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diff --git a/old/51933-h/51933-h.htm b/old/51933-h/51933-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 0e689d2..0000000 --- a/old/51933-h/51933-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7541 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tommy Smith’s Animals , by Edmund Selous. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} -div.limit {max-width: 35em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} - - - h1, h2 {text-align: center; padding-left: 0em;} - -p {margin-top: 0.2em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0em; text-indent: 1.5em;} -.pi10 {text-indent: 0em; padding-left: 10em;} -.pc {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} -.pc1 {margin-top: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} -.pc4 {margin-top: 4em; text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} -.pp6q {margin-top: 0em; font-size: 90%; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 6em; text-indent: -0.45em;} -.pbq {line-height: 1em; text-indent: 1.2em; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} -.ptn {margin-top: 0.3em; text-indent: -1em; margin-left: 2%;} - -.p1 {margin-top: 1em;} -.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} - -.small {font-size: 75%;} -.reduct {font-size: 90%;} -.lmid {font-size: 110%;} -.mid {font-size: 125%;} -.large {font-size: 150%;} -.xlarge {font-size: 200%;} - -hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: 33.5%; margin-right: 33.5%; clear: both;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} - -.figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} - -table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} - -#toc {width: 60%; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 1em; font-size: 110%;} -#t01 {width: 50%; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 1em;} -#toi {width: 75%; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 1em; font-size: 90%;} - - .tdl1 {text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; padding-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1em; font-size: 90%;} - .tdl2 {text-align: justify; vertical-align: top; width: 1em; font-size: 90%;} - .tdr1 {text-align: right; width: 1em; vertical-align: top; font-size: 90%;} - .tdr2 {text-align: right; width: 1em; vertical-align: bottom; font-size: 90%;} - -.pagenum { /* visibility: hidden; */ position: absolute; left: 94%; color: gray; - font-size: smaller; text-align: right; text-indent: 0em; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -.figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -p.drop-cap00 {padding-top: 2em; text-indent: 0em;} -p.drop-cap04 {padding-top: 2em; text-indent: -0.4em;} -p.drop-cap06 {padding-top: 2em; text-indent: -0.6em;} -p.drop-cap08 {padding-top: 2em; text-indent: -0.8em;} -p.drop-cap16 {padding-top: 2em; text-indent: -1.6em;} - -p.drop-cap00:first-letter, -p.drop-cap04:first-letter, -p.drop-cap06:first-letter, -p.drop-cap08:first-letter, -p.drop-cap16:first-letter - - {float: left; margin: 0.07em 0.1em 0em 0em; font-size: 480%; line-height:0.85em;} - -@media handheld {p.drop-cap00:first-letter, - p.drop-cap04:first-letter, - p.drop-cap06:first-letter, - p.drop-cap08:first-letter, - p.drop-cap16:first-letter - {float: none; margin: 0; font-size: 100%;} -} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; color: black; font-size:smaller; padding:0.5em; margin-bottom:5em; font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tommy Smith's Animals, by Edmund Selous - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Tommy Smith's Animals - -Author: Edmund Selous - -Illustrator: G. W. Ord - -Release Date: May 2, 2016 [EBook #51933] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOMMY SMITH'S ANIMALS *** - - - - -Produced by Giovanni Fini, Emmanuel Ackerman and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="limit"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote p4"> -<p class="pc large">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:</p> -<p class="ptn">—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.</p> -</div> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="350" height="593" alt="" /> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="p4 xlarge">TOMMY SMITH’S ANIMALS</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 lmid">BY THE SAME AUTHOR</p> - -<p class="pi10"><span class="smcap">Tommy Smith’s other Animals</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Jack’s Insects</span></p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/fr.jpg" width="400" height="375" id="fr" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc"><i>HE</i> MAY HAVE FOUND <i>ANOTHER</i> HARE”</p> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h1 class="p4">TOMMY SMITH’S<br />ANIMALS</h1> - -<p class="pc4">BY</p> -<p class="pc1 mid">EDMUND SELOUS</p> - -<p class="pc4">WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY<br /> -G. W. ORD</p> - -<p class="pc4">TWELFTH EDITION</p> - -<p class="pc4 mid">METHUEN & CO. LTD.