about it," old Mr. Crow told him. "It's a +question that I wouldn't care to decide in a hurry. If I paid you by +the day you might not laugh at all. And if I paid you by the laugh you +might laugh all the time.... It would be pretty expensive, either way. +And I don't believe I'd like that." + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Jolly Robin then. "I'll stay with +you one day for nothing. And we'll see how the arrangement suits us." + +That suggestion pleased Mr. Crow. + +"Agreed!" he said quickly. "And now," he added, "you may laugh for me, +because I am quite delighted." + +So Jolly Robin laughed happily. And old Mr. Crow remarked that it was +a _fair_ laugh, though not so loud as he would have liked. + +"I'll do better next time," Jolly assured him. + +"Good!" said Mr. Crow. "And now, since I've finished my breakfast, +we'll go over to the woods and see what's going on there this +morning." + +The first person they saw in the woods was Peter Mink. He was fishing +for trout in Broad Brook. And old Mr. Crow, as soon as he spied him, +sang out: + +"How many of Farmer Green's fish have you eaten this morning?" + +Peter Mink was just crawling out of the water, with a fish in his +mouth. When he heard Mr. Crow calling to him, he dropped his trout +upon a rock and looked up quickly. + +"How much of Farmer Green's corn have you stolen for your breakfast?" +he cried. + +At that Jolly Robin began to laugh. But Mr. Crow stopped him quickly. + +"Don't laugh!" the old gentleman squawked. "There's nothing to laugh +at, so far as I can see." + +So Jolly managed to smother his laughter, for he noticed that Mr. Crow +was angry. + +"You'll have to be careful," Mr. Crow warned him. "You mustn't laugh +at the wrong time, you know." + +"I'll do my best," Jolly Robin promised. And he could see already that +old Mr. Crow was going to be hard to please. + + + + +VI + +TICKLING A NOSE + + +Old Mr. Crow did not want to stay near the brook to talk with Peter +Mink. Calling to Jolly Robin to follow him, he flapped his way to the +edge of the woods and sat in a tree overlooking the pasture. + +"Here comes Tommy Fox!" Mr. Crow exclaimed. "We ought to have some fun +with him. So when it's time for you to laugh for me, don't forget to +laugh loudly." + +"I'll remember," Jolly promised him. And just by way of practice he +chirruped so merrily that Tommy Fox pricked up his ears and came +bounding up to the tree where Jolly and Mr. Crow were sitting. + +"Good morning!" Mr. Crow cried to Tommy. "Is that a hen's feather +that's stuck behind your ear?" he asked very solemnly. + +"No!" said Tommy Fox. "It's a crow's; and I certainly had a fine +breakfast." + +Now, Jolly Robin wasn't quite sure whether he ought to laugh or not. +And then Tommy winked at him. So Jolly thought there must be a joke +somewhere and he began to chirrup as loudly as he could. + +"For pity's sake, keep still!" old Mr. Crow snapped. + +"But you wanted me to laugh louder," Jolly reminded him. + +"Yes," said Mr. Crow--"when there's anything to laugh at." + +"But didn't Tommy Fox make a joke?" Jolly Robin asked. + +"A very poor one!" old Mr. Crow replied. "A very poor joke, indeed!... +I see," he added, "I see you've not had much experience laughing for +people. And here's where you make a mistake. You laugh at _other +people's_ jokes, which is all wrong. After this you must laugh at _my_ +jokes--do you understand?" + +Jolly Robin said he understood. And Mr. Crow remarked that he was glad +there would be no more trouble. + +"And now," the old fellow said, "now we'll go over to the swamp, where +Uncle Sammy Coon lives. We ought to have some fun with him." + +So over to the swamp they flew, where they found Uncle Sammy Coon +sunning himself in the top of a tall hemlock. + +"How-dy-do!" said Mr. Crow. + +But Uncle Sammy Coon did not answer. + +"We're in luck!" Mr. Crow said with a chuckle. "I declare, I believe +the old beggar's asleep. Just watch me play a practical joke on him!" + +So Mr. Crow lighted on a branch near Uncle Sammy Coon and began +tickling his nose. + +Pretty soon Uncle Sammy Coon sneezed. And when that happened, Mr. Crow +jumped back quickly. But Uncle Sammy didn't awake--at least, he didn't +open his eyes. So Mr. Crow tickled his nose again. + +Now, old Mr. Crow was so amused that he glanced at Jolly Robin, to see +if he was watching. And in that instant when Mr. Crow looked away, +Uncle Sammy Coon leaped at him. He caught Mr. Crow by the tail, too. + +The old gentleman set up a great din. He squawked, "Help! help!" at +the top of his voice and flapped his broad wings. + +The struggle was over in a moment. By a great effort Mr. Crow broke +away, leaving one of his tail-feathers with Uncle Sammy Coon, and flew +into another tree near-by. + +Then Jolly Robin laughed as if he would never stop. He thought that it +must be the proper time to laugh, because Mr. Crow had said he was +going to play a joke on Uncle Sammy. + +Mr. Crow, however, seemed to think differently about the matter. + +"Do keep quiet!" he cried. "There's nothing to laugh at, so far as I +can see." + +"But you said you were going to play a joke on Uncle Sammy Coon, +didn't you?" Jolly inquired. + +"Yes!" Mr. Crow replied. "But it's no joke to lose a tail-feather. And +I wouldn't think of laughing at what just happened.... Besides," he +continued, "your laughter is altogether wrong. What you must try to +do is to laugh _very sadly_. In fact," he added, "I wouldn't mind if +you shed a few tears, because I feel quite upset over this unfortunate +accident." + +Well, Jolly Robin saw at once that it was impossible for him to please +Mr. Crow. + +"My laughter," he said, "is always merry. I couldn't laugh sadly, no +matter how hard I might try. And as for shedding tears, I couldn't +weep for you even if you lost all your tail-feathers, Mr. Crow." + +"Then you may leave at once!" Mr. Crow cried, just as if Farmer +Green's pasture belonged to him. + +"Yes!" Jolly Robin answered. "I may--and then again, I may not!" + +And since he stayed right there and laughed, old Mr. Crow himself flew +away. It was a long while, too, before he could bear to hear people +laugh. For he thought they must be laughing at him, because he had +lost a tail-feather. + +And perhaps that was what amused Jolly Robin, though I never thought +of that before. + + + + +VII + +A NEW WAY TO TRAVEL + + +The time had come when Jolly Robin was ready to begin his long journey +to the South, for it was growing quite cold. On some days there was no +sun at all. And even when the weather was fair the sun rose late and +went to bed early. It was exactly the sort of weather Jolly Robin did +not like. + +"No doubt you'll be leaving us soon," Jasper Jay remarked to Jolly one +day, when the two chanced to meet in Farmer Green's woods, where the +beeches grew. + +"I expect to start to-morrow," Jolly Robin answered with a short +laugh. The mere thought of his warm, light-flooded winter home in the +Southland made him feel glad. + +"Well, well!" Jasper Jay exclaimed. "I'm glad I happened to see you, +for I know of a new way to travel." + +And Jolly Robin wanted to know all about it. + +"If it's a better way than the old, I'll be pleased to try it," he +said. + +"Oh! it's much better," Jasper told him. "If I hadn't made up my mind +to spend the winter in Pleasant Valley, I'd go the new way myself. But +the beechnut crop is good this fall. So I shall stay right here to +enjoy it." + +"Tell me how we're to go, if you please!" Jolly Robin urged him. + +"We?" said Jasper. "You don't mean to say you are going with a +_crowd_, do you?" + +"Why, yes!" Jolly Robin replied. "All the Robins are leaving +to-morrow. And I had intended to go with them." + +Jasper Jay shook his head. + +"Take my advice and don't do any such thing," he said. "You'll find it +quieter travelling alone. And though you may not know it, it's the +fashionable thing to do." + +Jolly Robin laughed when Jasper said that. + +"But I'm not a fashionable person!" he exclaimed. + +"Then you should become one," Jasper told him. "Besides, the new way +is _easier_, as well as more stylish. But if you're _afraid_ to try +something new, of course I wouldn't think of urging you." + +"I'm not afraid!" Jolly Robin cried. "And if you'll only tell me what +I'm to do, I promise you I'll do it!" + +"Good!" said Jasper Jay. "Meet me here day after to-morrow and I'll +start you on your journey. I can't explain anything now, because I +must hurry over to the woods at once, where my cousin, Mr. Crow, is +waiting for me." Then he flew away, screaming a loud good-by as he +went. + +So Jolly Robin hastened back to the orchard, to find his wife and tell +her what he had decided to do. + +He had no difficulty at all in finding her. But he had no end of +trouble trying to persuade her to travel with him the new way, instead +of going along with the crowd in the good, old-fashioned style. In +fact, she raised so many objections, saying how lonely it would be and +how dangerous it was to travel in a small party and that she didn't +want to be fashionable--she raised so many objections that at last +Jolly Robin said very well! she might do as she pleased. But as for +him, _he_ was going to meet Jasper Jay just as he had promised. And +since the new way was easier, he expected to reach their winter home +long before she arrived, even if he did start a day later. + +But he was disappointed, all the same. And he kept up such a constant +laughing and joking all the rest of that day that his wife knew he +must be feeling quite out of sorts. + +For that was a way Jolly Robin had. The worse he felt, the happier he +always acted. And it was not a bad way, either. + + + + +VIII + +JOLLY IS LEFT BEHIND + + +All of Jolly Robin's friends and relations were greatly surprised when +they saw him bidding his wife and children good-by, on the day the +Robin family started from Pleasant Valley for their winter home in the +South. + +"What's this?" they cried. "Aren't you coming with us?" + +And Jolly Robin laughed and said to them gaily: + +"Not to-day! But you'll find me waiting for you when you reach your +journey's end." + +His wife, however, shook her head. + +"It's one of his queer notions--his and Jasper Jay's," she explained. + +"Tut, tut!" her husband said. And he chucked her under the chin--and +winked at his friends. + +There was no time to say anything more, for everyone was eager to +start. So the travellers called good-by to Jolly, while he waved a +farewell to them. + +It was not many minutes before he was the only member of the Robin +family left in Pleasant Valley. He felt very lonely, all at once. And +he wanted to hurry after the others. But he knew what Jasper Jay would +say, if he did. Jasper would be sure to tell people that Jolly Robin +was _afraid_ to travel a new way.... Of course, Jolly didn't want that +to be said about him. So he looked as cheerful as he could; and he +whistled the merriest tune he knew. Nobody--except his wife, +maybe--would have guessed that he wasn't perfectly happy. + +Jolly spent a very lonely night. When he went to the roost where the +whole Robin family had been sleeping for several weeks, he found it +distressingly silent, after the gay chatter that he had grown +accustomed to hearing there. And try as he would, he could not keep +just a hint of sadness out of his good-night song. + +But in the morning he felt better. And he welcomed the dawn with a +carol that was joyous enough for anybody. For this was the day when +Jasper Jay was going to show him the new way to travel. Yes! he, too, +would soon be hurrying southwards, where the sun was warm. + +It was no wonder that he sang, "_Cheerily-cheerup, cheerily-cheerup_," +right merrily. + +As soon as he had eaten his breakfast, Jolly went to the place where +the beeches grew, to find Jasper Jay. And Jasper was there, just +finishing his own breakfast. But he was too busy, he said, to bother +with Jolly Robin just then. + +"You meet me in the orchard this afternoon," he said, "when the sun's +over the mountain, and I'll start you on your journey." + +So Jolly Robin had to wait all the long day, while Jasper Jay did a +hundred silly things, such as mocking Farmer Green's cat, and teasing +a sleepy young owl, and making the woods echo with his hoarse screams. +Jasper was late, too, in keeping his appointment in the orchard. Jolly +Robin waited for him until almost sunset before Jasper Jay appeared. +But Jolly was so glad to see Jasper that he never once thought of +being angry with him. + +"Come along!" said the blue-coated rascal. "Follow me and you'll soon +learn the new way to the South. And if it isn't a good one I hope I'll +never eat another beechnut." + +Jolly Robin laughed. He was sure, then, that he had nothing to worry +about. For everybody knew that Jasper Jay was specially fond of +beechnuts. + + + + +IX + +JOLLY'S MISTAKE + + +With Jolly Robin following close behind him, Jasper Jay flew directly +to the crossroads, almost half-way to the village. Once there, he +perched himself upon the sign-post at the four corners. And Jolly +Robin seated himself upon one of the boards that were nailed to the +post. + +"Here we are!" said Jasper Jay. "You see how easy it is." + +"When will the post begin to move?" Jolly Robin inquired, a bit +anxiously. He had waited a whole day to begin his long journey to the +South, so it was only natural that he should want to start at once. + +"What's that you say?" asked Jasper Jay. And when Jolly repeated his +question, Jasper began to scream with laughter. "Well, that's a good +one!" he said at last. "So you thought the post was going to pull +itself out of the ground and fly away with you, did you?" + +"Why, yes!" Jolly Robin replied. "Aren't these _wings_?" he asked, +looking down at the boards. "They're already spread," he observed. + +It was some minutes before Jasper Jay could answer him, for he was +laughing again. But finally he managed to speak. + +"Those aren't wings!" he cried. "They're sign-boards, to tell you +which road to take. Of course, you can't expect to read a sign when +you're sitting on it. Just go over to the fence across the road and +you can see the sign that you're on now." + +So Jolly Robin fluttered over to the fence. And from there he could +see the sign-board plainly. This is what it looked like: + + TO SKY POND, 15 MILES + +"There!" Jasper Jay cried, when Jolly had read the sign aloud. "You +see how easy it is. All you need do is to follow this road to which +the hand points." + +"Then I shall have to fly, after all," Jolly Robin said. He had +expected to have a ride. And naturally he was disappointed. Then he +read the sign once more. "Sky Pond!" he exclaimed. "I don't want to go +to Sky Pond. I want to go to the South!" + +"Well, Sky Pond's south of Pleasant Valley," Jasper Jay explained. +"It's right on your way to your winter home. And all you have to do +when you reach Sky Pond will be to find another sign, which ought to +say something like this: 'To the South, one thousand miles.' You see +how simple it is," Jasper Jay remarked. "With a sign-board to guide +you, you can't go wrong." + +But it seemed to Jolly that the new way of travelling was far more +difficult than the old. He said as much to Jasper Jay, too. "I +wish----" he added--"I wish I had started yesterday, with the +others." + +At that Jasper Jay said, "Nonsense!" And he muttered something about +dunces, and mollycoddles, and--yes! _'fraid-cats!_ + +Perhaps Jasper hadn't intended that Jolly Robin should hear those +words--and perhaps he had. Anyhow, he was sorry afterward that he had +spoken so loud. For the first thing he knew, Jolly Robin flew straight +at him with shrill chirps of rage. And Jasper was so surprised--and +frightened, too--that he flew off as fast as he could go, following +the road that led to Sky Pond, fifteen miles away, with Jolly Robin +after him. + +Jolly chased him for a long time, until at last Jasper Jay swerved to +one side and turned toward home. + +But Jolly Robin followed him no longer. He kept straight on, and on, +and on. And he flew so fast and so far before he stopped that he +overtook the party that had started a whole day ahead of him. + +So he travelled to his winter home in the old-fashioned way, after +all. And though Jolly Robin laughed when he told his friends about +Jasper Jay's new style of travelling, there was one thing over which +he could not smile, even then. + +You see, "'fraid-cat" was a name he couldn't abide. + + + + +X + +THE WHITE GIANT + + +It was a raw March day when Jolly Robin returned to Pleasant Valley +one spring. There had just been a heavy fall of snow--big, wet flakes +which Farmer Green called "sugar-snow," though it was no sweeter than +any other. Johnnie