<br /> -36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<br /> -LONDON</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<table id="t01" summary="cont"> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>First Published</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>October</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1899</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Second Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>December</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1900</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Third Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>December</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1902</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Fourth Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>September</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1905</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Fifth Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>April</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1906</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Sixth Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>September</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1906</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Seventh Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>January</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1907</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Eighth Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>April</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1907</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Ninth Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>November</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1907</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Tenth Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>May</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1908</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Eleventh Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>September</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1909</i></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1"><i>Twelfth Edition</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>September</i></td> - <td class="tdl2"><i>1912</i></td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CONTENTS</h2> - -<table id="toc" summary="cont"> - - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl1"><span class="small">CHAPTER</span></td> - <td class="tdr2"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">I.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE MEETING</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">II.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE FROG AND THE TOAD</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">III.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE ROOK</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">IV.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE RAT</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">V.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE HARE</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">VI.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE GRASS-SNAKE AND ADDER</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">VII.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE PEEWIT</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">VIII.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE MOLE</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">IX.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE WOODPIGEON</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">X.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE SQUIRREL</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">XI.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE BARN-OWL</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr1">XII.</td> - <td class="tdl1">THE LEAVE-TAKING</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<table id="toi" summary="illuastrations"> - - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr2"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1">“HE MAY HAVE FOUND ANOTHER HARE”</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#fr"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1">“THAT IS WHY I AM SO WISE”</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#i9">9</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1">“I SHALL KEEP AWAKE TILL THE RAT COMES”</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#i39">39</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1">PAT, PAT, PAT. “DO YOU HEAR?”</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#i41">41</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1">“BITE HIM!”</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#i51">51</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1">“ALL HAPPY (EXCEPT THE HARE)”</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#i63">63</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1">“THERE ARE THREE FROGS IN MY STOMACH AT THIS MOMENT”</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#i79">79</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl1">“WE MOLES ARE VERY HEROIC”</td> - <td class="tdr2"><a href="#i141">141</a></td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="pc4 xlarge">TOMMY SMITH’S ANIMALS</p> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER I.<br /> -<span class="small">THE MEETING</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>The owl calls a meeting, and has an idea:<br /> -They all think it good, though it SOUNDS rather queer.