Green liked that kind of snow because it made the +best snowballs. And he had had a fine time playing in the orchard near +the farmhouse, not long before Jolly Robin appeared there. + +Now, the orchard was the place where Jolly Robin and his wife had had +their nest the summer before. So it was natural that he should want +to go there at once and look about a bit. + +He perched himself on a bare limb, where he sang "_Cheerily-cheerup_" +a few times, in spite of the snow and the cold, whistling wind. He +knew that the weather would grow warmer soon; and he was glad to be in +Pleasant Valley once more, though he had to confess to himself that he +liked the orchard better when the grass was green and the trees were +gay with apple-blossoms. + +"It's really a beautiful place for a home," he told himself. "I don't +wonder that Farmer Green likes to live near the orchard. And now I'll +just go over to the house and see if I can't get a peep at him and his +wife and his boy, Johnnie--and the hired-man, too." + +So Jolly Robin jumped off the bough and started through the frosty air +toward the farmhouse. But all at once he saw a sight that sent him +darting into a tree. He hid there for a while and something made him +shiver--something besides the cold wind. + +Yes! Jolly Robin was the least bit frightened. For he had caught a +glimpse of a strange man. It was neither Farmer Green nor his +hired-man, for this was a giant. He had big, black eyes and a great +lump of a nose, which stuck out queerly from his pale moon-face. He +was dressed all in white, except for a battered, old, black hat, which +he wore tipped over one eye. In one hand he held a stick. And it +seemed to Jolly Robin that the queer man was just about to hurl it at +something. + +In spite of his uneasiness, Jolly peeped around his tree and watched +the stranger. But he did not throw the stick. He stood quite still and +seemed to be waiting. And Jolly Robin waited, too, and stared at +him. + +"Maybe there's a squirrel hiding behind a tree," he said to himself. +"Perhaps this man in white is going to throw the stick as soon as the +squirrel shows himself." + +But no squirrel appeared. And Jolly Robin was just about to start for +the farmhouse again when he saw somebody pop out of the woodshed door +and come running toward the orchard. + +"Here's Johnnie Green!" Jolly exclaimed. He knew Johnnie at once, +because neither Farmer Green nor the hired-man ever went hopping and +skipping about like that. + +Pretty soon Jolly saw Johnnie Green stop and make an armful of +snowballs. And then he went straight toward the stranger in white. +Though Johnnie began to shout, the man in white did not even turn his +head. And then Johnnie Green shied a snowball at him. + +The snowball sailed through the air and struck the stranger's battered +hat, knocking it off into the snow. And, of course, Jolly Robin +couldn't help laughing. He was more surprised than ever, too, because +the moon-faced man did not move even then. Anyone else would have +wheeled about and chased Johnnie Green. But this odd gentleman didn't +seem to know that his hat had been knocked off. + +"That's queer!" said Jolly Robin to himself. "He must be asleep. But I +should think he would wake up." + +While Jolly was wondering, Johnnie Green threw another snowball. And +when it struck the stranger a very peculiar thing happened. + +And Jolly Robin did not laugh. He was too frightened to do anything +but gasp. + + + + +XI + +WHAT A SNOWBALL DID + + +Jolly Robin was too frightened to laugh when he saw Johnnie Green's +second snowball strike the moon-faced stranger in the orchard. You +see, the snowball hit one of the stranger's arms. And to Jolly's +amazement, the arm at once dropped off and dashed upon the ground, +breaking into a dozen pieces. + +That alone was enough to startle Jolly Robin. But the moon-faced man +paid not the slightest attention to the accident. There was something +ghostly in the way he stood there, all in white, never moving, never +once saying a word. + +But Johnnie Green did not seem frightened at all. He set up a great +shouting and began to let fly his snowballs as fast as he could throw +them. + +They did not all find the mark. But the very last one struck the +silent stranger squarely upon his left ear. And to Jolly Robin's +horror, his head toppled off and fell horridly at his feet. + +Jolly Robin fully expected the man in white to turn and chase Johnnie +Green then--or at least to hurl his stick at Johnnie. But nothing of +the sort happened. And Jolly did not wait for anything more. He felt +that he had seen quite enough. So he flew away to the shelter of the +woods, to find somebody to whom he could talk and tell of the strange +thing that had happened in the orchard. + +Over in the woods Jolly was lucky enough to meet Jimmy Rabbit, who +was always very friendly toward him. And as soon as he had inquired +about Jimmy Rabbit's health (they had not seen each other since the +previous fall, you know), Jolly related how he had seen Johnnie Green +knock off the head of the man in the orchard. + +"And the man never paid the slightest heed to what happened," said +Jolly Robin. "He had a stick in his hand; but he didn't throw it." + +"There's nothing queer about that," Jimmy Rabbit remarked. "How could +he see where to throw his stick, when he had no head?" + +But Jolly Robin could not answer that question. And he looked more +puzzled than ever. + +"I don't understand it," he said with a shake of his own head. "The +whole affair was very odd. I'm afraid I shall not care to live in the +orchard this summer, especially if there's a headless man there! For +how can he ever see to leave the orchard?" + +It was Jimmy Rabbit's turn to look puzzled, for that was a question +that he couldn't answer. + +"Maybe there is something queer about this case," he said. "I'll go +over to the orchard to-morrow and take a look at that headless +stranger and see what I think about him. If you'll meet me here we can +go together." + +Now, Jolly Robin had almost decided that he would never go near the +orchard again. But he felt that if he went with Jimmy Rabbit there +ought not to be much danger. So he agreed to Jimmy's suggestion. + +"I'll be here before the morning's gone," he promised. + + + + +XII + +JOLLY FEELS BETTER + + +Jolly Robin awoke at dawn. And he knew at once that the day was going +to be a fine one. Though the sun had not yet peeped above the rim of +the eastern hills, Jolly Robin was sure that there would be plenty of +sunshine a little later. He had many ways of his own for telling the +weather; and he never made a mistake about it. + +Now, it had grown quite warm by the time Jolly Robin went to the woods +late in the morning to meet Jimmy Rabbit. And the snow had melted away +as if by magic. + +"Summer's coming! Summer's coming!" Jolly called joyfully as soon as +Jimmy Rabbit came hopping into sight. "The apple-blossoms will burst +out before we know it." + +"Yes--and the cabbages, too," Jimmy Rabbit replied. "I'm glad the +white giant in the orchard lost his head," he added, "because there's +no telling what he would have done to the cabbages later, if he had +wandered into the garden. He might have eaten every one of them. And I +shouldn't have liked that very well." + +Then they started off together toward the orchard to look at the +headless stranger who had given Jolly Robin such a fright the day +before. Jimmy Rabbit went bounding along with great leaps, while Jolly +Robin flew above him and tried not to go too fast for his long-eared +friend. + +Once in the orchard, Jolly led Jimmy to the spot where he had seen +Johnnie Green knock off the giant's head with the snowball. + +"Here he is!" Jolly Robin whispered--for he was still somewhat afraid +of the giant, in spite of his having lost his head. "He doesn't seem +as big as he was yesterday. And he has dropped the stick that he +carried." + +Jimmy Rabbit stopped short in his tracks and stared at the still +figure under the apple tree. For a few moments he did not speak. + +"That looks to me like _snow_," he said at last. And he crept up to +what was left of the giant and sniffed at him. "It _is_ snow!" he +declared. + +When he heard that, Jolly Robin flew to a low branch just above the +giant. + +"I don't understand it," he said. "There's his head on the ground, +with the big, black eyes. _They_ certainly aren't made of snow." + +"No!" Jimmy Rabbit agreed, as he sniffed at the terrible eyes. +"They're _butternuts_--that's what they are!" + +Well, Jolly Robin was so surprised that he all but tumbled off his +perch. + +"There's his hat--" he continued, as he clung to the limb--"that's a +real hat. It's not made of snow--or butternuts, either." + +"Yes!" Jimmy Rabbit said. "It's a sure-enough hat. Farmer Green wore +it on Sundays for a good many years. I've often seen him starting for +the meeting-house over the hill with this very hat on his head." + +"Then the giant stole it from him!" Jolly Robin cried in great +excitement. + +But Jimmy Rabbit thought differently. + +"It's my opinion--" he said--"it's my opinion that Johnnie Green took +this old hat and put it on the giant's head, after he had made him." + +"Made him!" Jolly Robin repeated. "You don't mean to say that Johnnie +Green could make a giant, do you?" + +"Well, he knows how to make a snow-man--so I've been told," Jimmy +Rabbit replied. "And though I've never seen one before, it's plain +that that's what this creature is." + +Jolly Robin had listened with growing wonder. Spending his winters in +the South, as he did, he had never even heard of a snow-man. + +"Are they dangerous--these snow-men?" he inquired anxiously. + +"This one certainly isn't," Jimmy Rabbit told him. "With his head off, +he can't do any harm. And with the sun shining so warm I should say +that by to-morrow he'll be gone for good. It looks to me as if he +might be the last snow-man of the winter, for I don't believe there'll +be any more snow until next fall." + +"Good!" Jolly Robin cried. "I shall come back to the orchard to live, +after all, just as I had intended." And he felt so happy that he began +to sing. + +"I'm glad I brought you here to see the snow giant," he told Jimmy +Rabbit, when he had finished his song. "But when my wife and I start +to build our summer-house a little later in the spring, I hope you'll +say nothing to her about this affair. It might upset her, you know, if +she knew that a giant lost his head in the orchard--even if he was +made of snow." + +"I understand!" said Jimmy Rabbit. "And I won't mention the matter to +her. You're afraid she might lose _her_ head, I suppose, if she heard +about it." + +Having made a joke, Jimmy Rabbit thought it was a good time for him to +be leaving. So he said good-by and hopped briskly away. + +And Jolly Robin's wife never knew that her husband and Jimmy Rabbit +had a secret that they did not tell her. + +Of course, if they had told her it would have been no secret at all. + + + + +XIII + +THE HERMIT + + +Though Jolly Robin was quite bold for his size, he had a cousin who +was actually shy. This timid relation of Jolly's belonged to the +Hermit Thrush family; and Jolly Robin always spoke of him as "The +Hermit," which was a good name for him, because he never strayed from +the depths of the swamp near Black Creek. At least, he stayed there +all summer long, until the time came for him to go South. + +If Jolly Robin wanted to see this shy cousin, he had to go into the +swamp. For the Hermit never repaid any of Jolly's calls. He was afraid +of Farmer Green and the other people that lived in the farmhouse. +Apple orchards, and gardens and open fields he considered good places +to avoid, because he thought them dangerous. + +"There's no place to live that's quite as safe and pleasant as a +swamp," he often remarked. "I have one brother who prefers an +evergreen thicket, which doesn't make a bad home. And another brother +of mine lives in some bushes near a road. But how he can like such a +dwelling-place as that is more than I can understand." + +Now, there were two things for which this cousin of Jolly Robin's was +noted. He was an exquisite singer; and he always wore a fine, spotted +waistcoat. + +Jolly always admired the Hermit's singing. But he didn't like his +spotted waistcoat at all. + +"That cousin of mine is too much of a dandy," Jolly remarked to his +wife one day. "I'm going to pay him a visit this afternoon. And I +shall speak to him about that waistcoat he's so fond of wearing. It's +well enough for city birds to dress in such finery. But it's a foppish +thing for anybody to wear way up here in the country." + +Jolly's wife told him plainly that he had better mind his own +business. + +"It's no affair of yours," she said. "And you ought not to mention the +matter to your cousin." + +Jolly Robin did not answer her. He thought there was no use arguing +with his wife. And since the Hermit was his own cousin, he saw no +reason why he shouldn't tell his relation exactly what he thought. + +The Hermit appeared glad to see Jolly Robin when he came to the swamp +that afternoon. At least, the Hermit said he was much pleased. He had +very polished manners for a person that lived in a swamp. Beside him, +Jolly Robin seemed somewhat awkward and clownish. But then, Jolly +always claimed that he was just a plain, rough-and-ready countryman. + +"I never put on any airs," he often said. "Farmer Green and I are a +good deal alike in that respect." + +After the Hermit had inquired about Jolly's health, and that of his +wife as well, he smoothed down his spotted vest, flicked a bit of moss +off his tail, and said that if Jolly cared to hear him he would sing +one of his best songs. + +"I'd like to hear you sing!" Jolly told him. + +So the Hermit sang a very sweet and tender melody, which was quite +different from Jolly's cheery carols. + +It was a great pleasure to hear such a beautiful song. And Jolly +Robin was so delighted that he began to laugh heartily the moment his +cousin had finished the final note. + +"I wouldn't laugh, if I were you," the Hermit reproved him mildly. +"That's a sad song.... If you care to weep, I'd be more than +gratified," he said. And he shuddered slightly, because Jolly's +boisterous laughter grated upon his sensitive nerves. + +You can see, just from that, that the Hermit was a very different +person from his merry cousin, Jolly Robin. + + + + +XIV + +ONE OR TWO BLUNDERS + + +Jolly Robin's cousin, the Hermit, seemed much disappointed because +Jolly did not weep after hearing the beautiful, sad song. But no +matter how mournful a song might be, Jolly Robin could no more have +shed tears over it than a fish could have. Naturally, a fish never +weeps, because it would be a silly thing to do. Surrounded by water as +he is, a fish could never see his own tears. And so all the weeping he +might do would be merely wasted. + +Not wanting to hurt his cousin's feelings, Jolly Robin said that he +would try to weep after he went home. And that made the Hermit feel +happier once more. + +"Perhaps you'd like to see our eggs?" he suggested. + +And since Jolly Robin said he would be delighted to look at them, if +the Hermit's wife had no objection, his cousin led him further into +the swamp. And there, in a nest of moss and leaves, lined with pine +needles, the Hermit proudly pointed to three greenish blue eggs, +somewhat smaller than those in Jolly's own nest in Farmer Green's +orchard. + +Jolly Robin stared at the nest in amazement. And pretty soon the +Hermit grew quite uncomfortable. + +"What's the matter?" he asked. "You seem surprised." + +"I certainly am!" Jolly Robin cried. "How do you dare do it?" + +"Do what?" his cousin inquired uneasily. + +"Why, you and your wife have built your nest on the ground!" + +"Well, why shouldn't we?" the Hermit asked. And he looked the least +bit angry. + +"But everybody knows that the best place for a nest is in a tree," +Jolly Robin told him. + +His cousin shook his head at that. + +"It's a matter of taste," he said. "Our family have always preferred +to build their nests on the ground. And as for me, I shall continue to +follow their example.... It suits me very well," he added. + +Jolly Robin couldn't help laughing, the sight struck him as being such +an odd one. + +"It's a wonder--" he remarked--"it's a wonder your wife doesn't bury +her eggs in the sand beside the creek, like old Mrs. Turtle." + +"I'd thank you," said the Hermit, stiffly, "not to say such things +about my wife." And though he spoke politely enough, his manner was +quite cold. It was clear that he felt terribly insulted. + +Jolly Robin saw that he had blundered. And wishing to change the +subject, he said hastily: + +"Won't you sing another song?" + +So the Hermit cleared his throat and began to sing again. + +Although this song was not so sad as the first one, Jolly Robin did +not like it half so well. The chorus, especially, he considered quite +offensive. And it is not surprising, perhaps, that it displeased him, +for this is the way it went: + + "Any old vest + May do for the rest; + But _I_ like a spotted one best!" + +If it hadn't been for that song, Jolly Robin would not have remembered +that he had intended to speak to his cousin about his spotted +waistcoat. Jolly had been so interested in the nest on the ground that +the matter of the waistcoat had slipped out of his mind. But now he +suddenly recalled the reason why he had come to see the Hermit. And he +disliked his cousin's spotted finery more than ever. + +Thereupon, he resolved that he would speak about it, too. + + + + +XV + +LOST--A COUSIN! + + +When the Hermit Thrush had finished his song about the spotted vest, +he looked at his cousin Jolly Robin out of the corner of his eye. + +"How do you like that one?" he inquired. He noticed that Jolly was not +laughing. + +"That seems to me to be a very silly song," Jolly Robin said. "But I'm +glad you sang it, because it has reminded me that I was going to speak +to you about that spotted waistcoat you're so fond of wearing." + +"What's the matter with my waistcoat?" the Hermit asked quickly. "I'm +sure it's a very handsome one." + +"I don't like it!" Jolly told him. "I wouldn't be caught with it on me +for anything. Everybody says that you're a great dandy because you +wear it. And since you're my cousin, I think I ought to tell you what +people are saying about you." + +"I don't care what people say!" the Hermit exclaimed. "Those that +don't like my beautiful waistcoat can look the other way when I'm +around. And if my style of dress doesn't please you, I'd suggest that +you keep out of this swamp." + +"Now, don't get angry!" Jolly Robin begged. He gave his cousin a +smile, hoping that it might make him feel pleasanter. "I was only +trying to help you. I was only going to advise you to wear a red +waistcoat, like mine." + +Now, the mere thought of wearing a red waistcoat made the Hermit feel +faint. Some people say that all great singers are like that. If they +don't like a thing, they can't bear even to think about it. And it was +a fact that the words "red waistcoat" had always made Jolly Robin's +cousin shudder. + +Maybe one reason why he never went to visit Jolly was because he +couldn't endure the sight of his bright red vest. + +Of course, Jolly Robin knew nothing about all this. + +"Red would be very becoming to you," he continued. "And it's certainly +a cheerful color, too. You need brightening up. I don't believe it's +good for you, living in this damp swamp and singing sad songs. What +you ought to do is to get some clothes like mine and bring your wife +over to Farmer Green's orchard and build a nest in an apple tree.... +We could have some gay times together," he said smilingly. + +Like many other people Jolly Robin thought his own ways were the best. +And since the Hermit was just as sure that nobody else knew how to +dress, or how to sing, or how to build a house as well as he did, it +is quite plain that the two cousins never could agree. + +"Just tell your wife about my plan when she comes home," said Jolly +Robin. "And I'll fly over to-morrow and show you the way to the +orchard." + +"I'll tell her," his cousin promised. + +"Good!" said Jolly Robin. And he gave his delicate cousin a hearty +slap on the back, which made the poor fellow wince--for it hurt him +not a little. "Good-by!" Jolly cried. And chirping loudly, he flew +back home. + +Now, Jolly noticed, as he left, that his cousin called "Farewell!" in +a melancholy tone. But he thought no more about it at the time. He +told his wife the good news as soon as he reached the orchard; for +Jolly was sure that his cousin the Hermit was going to follow his +advice. + +But the next day Jolly met with a great surprise. When he went to the +swamp near Black Creek he couldn't find his cousin anywhere--nor his +cousin's wife, either. Even their three eggs had disappeared from the +nest on the ground. + +"I hope Fatty Coon hasn't eaten the eggs," said Jolly Robin, as he +gazed into the empty nest. "But it's no more than anybody could expect +who's so foolish as to build a nest on the ground." He grew quite +uneasy. And he was puzzled, too. + +Later, when Jolly Robin met old Mr. Crow, he learned that his cousin, +the Hermit Thrush, and his wife had moved away from the swamp the +evening before. + +"They've left for parts unknown," old Mr. Crow explained. "I saw them +when they started. And when I asked your cousin where they were going, +he said that they didn't know, but they were hoping to find some +peaceful neighborhood where they had no relations." + +"That's strange!" Jolly Robin exclaimed. "We are very fond of each +other--my cousin and I. By the way," he added, "did you happen to +notice what sort of waistcoat he was wearing?" + +Mr. Crow said he had noticed; and that it was a light-colored one with +dark spots. + +"Dear me!" said Jolly Robin. "I was hoping he had put on a red one. +But since he moved in such a hurry, perhaps he hadn't time to +change." + +Whether that was the case, Jolly Robin never learned. For he never saw +his cousin the Hermit again. + + + + +XVI + +JEALOUS JASPER JAY + + +The feathered folk in Pleasant Valley were all aflutter. They had +heard a strange tale--the oddest tale, almost, that had ever been told +in their neighborhood. + +It was Jolly Robin who had started the story. And since he was not in +the habit of playing jokes on people, everybody believed what he +said--at least, everybody except Jasper Jay. He declared from the +first that Jolly Robin's tale was a hoax. + +"I claim that there's not a word of truth in it!" Jasper Jay said. + +Now, there was a reason why Jasper spoke in that disagreeable way. He +didn't want the story to be true. And, somehow, he felt that if he +said it was a hoax, it would really prove to be one. + +"I know well enough," said Jasper, "that there's no golden bird in +Pleasant Valley--and nowhere else, either!" + +You see, Jolly Robin had hurried to the woods one day and told +everyone he met that a wonderful golden bird had come to Pleasant +Valley. + +"He's not just yellow, like a goldfinch. He's solid gold all over, +from the tip of his bill to the tip of his tail. Even his feet are +golden. And he glistens in the sunshine as if he were afire!" That was +the way Jolly Robin described the marvellous newcomer. "He's the +handsomest bird that ever was seen," he added. + +Perhaps Jasper Jay was jealous. You know he was a great dandy, being +very proud of his blue suit, which was really quite beautiful. +Anyhow, Jasper Jay began to sulk as soon as he heard the news. + +"Where is this magnificent person?" he asked Jolly Robin with a sneer. +"Do let me see him! And if he wants to fight, I'll soon spoil his +finery for him. He won't look so elegant after I've pulled out his +tail-feathers." + +But Jolly Robin wouldn't tell anybody where he had seen the wonderful +bird. He said the golden bird was three times as big as Jasper Jay. +And he didn't want Jasper to get hurt, even if he was so +disagreeable. + +Anyone can see, just from that, that Jolly Robin was very kind. + +"You'd better be careful, or I'll fight you, too!" Jasper warned him. + +But Jolly was not afraid. He knew that Jasper was something of a +braggart and a bully. He had chased Jasper once. And he thought he +could do it again, if he had to. + +"My cousin will tell me where to find this yellow fellow," said Jasper +Jay at last. "There's not much that happens in Pleasant Valley that my +cousin doesn't know about." So he flew off to find old Mr. Crow--for +he was the cousin of whom Jasper was speaking. + +Jasper found Mr. Crow in his favorite tree in the pine woods. And sure +enough! the old gentleman seemed to know all about the golden bird. +But like Jolly Robin, he refused to say where he had seen him. To tell +the truth, Mr. Crow had never set eyes on the strange bird. But he did +not like to admit it. "He's a great credit to the neighborhood," said +old Mr. Crow. "And you'd better let him alone, if you should happen to +find him, because he's solid gold, you know. And if you flew at him +and tried to peck him, just