</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">THERE was once a little boy, named -Tommy Smith, who was very cruel -to animals, because nobody had taught -him that it was wrong to be so. He would -throw stones at the birds as they sat in the -trees or hedges; and if he did not hit them, -that was only because they were too quick -for him, and flew away as soon as they saw -the stone coming. But he always <i>meant</i> -to hit them—yes, and to kill them too,—which -made it every bit as bad as if he -really had killed them. Then, if he saw a -rat, he would make his dog run after it, -and if the poor thing tried to escape by -running down a hole, he and the dog together -would dig it out, and then the dog<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -would bite it with his sharp teeth until it -was quite dead. It never seemed to occur -to this boy that the poor rat had done <i>him</i> -no harm, and that it might be the father or -mother of some little baby rats, who would -now die of hunger. Even if the rat got -away, he would whip the dog for not -catching it, yet the dog had done his best; -for, of course, dogs must do what their -masters tell them, and cannot know any -better. It was just the same with hares -or rabbits, squirrels, rooks, or partridges. -Indeed, this boy could not see any -animal playing about, and doing no -harm, without trying to frighten it or to -hurt it.</p> - -<p>When the spring came, and the birds -began to build their nests, and to lay their -pretty eggs in them, then it is dreadful to -think how cruel this Tommy Smith was. -He would look about amongst the trees -and bushes, and when he had found a nest, -he would take all the eggs that were in it, -and not leave even one for the poor mother -bird to sit on when she came back. Indeed, -he would often tear down the nest too, -after he had taken the eggs. Perhaps you -will wonder what he did with these eggs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -Well, when he had brought them home -and shown them to his father and mother, -who never thought of scolding him, or to -his little brothers and sisters (for he was -the eldest of the family), he would throw -them away, and think no more about them. -If he had left them in the nest, then out of -each pretty little egg would have come a -pretty little bird. But now, for every egg -he had taken away, there was one bird less -to sing in the woods in the spring and -summer.</p> - -<p>At last this boy became such a nuisance -to all the animals round about, that they -determined to punish him in some way or -other. They thought the first thing to do -was for all of them to meet together and -have a good talk about it. In a wood, not far -off, there was a nice open space where the -ground was smooth and covered with moss. -Here they all agreed to come one fine -night, for they thought it would be nice -and quiet then, and that nobody would -disturb them, as, perhaps, they might do -in the daytime.</p> - -<p>So, as soon as the moon rose, they began -to assemble, and I wish you could have -been there too, to see them all come, sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -one at a time, and sometimes two or -three together.</p> - -<p>The rat was one of the first to arrive, -and then came the hare and the rabbit -arm in arm, for they knew each other well, -and were very good friends. The frog was -late, for he had had a good way to hop -from the nearest pond, where he lived, so -that his cousin, the toad, who was slower, -but lived nearer, got there before him. -The snake had no need to make a journey -at all, for he lived under a bush just on the -edge of the open space. All the little -birds, too, had gone to roost in the trees -and bushes close by, so as to be ready in -good time; and, when the moon rose, they -drew out their heads from under their -wings, and were wide awake in a moment. -The rook and the partridge, and other -large birds, were there as well, and the -squirrel sat with his tail over his head, on -the branch of a small fir tree. Then there -were weasels, and lizards, and hedgehogs, -and slow-worms, and many other animals -besides.</p> - -<p>In fact, if you had seen them all together, -you would have wondered how one little -boy could have found time to plague and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -worry so many different creatures. But -you must remember that even a very <i>little</i> -boy can do a <i>great</i> deal of mischief. Perhaps -there were some animals there that -little Tommy Smith had not hurt, because -he had not yet seen them, but these came -because they knew he <i>would</i> hurt them as -soon as he could; and, besides, they were -angry because their friends and companions -had been ill-treated by him.</p> - -<p>At last it seemed as if there was nobody -else to come, and that everything was -ready. Still, they seemed waiting for -something, and all at once a great owl -came swooping down, and settled on a -large mole-hill which was just in the -middle of the open space. Now, the owl, -as perhaps you know, is a very wise bird, -and, for this reason, all the other animals -had chosen him to be the chief at their -meeting, and to decide what was best to -be done, in case they should not agree -amongst themselves. He at once showed -<i>how</i> wise he was, by saying that before he -gave his own opinion he would hear what -everybody else had to say. Then everybody -began to talk at once, and there was -a great hubbub, until the owl said that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -only one should speak at a time, and that -the hare had better begin, because he was -the largest of all the animals there.</p> - -<p>So the hare stood up, and said he -thought the best way to punish Tommy -Smith was for every one of them to do -him what harm he could. For his part, -he was only a timid animal, and not at -all accustomed to hurt people. Still, -he had very sharp teeth, and he thought -he might be able to jump as high -as Tommy Smith’s face and give him a -good bite on the cheek or ear, and then -run off so quickly that nobody could catch -him. The rabbit spoke next, and said -that he was just as timid as the hare, and -not so strong or so swift. All <i>he</i> could do -was to go on digging holes, and he hoped -that some day Tommy Smith would fall -into one of them. The hedgehog then got -up, and said he would hide himself in one -of these holes and put up his prickles for -Tommy Smith to fall on. This would be -sure to hurt him, and perhaps it might -even put one of his eyes out. The rat -thought it would be better if the hedgehog -were to get into Tommy Smith’s bed, -so as to prick him all over when he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -undressed; but the hedgehog would not -agree to this, as he did not understand -houses, and thought he would be sure to -be caught if he went into one.