as likely as not you'd break your bill on +him, he's so hard." + +Old Mr. Crow's warning, however, had no effect at all upon Jasper +Jay. + +"I'm going to search every corner in the valley until I find this fop. +And I'll teach him that he'd better get out of our neighborhood with +his fine airs." + +When he heard that, old Mr. Crow shook his head. + +"You're going to have trouble!" he told Jasper. And then he hurried +away to tell Jolly Robin that he ought to advise the golden bird to +leave Pleasant Valley. + +But Jolly Robin said he had not spoken with the stranger. And never +having talked with a golden bird, he felt a bit shy about saying +anything to him. + +"Then there'll be a terrible fight, I'm afraid," said Mr. Crow. + +"I'm afraid so," Jolly Robin agreed. And strange as it may seem, they +both said that if there was going to be a fight they didn't want to +miss seeing it. + + + + +XVII + +ONLY A ROOSTER + + +Jasper Jay spent several days looking for the great golden bird that +Jolly Robin had described. But Jasper couldn't find the wonderful +creature anywhere. And he was wondering if it wasn't just a hoax after +all, as he had claimed. He had almost decided to give up his search, +when he chanced to meet Bennie Barn-Swallow one day. Jasper happened +to mention that he was on the lookout for Jolly Robin's strange bird; +and Bennie Barn-Swallow said quickly: + +"Do you mean the bird of gold?" + +"The bird of _brass_, I should say!" Jasper replied, with his nose in +the air. "You haven't seen him, have you?" + +"Why, yes!" said Bennie. "He stays right near my house." + +Of course, Jasper Jay knew that Bennie lived in a mud house, under the +eaves of Farmer Green's barn. So he cried at once: "Then my search is +ended! I'll come over to the barn this afternoon and fight the +upstart." + +The news spread quickly--the news of the fight that was going to take +place at Farmer Green's barn. And as soon as he heard it, Jolly Robin +went straight to the barn and asked the golden bird if he wouldn't +leave Pleasant Valley at once. + +But the great, gorgeous creature paid no attention to Jolly Robin's +request. Indeed, he seemed not to hear his words at all--though Jolly +Robin thought the stranger was just pretending. + +Jolly had to sing a good many songs that day to keep up his spirits. +Somehow, he felt that it was all his fault that there was going to be +a fight. + +"I wish I hadn't told anyone about the golden bird," he said. "Maybe +he would have flown away before Jasper Jay heard of his being here." + +Well, Jasper invited everybody to come to the barn late in the +afternoon to see him whip the golden bird and pull out his +tail-feathers. + +"There's going to be some fun," said Jasper Jay. "Nobody ought to miss +it." + +So, as the afternoon waned, the feathered folk began to gather in the +orchard. Jolly Robin was there, and his wife, and old Mr. Crow, Rusty +Wren, Bobbie Bobolink, Miss Kitty Catbird, and a good many others as +well. There was a good deal of noise, for everyone was chattering. +And Jasper Jay made almost as great a din as all his friends +together. He boasted in a loud voice that he was going to give the +golden bird a terrible beating. And he was so pleased with himself +that some of his companions whispered to one another that it might be +a good thing if the golden bird gave Jasper a sound whipping. + +At last Jasper Jay called out that he was ready. And then he started +for Farmer Green's barn, while the eager crew followed close behind +him. They all alighted on the ridge of the barn. And like Jasper Jay, +they sat there for a short time and stared at the golden bird, who +shimmered like fire in the slanting rays of the setting sun. + +Jolly Robin and Bennie Barn-Swallow had seen him before; so they +weren't surprised. But all the others gazed at him in amazement. + +Now, to Jasper Jay the golden bird looked enormous. He was perched +high up on a rod which rose above the roof. And he seemed very proud +and disdainful. In fact, he paid no attention at all to the curious +flock that watched him. + +For a little while nobody said a word. And Jasper Jay was the first to +speak. + +"Fiddlesticks!" he cried. "This is nothing but a barnyard fowl. He's a +rooster--that's what he is!" + + + + +XVIII + +ON TOP OF THE BARN + + +All the feathered folk on the roof of Farmer Green's barn saw at once +that Jasper Jay had told the truth. The golden bird was a rooster, +just as Jasper had said. But it seemed strange to them that a rooster +should sit on so high a perch. + +"It looks to me," said old Mr. Crow, "it looks to me as if he had +flown up here and lighted on that rod and then was afraid to fly down +again." + +"I'll knock him off!" cried Jasper Jay. And he made ready to swoop at +the stranger. + +"I wouldn't do that!" said Jolly Robin. + +"No!" Jasper Jay replied. "I know you wouldn't. You'd be _afraid_ to +do such a thing." + +"It's not that," Jolly Robin told him, "though he _is_ ten times my +size. This is what I mean: He's a peaceable fellow. And though I will +admit that he seems a little too proud, he hasn't harmed anybody. So +why should anybody harm him?" + +"He's a barnyard fowl and he belongs on the ground," Jasper Jay +declared. "If we let him stay up here in the air there's no knowing +what Farmer Green's fowls will do. All his hens and roosters--and he +has a hundred of 'em--may take to flying about where they don't +belong. This golden gentleman is setting them a bad example. And it is +my duty to teach him a lesson." + +Now, the real reason why Jasper wanted to knock the golden rooster +off his high perch was because he was so handsome. Jasper's fine blue +suit looked quite dull beside the golden dress of the stranger. And +that was more than Jasper could stand. + +"Here I go!" Jasper cried. And he left his friends and flew straight +at the golden fowl. + +Jasper struck the rooster such a hard blow that he spun around on his +perch twice. But he didn't lose his balance. And he never said a +single word. + +"I'll pull out his tail-feathers this time!" Jasper squawked, as he +darted at the stranger again. But Jasper had no luck at all. Though he +pecked viciously at the tail of the golden rooster, he succeeded only +in hurting his own bill. + +Several times Jasper tried. But not one tail-feather came away. And +some of the onlookers began to smile. Old Mr. Crow even guffawed +aloud. But Jasper Jay pretended not to hear him. + +"Don't you think we'd better go away?" Jolly Robin asked Jasper at +last. + +"I think _you_ had better leave," Jasper screamed. He was very angry, +because he knew that his friends were laughing at him. And instead of +flying at the golden rooster again he made a swift attack on Jolly +Robin. + +Being angry, Jasper had forgotten that Jolly Robin's wife was present. +And to the blue-coated rascal there seemed suddenly to be as many as +six Jolly Robins, each one with a furious wife, too. + +Jasper fought his hardest. But he was no match for them. Very soon he +made for the woods; and as he flew away a blue tail-feather with a +white tip floated down into the barnyard, where Johnnie Green had +stood for some minutes, watching the strange sight on the roof of his +father's barn. + +Johnnie picked up the feather and stuck it in his hat. And when he +told his father, later, how a big blue jay had tried to whip the new +weather-vane and a pair of robins as well, Farmer Green threw back his +head and laughed loudly. + +"Don't you believe me?" Johnnie asked him. "Here's the blue jay's +tail-feather, anyhow. And that ought to prove that I am telling the +truth." + +But Farmer Green only laughed all the more. You see, he could hardly +believe all the strange things that happened in the neighborhood. + + + + +XIX + +CURIOUS MR. CROW + + +Living in the orchard as they did, near the farmhouse, Jolly Robin and +his wife knew more about Farmer Green's family than any of the other +birds in Pleasant Valley, except maybe Rusty Wren. Being a house wren, +Rusty was naturally on the best of terms with all the people in the +farmhouse. + +But all summer long Rusty Wren never strayed far from home. So it was +Jolly Robin who told his friends in the woods many strange stories +about what happened near the orchard. His account of the golden bird +was only one of many curious tales that he related to the wondering +wood-creatures. + +Being