</p> - -<p>“Well, then,” said the rat, “if you are -afraid I will go myself, for I know the way -about, and am not at all frightened. In -the middle of the night, when it is quite -dark, and when Tommy Smith is fast -asleep, I will creep up the stairs and -into his room, and then I can run up -the counterpane to the foot of his bed -and bite his toes.”</p> - -<p>“Why his toes?” said the weasel. “<i>I</i> -can do much better than that, and if you -will only show me the way into his room, -I will bite the veins of his throat, and then -he will soon bleed to death.”</p> - -<p>“That would be taking too much -trouble,” said the adder, coming from -under his bush. “You all know that <i>my</i> -bite is poisonous. Well, I know where -this bad boy goes out walking, so I will -just hide myself somewhere near, and -when he comes by I will spring out and -bite his ankle. Then he will soon die.”</p> - -<p>The birds, too, had different things to -suggest. Some said they would scratch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -Tommy Smith’s face with their claws, and -others that they would peck his eyes out. -The frog wanted to hop down his throat -and choke him, and the lizard was ready -to crawl up his back and tickle him, if they -thought <i>that</i> would do any good.</p> - -<p>At length, when everyone else had -spoken, the owl called for silence, and -then he gave his own opinion in these -words:—“I have now heard what every -animal has had to say, and I have no -doubt that we could easily hurt this boy -very much, or perhaps even kill him, -if we really tried to. But would it not -be a better plan, first to see if we cannot -make little Tommy Smith a better boy? -Many little boys are unkind to animals -because they know nothing about them, -and think that they are stupid and useless. -If they knew how clever we all of us really -are, and what a lot of good we do, I do -not think they would be unkind to us -any more. I am sure that they would -then have quite a friendly feeling towards -us. But they cannot know this without -being taught. Tommy Smith’s father and -mother <i>ought</i>, of course, to teach him, but -as they will not do so, why should not -we teach him ourselves? To do this, we -shall have to speak to him in his own -language, as he does not understand ours; -but that is not such a difficult matter to -us animals. I myself can speak it quite -well when I want to, for I often sit on -the trees near old houses at night, or even -on the houses themselves, and I can hear -the conversations coming up through the -chimneys. That is why I am so wise. -So I can easily teach all of you enough -of it to make <i>you</i> able to talk to a little -boy. My idea, then, is to <i>teach</i> little -Tommy Smith before we begin to <i>punish</i> -him, and it will be quite as easy to do -the one as the other. Only let the next -animal that he is going to kill or throw -stones at, call out to him, and tell him -not to do so. This will surprise him so -much that he will be sure to leave off, -and then each of us can tell him something -about ourselves in turn. In this way -he will get such a high idea of all of us, -that he will never annoy us any more, but -treat us with great respect for the future.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-009.jpg" width="400" height="403" id="i9" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc">“THAT IS WHY I AM SO WISE”</p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> - -<p>All the other animals thought this was -a very clever idea of the owl’s, and they -agreed to do what he said, before trying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -anything else. So they begged him -to begin teaching them the little-boy -language at once (all except the rat, for -he knew it too), so that they should -lose no time. This the owl was quite -ready to do, and he taught them so -well, and they all learnt so quickly, that -when little Tommy Smith got up next -morning to have his breakfast, there was -hardly an animal in the whole country -that was not able to talk to him.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER II.<br /> -<span class="small">THE FROG AND THE TOAD</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q p1">“<i>Tommy Smith takes a turn in the garden next day,<br /> -And he finds the frog ready with something to say.</i>” -</p> - -<p class="drop-cap16">AS soon as he had had his breakfast, -Tommy Smith went out into the -garden. It had been raining a little, and -the first thing he saw was a large yellow -frog sitting on the wet grass. Tommy -Smith had a stick in his hand, and he at -once lifted it up over his shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Don’t hit me,” said the frog. “That -would be a <i>very</i> wicked thing to do.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith was so surprised to hear -a frog speak that he dropped his stick -and stood with both his eyes wide open -for several seconds.</p> - -<p>“Why do you want to kill me?” said -the frog.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought he must say -something, so he answered, “Because you -are a nasty, stupid frog.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what you mean by -calling me nasty,” said the frog. “Look<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -at my bright smooth skin, how nice and -clean it is—cleaner than your own face, I -daresay, although it is not long since you -have washed it. As for my being stupid, -you see that I can speak your language, -although you cannot speak mine; and -there are lots of other things which I am -able to do, but you are not. I think I -can catch a fly better than you can.”</p> - -<p>By this time it seemed to Tommy -Smith as if it was quite natural to be -talking to an animal, so he said, “I never -thought that a frog could catch a fly.”</p> - -<p>“You shall see,” said the frog. And -as he spoke a fly settled on a blade of -grass just in front of him. Then all at -once a pink streak seemed to shoot out -of the frog’s mouth; back it came again—snap! -His mouth, which had been -wide open, was shut once more, and the -fly was nowhere to be seen.</p> - -<p>“Have you caught it?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the frog, “and swallowed -it too.”</p> - -<p>“But how did you do it?” said Tommy -Smith; “and what was that funny pink -thing that came out of your mouth?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p>“That was my tongue,” the frog -answered.</p> - -<p>“Your tongue!” cried Tommy Smith. -“But it looked so funny—not at all like -my own tongue.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said the frog. “My tongue is -quite different to yours, and I do not -use it in the same way. Hold out your -hand so that I can hop into it, and then -I will show you all about it.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith did as he was told, and—plop! -there was the frog sitting in his -hand. He at once opened his mouth, -which was a very wide one, and allowed -Tommy Smith to look at his tongue. -What a funny tongue it was! It seemed -to be turned backwards, for the tip, which -was forked, instead of being just inside -the lips as it is with us, was right down -the throat, whilst the root of it was where -the tip of our tongue is.</p> - -<p>“But how do you use a tongue like -that?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Put the tip of your forefinger against -your thumb,” said the frog; “only, first, -you must turn your hand so that the -back of it is towards the ground, and the -palm upwards.” Tommy Smith did so.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -“Now shoot your finger back as hard as -you can.” Tommy Smith did this too. -“That,” said the frog, “is the way I shoot -my tongue out of my mouth when I want -to catch a fly. Like this”—and he shot -it out again. “You see it flies out like -the lash of a whip, and my aim is so good -that it always hits what I want it to, -whether it is a fly or any other insect. -Then I bring it back, just as you would -bring your finger back to your thumb -again, or as the lash of a whip flies back -when you jerk the handle. The tip of it -goes right down my throat where it was -before, and the fly goes down with it.”</p> - -<p>“But why does the fly stay on your -tongue?” said Tommy Smith. “Why -doesn’t it fly away?”</p> - -<p>“It would if it could, of course,” said the -frog; “but it can’t. My tongue, you see, -is sticky—just feel it,—and so whatever it -touches sticks to it, and comes back with -it, if it isn’t too large.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it is very curious,” said Tommy -Smith. “But when you said you could -catch a fly, I did not know that you were -going to eat it too. Then, do you like -flies? and do you eat them every day?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I eat them when I can get them,” said -the frog; “but I like them better at night -than in the daytime, if only I can catch -them asleep. <i>You</i> eat during the day, and -go to sleep at night. That is because you -are a little boy. <i>I</i> am a frog, and we -frogs like to be quiet in the daytime, and -come out to feed when it is dark. We -eat all sorts of insects—beetles, and flies, -and moths, and caterpillars, and we eat -slugs as well, and that is why we are so -useful.”</p> - -<p>“Useful?” cried Tommy Smith. “Oh, -I don’t believe that! I am sure that a -frog can be of no use to anybody.”</p> - -<p>“If you were a gardener you would -think differently,” said the frog; “at least, -if you were not a very ignorant one. -Have I not told you that I eat slugs and -insects, and do you not know that slugs -and insects eat the leaves of the flowers -and vegetables in your garden? Have -you never seen your father or his gardener -pouring something over his rose-trees to -kill the insects upon them? Now, I eat a -great many insects in a single night, and -I am only <i>one</i> of the frogs in your garden. -There are others there besides me. If we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -were all to be killed, your father would -find it much more difficult to have nice -roses, and he would lose other flowers too, -for there are insects which do harm to all -of them. As for the slugs, if you will go -out some night with a lantern, you may -see them feeding on some of the handsomest -plants, with your own eyes. That -is to say, unless one of us frogs has been -there; for if we have, you will not see any. -Then you have seen caterpillars feeding -on the cabbages. Well, <i>I</i> feed on those -caterpillars. So always remember that -the boy who kills a frog, does harm to his -father’s garden.