so cheerful and having so much interesting news to tell, Jolly +Robin was welcome wherever he went. And when his friends met him in +the woods or the fields they were sure to stop and ask him if he +hadn't some new story to tell. One day old Mr. Crow even took the +trouble to fly all the way across the cornfield to the edge of the +woods, where his sharp eyes had seen Jolly Robin eating wild +cherries. + +"I say, what do you know that's new?" Mr. Crow asked him. The old +gentleman was a very curious person. Being a great gossip, he was +always on the lookout for something to talk about. + +"I don't believe I've seen anything lately that would interest you," +Jolly replied, "unless it's the four-armed man." + +Mr. Crow looked up quickly. + +"What's that you say?" he exclaimed. + +"The four-armed man!" Jolly Robin repeated. + +"Is that a joke?" Mr. Crow asked. He was inclined to be suspicious, +because he always disliked having tricks played upon him. "I've heard +of--and seen--a two-headed calf," he remarked. "But a four-armed man +is a little too much for me to believe in, unless I behold him with my +own eyes." + +Jolly Robin laughed. + +"It's no joke at all!" he declared. + +"Then what are you laughing at?" Mr. Crow inquired severely. + +"Nothing!" Jolly Robin answered. "It's just a habit of mine to +laugh." + +"Very well!" said Mr. Crow. "I accept your apology. But please don't +do it again.... And now," he added, "where, pray, is this wonderful +four-armed man?" + +"In the barnyard!" Jolly Robin informed him. "I've often seen him +lately, walking between the house and the barn. He looks a good deal +like the hired-man. But of course it can't be he, for the +hired-man--as you yourself know--has but two arms." + +"I must have a look at this monster," Mr. Crow remarked. "When would +be a good time for me to see him?" + +"At milking-time," Jolly Robin told him. "If you'll meet me on the +bridge down the road when you see Johnnie Green and old dog Spot +driving the cows home from the pasture this afternoon, I'll be glad to +show you the four-armed man. And then you'll admit that I'm not +joking." + +"I'll certainly be there--" Mr. Crow promised--"but on one condition. +You must tell me now whether you have ever known this queer being to +fire a gun. If a two-armed man can shoot one gun, I see no reason why +a four-armed man could not fire at least two guns at the same time. +And if there's any chance of such a thing happening, I would not care +to be present." + +Jolly Robin had hard work to keep from laughing again. The very idea +of the four-armed man aiming two guns at old Mr. Crow struck him as +being very funny. He couldn't speak at all for a few moments. But he +shook his head violently. + +"You think there's no danger, then?" said Mr. Crow, anxiously. + +"None at all!" Jolly Robin answered him. "He carries nothing more +dangerous than milk-pails." + +"Then I'll meet you on the bridge," Mr. Crow promised. + + + + +XX + +THE FOUR-ARMED MAN + + +Old dog Spot was driving the last cow down the lane when Jolly Robin +and Mr. Crow met on the bridge near the farmhouse, as they had +agreed. + +"Now, then--" said Mr. Crow, even before his broad wings had settled +smoothly along his back--"now, then, where's the four-armed man?" + +Jolly looked towards the barnyard. + +"I don't see him yet," he said. "But he ought to appear any moment +now. Let's move over to the big oak, for we can get a better view of +the barnyard from the top of it." + +Mr. Crow was more than willing. So they flew to the oak and waited for +a time. They saw the cows file into the barn, each finding her own +place in one of the two long rows of stanchions that faced each other +across the wide aisle running the length of the barn. It was through +that aisle that the men walked with great forkfuls of hay in the +winter time, which they flung down before the cows, who munched it +contentedly. + +But it was summer now. And the cows found their own food in the +pasture on the hillside. They came to the barn only to be milked. + +"It's milking-time right now," Jolly Robin remarked. "And pretty soon +you'll see the four-armed man come out of the barn with some pails +full of milk. He'll carry them into the house, to set them in the +buttery. We'll have a good look at him without his knowing anything +about it." + +And that was exactly what happened. + +"Here he comes!" Jolly Robin exclaimed, as a figure stepped out of the +barn and began walking toward the house. "Now, you'll have to admit +that I wasn't joking when I told you the news of this strange being. +You ought to be pretty glad I let you know about the four-armed man, +Mr. Crow. I guess you never saw anything quite so queer as he is, even +if you _have_ seen a two-headed calf." Jolly Robin said a great deal +more to Mr. Crow. And he was so pleased that he started to sing a +song. + +But Mr. Crow quickly silenced him. + +"Do keep still!" he whispered. "Do you want to get me into trouble? +It's bad enough to have a trick like this played on me, without your +making such a noise. Farmer Green might shoot me if he saw me so near +his house. I thought--" Mr. Crow added--"I thought you laughed a +little too much when you told me about your four-armed man. It's a +hoax--a joke--a trick--and a very poor one, too." + +Jolly Robin was puzzled enough by Mr. Crow's disagreeable remarks. + +"I don't understand how you can say those things," he said. + +Mr. Crow looked narrowly at his small companion before answering. And +then he asked: + +"Do you mean to say you never heard of a neck-yoke?" + +"Never!" cried Jolly Robin. + +"Well, well!" said Mr. Crow. "The ignorance of some people is more +than I can understand.... That was no four-armed man. You said he +looked like Farmer Green's hired-man; and it is not surprising that +he does, for he is the hired-man. He has found an old neck-yoke +somewhere. It is just a piece of wood that fits about his shoulders +and around his neck and sticks out on each side of him like an arm. +And he hooks a pail of milk to each end of the yoke, carrying his load +in that way. I supposed," said Mr. Crow, "that people had stopped +using neck-yokes fifty years ago. It's certainly that long since I've +seen one." + +"Then it's no wonder that I made a mistake!" Jolly Robin cried. "For +I'm too young ever to have heard of a neck-yoke, even." And he laughed +and chuckled merrily. "It's a good joke on me!" he said. + +But old Mr. Crow did not laugh. + +"There you go, making a noise again!" he said crossly. "A person's not +safe in your company." And he hurried off across the meadow. Mr. Crow +was always very nervous when he was near the farmhouse. + +But Jolly Robin stayed right there until the hired-man walked back to +the barn. He saw then that what Mr. Crow had told him was really so. +And he never stopped laughing until long after sunset. + + + + +XXI + +A DOLEFUL DITTY + + +Jolly Robin often complained about the wailing of Willie +Whip-poor-will. Willie lived in the woods, which were not far from the +orchard. And it was annoying to Jolly to hear his call, +"_Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will_," repeated over and over again for +some two hours after Jolly's bed-time. Neither did Jolly Robin enjoy +being awakened by that same sound an hour or two before he wanted to +get up in the morning. And what was still worse, on moonlight nights +Willie sometimes sang his favorite song from sunset to sunrise. + +"What a doleful ditty!" said Jolly Robin. "I must see this fellow and +tell him that he ought to change his tune." But the trouble was that +Jolly Robin did not like to roam about at night. He was always too +sleepy to do that. And in the daytime Willie Whip-poor-will was +silent, resting or sleeping upon the ground in the woods. + +But a day came at last when Jolly Robin stumbled upon Willie +Whip-poor-will, sound asleep where he lived. And Jolly lost no time in +waking him up. + +"I've been wanting to speak to you for some time," he told the drowsy +fellow. + +"What's the matter?" Willie Whip-poor-will asked, with a startled +stare. "Are the woods on fire?" + +"No!" said Jolly Robin. "I want to talk with you--that's all." And he +was as cheerful as anyone could have wished. + +But Willie Whip-poor-will looked very cross. + +"This is a queer time to make a call!" he grumbled. "I don't like to +be disturbed in