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want to do that,” said Tommy -Smith; “so, if what you say is true”—</p> - -<p>“You can find it in a natural history -book, if you look,” said the frog; “but I -ought to know best myself. And I can -tell you this, that when a frog speaks to a -little boy, he always speaks the truth.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then,” said Tommy Smith, “I -will never hurt a frog again.”</p> - -<p>How pleased the poor frog was when he -heard that. He gave a great hop out of -Tommy Smith’s hand, and came down -upon the grass again, and then he hopped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -about for a little while, jumping higher -each time than the time before. “Frogs -always speak the truth,” he said,—“when -they speak to little boys. And now, -perhaps, you would like to learn something -more about me. Ask me any question -you like, and I will answer it, because of -what you have just promised.”</p> - -<p>This puzzled Tommy Smith a little, -because he did not know where to begin, -but at last he said, “You seem to me a -very big frog. Were you always as big as -you are now?”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course not,” said the frog, “a -frog grows up just as much as a little boy -does. I was once so small that you would -hardly have been able to see me. But, -besides being smaller, I was quite a -different shape to what I am now. I had -no legs at all, but instead of them I had -a long tail, with which I used to swim about -in the water, so that I was much more like -a fish than a frog, and many people would -have thought that I was a fish.”</p> - -<p>“That sounds very funny,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“But were not you once much smaller -than you are now?” said the frog.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh yes!” Tommy Smith answered, -“but however small I was, I was always -a little boy, and had hands and feet, just -as I have now.”</p> - -<p>“With you it is different,” said the frog; -“but there are some animals who are one -thing when they are born, but change into -another as they grow older. It is so with -us frogs, and, if you listen, I will tell you -all about it.”</p> - -<p>“Go on,” said Tommy Smith, “I should -like to hear very much.”</p> - -<p>“In the nice warm weather,” the frog -continued, “we hop about the country, and -then we like to come into gardens. But -in the winter we go to ponds and ditches -and bury ourselves in the mud at the -bottom, and go to sleep there. In the -early spring, when the weather begins to -get a little warmer, we come up again, and -then the mother frog lays a lot of eggs, -which float about in the water, and look -like a great ball of jelly. After a time, -out of each egg there comes a tiny little -brown thing, and directly it comes out, it -begins to swim about in the water, as well -as if it had had swimming lessons, although, -of course, it has never had any. It soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -grows bigger, and then you can see that it -has a large round head and a long tail, but -you cannot see any legs. But, as it goes -on growing, a small pair of hind legs come -out, one on each side of the tail, and then -every day the tail gets smaller and the -hind legs larger. Still there are no front -legs yet, but at last these come too. The -tail is now quite short, and the head and -body begin to look like a frog’s head and -body, which they did not do before, and -they go on looking more and more like -one, until, at last, the little brown thing -with a tail, that swam about like a fish -in the water, has changed into a little -baby frog, that hops about on the land. -Then this little baby frog grows larger -and larger, until, at last, he becomes a -fine fat frog, as big and as handsome as -I am.”</p> - -<p>“It all seems very curious,” said little -Tommy Smith; “and I never knew anything -about it before.”</p> - -<p>“That is because nobody ever told you,” -said the frog, “and you have never thought -of finding out for yourself. But have you -not passed by ponds in the spring time -and seen those little brown things with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -tails that I have been telling you about -swimming about in them?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, I have!” said Tommy Smith; -“but I always thought that those were tadpoles.”</p> - -<p>“They are tadpoles,” said the frog, “but -they are young frogs for all that. A little -tadpole grows into a big frog, just as a -little boy grows into a big man. So you -see, what a funny life mine has been, and -what a lot of curious things have happened -to me.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, you have had a funny life, Mr. -Frog,” said Tommy Smith, “and I think -it is very interesting. But is there any -other clever thing you can do besides -catching flies? I can catch flies myself, -but I do it with my hand instead of with -my tongue.”</p> - -<p>“I can change my skin,” said the frog, -“and <i>that</i> is something which <i>you</i> cannot -do.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tommy Smith; “and I do -not believe you can do it either. I think -you are only laughing at me.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the frog, “as it happens, -my skin fits me quite comfortably now, -and is not at all too tight, so I do not want<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -to change it yet. But I have a cousin—a -toad—who is quite ready to have a new -one. He lives a little way off, in the -shrubbery; so if you would like to see -how he does it, I can bring you to him. -He is very good natured, like myself, -and if you will only promise to leave -off hurting him, as well as me, he will -be very pleased to show you, I am sure. -I must tell you, too, that he is almost as -useful in a garden as I am, for he lives -on the same things, and catches flies and -slugs just as I do.”