broad daylight. I supposed everybody knew that +midnight is the proper time for a visit." + +"But I'm always asleep then," Jolly Robin objected, "unless it's a +moonlight night and you happen to be singing on my side of the +woods." + +Willie Whip-poor-will looked almost pleasant when Jolly said that. + +"So you stay awake to hear me!" he exclaimed. "I see you like my +singing." + +Jolly Robin laughed, because Willie had made such a funny mistake. + +"You're wrong!" he said. "In fact, I've been wanting to talk with you +about that very thing. I want you to change your song, which is a very +annoying one. It's altogether too disagreeable. I'll teach you my +'_Cheerily-cheerup_' song. You'll like it much better, I think. And +I'm sure all your neighbors will.... Why not learn the new song right +now?" Jolly asked. + +But Willie Whip-poor-will made no answer. Looking at him more closely, +Jolly Robin was amazed to see that he was sound asleep. + +"Here, wake up!" Jolly cried, as he nudged Willie under a wing. + +Again Willie Whip-poor-will sprang up with a bewildered expression. + +"Hullo!" he said. "What's the trouble? Did a tree fall?" + +"You went to sleep while I was talking to you," Jolly Robin +explained. + +"Oh!" said Willie Whip-poor-will. "That doesn't matter. You must be +used to that." And the words were scarcely out of his mouth before he +had fallen asleep again. + +Jolly Robin looked at him in a puzzled way. He didn't see how he could +teach Willie his "_Cheerily-cheerup_" song unless he could keep him +awake. But he thought he ought to try; so he gave Willie a sharp tweak +with his bill. + +"Did you hear what I said about your singing?" he shouted right in +Willie's ear. + +Willie Whip-poor-will only murmured sleepily: + +"It's rheumatism. I just felt a twinge of it." + +He had no idea what Jolly Robin was talking about. + + + + +XXII + +SHOCKING MANNERS + + +Jolly Robin tried his best to rouse Willie Whip-poor-will out of his +daytime nap. But he had to admit to himself at last that his efforts +were in vain. It was plain that Willie was too sleepy to understand +what was said to him. And as for his learning a new song when he was +in that condition, that was entirely out of the question. + +"I'll have to wait till sunset," Jolly Robin sighed at last. "That's +the time that Willie always wakes up and begins to sing.... I'll come +back here late this afternoon." + +So he left the woods; and he was busy every moment all the rest of +the day. + +Shortly before sunset Jolly Robin went back to the place in the woods +where he had left Willie Whip-poor-will sleeping. But Willie was no +longer there. He had left only a few minutes before Jolly's arrival. +And as Jolly sat on a low branch of a tree and looked all around, just +as the sun dropped behind the mountain, a voice began singing from +some point deeper in the woods. "_Whip-poor-will! Whip-poor-will!_" +That was the way the song went. + +"There's Willie now!" Jolly Robin exclaimed. And he flew off at once +to find his night-prowling friend. He knew that Willie Whip-poor-will +was some distance away, because he couldn't hear the low "_chuck!_" +with which Willie always began his song, as a sort of warning that he +was going to sing, and that nobody could stop him. + +Jolly had a good deal of trouble finding the singer, because Willie +Whip-poor-will didn't stay in one place. Between his bursts of song he +coursed about hunting for insects, which he caught as he flew. So it +was not surprising that Jolly did not come upon him until it had grown +almost dark in the woods. + +"Hullo!" said Willie as soon as he saw Jolly Robin. "I haven't seen +you for a long time." + +Jolly Robin laughed merrily. + +"Don't you remember my calling on you about noon to-day?" he asked. + +"You must be mistaken," Willie Whip-poor-will replied. "I've been +asleep since sunrise--until a little while ago. And nobody came to see +me." + +"You've forgotten," said Jolly. "But it's no matter. I can talk to you +now just as well. I want to speak to you about your singing." Jolly +paused then; and he yawned widely, for it was his bed-time that very +moment. + +"Talk fast, please!" said Willie Whip-poor-will. "I haven't finished +my breakfast yet. And I'm pretty hungry." + +It seemed queer, to Jolly Robin, that anyone should be eating his +breakfast right after sunset. And he was about to say something about +the matter. But just as he opened his mouth to speak he yawned again. +And then, without realizing what he was doing, he tucked his head +under his wing and fell asleep on the limb of the cedar tree where he +was sitting. + +Willie Whip-poor-will looked at him in astonishment. + +"What shocking manners!" he exclaimed. "He went to sleep while we were +talking. But I suppose he knows no better." + +Willie would have liked to know what Jolly Robin was going to say +about his singing. But he was so hungry that he left Jolly asleep upon +his perch and hurried off to look for more insects. + +Since it was a moonlight night, Willie Whip-poor-will spent all the +time until sunrise in hunting for food. Now and then he stopped to +rest and sing his queer song, which Jolly Robin did not like. + +But Jolly Robin slept so soundly that for once Willie's singing never +disturbed him at all. + + + + +XXIII + +A COLD GREETING + + +When Jolly Robin awoke a little before dawn, after his night in the +woods, he did not know at first where he was. + +Now, it happened that just as he was awaking in the cedar tree, Willie +Whip-poor-will was going to sleep on the ground right beneath him. So +when Jolly at last looked down and spied his friend, he remembered +what had happened. + +"My goodness!" he said with a nervous laugh. "I fell asleep here last +night! And I wonder what my wife will say when I get home." He would +have liked to try to rouse Willie Whip-poor-will and speak to him +about learning the new song. But he was so uneasy on account of what +his wife might say about his having stayed away from home all night +that he flew away as fast as he could go. + +It was exactly as he had feared. When he reached his house in the +orchard his wife greeted him quite coldly. In fact, she hardly spoke +to him at all. And when Jolly told her, with a good many chuckles, +what a joke he had played on himself--falling asleep as he had, while +making a call upon Willie Whip-poor-will--she did not even smile. + +"I should think you would be ashamed of yourself," she told him. +"Willie Whip-poor-will is a good-for-nothing rascal. Everybody talks +about the way he prowls through the woods all night and seldom goes to +bed before morning. And his wife is no better than he is. They're too +shiftless even to build themselves a nest. Mrs. Whip-poor-will leaves +her eggs on the ground. And that's enough to know about _her_. + +"If you like to spend your time with such trash you'd better go over +to the woods and live," Mrs. Robin said. And then she turned her back +on her husband and set to work to clean her nest. + +Jolly and his wife happened to have five small children at the time. +They were so young that they had never left home, not having learned +to fly. And they were all clamoring for their breakfast. + +Thinking to please his wife, Jolly Robin went off and began gathering +angleworms for the youngsters. But when he brought them home his wife +told him that he had better eat them himself. + +"I am quite able to feed my own children without any help from a +person who doesn't come home until after daybreak," she said. + +And she acted like that for two whole days. Naturally, Jolly Robin +felt very uncomfortable during that time. And ever afterward he took +good care to have nothing to do with Willie Whip-poor-will. + +He did wish, however, that Willie would learn a new song. For Jolly +disliked more than ever to hear that "_Whip-poor-will! +Whip-poor-will!_" repeated over and over again. It always reminded him +of the time he made his wife angry by spending the night away from +home. + +THE END + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Jolly Robin, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN *** + +***** This file should be named 28293.txt or 28293.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/2/9/28293/ + +Produced by Roger Frank 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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