</p> - -<p>“Then isn’t he <i>quite</i> as useful?” said -Tommy Smith; but as the frog didn’t -seem to hear, he went on with—“Then I -will not hurt him any more than I will -you.”</p> - -<p>“Come along, then,” said the frog; and -he began to hop in front of the little boy -until they came to the shrubbery, where, in -the mould beside a laurel bush, there sat a -great, solemn-looking toad.</p> - -<p>“I have brought someone to see you,” -said the frog. “This is little Tommy -Smith, who used to be such a bad boy, and -kill every animal he saw; but now he has -promised not to hurt either of us.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear it,” answered the -toad, “and I hope he will soon learn to -leave other creatures alone too. Well, -what is it he wants?”</p> - -<p>“He wants to see you change your -skin,” said the frog.</p> - -<p>“He had better look at me, then,” said -the toad, “for that is just what I am -doing.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith bent down to look, and -then he saw that the toad was wriggling -about in rather a funny way, as if he was a -little uncomfortable. He noticed, too, that -his skin had split along the back, and it -seemed to be wrinkling up and getting -loose all over him, although it had been -too tight before. This loose skin was -dirty and old-looking, but underneath it, -where it was split, Tommy Smith could see -a nice new one that looked ever so much -better. The more the toad wriggled, the -looser the old skin got, and it was soon -plain that he was wriggling himself out of -it, just as you might wriggle your hand out -of an old glove. At last he had got right -out of it, and there lay the old skin on the -ground.</p> - -<p>“You see,” said the frog, “that is how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -we change our skin, just as you would -change a suit of clothes. Does he not look -handsome in his new one?”</p> - -<p>“Very handsome—for a toad,” said -Tommy Smith. (The toad only heard -the first two words of this, so he was <i>very</i> -pleased.) “But what is he doing with his -old skin, now that he has got it off?”</p> - -<p>“If you wait a little, you will see,” said -the frog.</p> - -<p>All this time the toad was pushing his -old skin backwards and forwards with his -two front feet, and he kept on doing this -until, at last, he had rolled it up into a sort -of ball. Then all at once he opened his -great wide mouth and swallowed the ball, -just as if it had been a large pill.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith was so surprised that he -could hardly believe his eyes. “He has -swallowed his own skin!” he cried.</p> - -<p>“Of course I have,” said the toad; “and -the best thing to do with it, <i>I</i> think. I -always like to be tidy, and not to leave -things lying about. Now, good-morning,” -and he began to crawl away, for he was -not an <i>idle</i> toad, but had business to -attend to.</p> - -<p>“And I have something to see about,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>” -said the frog, “so I will say good-bye, too, -for the present. But remember what you -have promised—never to hurt a frog or a -toad;” and, with two or three great hops, -he was out of sight.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith stood thinking about it -all for some time, and then he ran into the -house to tell everybody all the wonderful -things he had learnt about frogs and toads, -and to beg them never to kill any, because -they do good in the garden.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER III.<br /> -<span class="small">THE ROOK</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>The rook gives advice which we must not neglect.<br /> -I hope that his CAWS will produce an effect.</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">IT was a nice, fine afternoon, and -Tommy Smith was just going out -for a little walk. He thought he would -take his little terrier dog with him, so he -called, “Pincher! Pincher!” But Pincher -was not there, so he had to go without -him. He was very sorry for this, for when -he had got a little way from the house, -what should run across the road but a rat, -which sat down just inside the hedge and -looked at him. “What a pity,” he said -out loud. “It’s no use my trying to catch -him alone, for he’s sure to get away; but if -Pincher had been with me, we would have -hunted him down together.”</p> - -<p>“Then you would have done very -wrong,” said the rat, as he peeped at little -Tommy Smith through the hedge. “You -are a naughty boy yourself, and you teach -Pincher to be a naughty dog.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What!” said Tommy Smith; “then can -you talk as well as the frog and toad?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I can,” the rat answered; -“and I think if I were to talk to you for a -little while as they did, you would not -wish to hurt <i>me</i> any more either. I am -sure I am just as clever as a frog or a -toad.”</p> - -<p>“Can you change your skin like them?” -said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“<i>My</i> skin never wants changing,” said -the rat; “but there are many other things -I can do which are quite as clever as that.”</p> - -<p>“Well, do some of them,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“I will,” said the rat, “but not now. I -can do things much better at night, and -I prefer being indoors. To-night, when -everybody is in bed and asleep, and the -house is quiet, I will come to your room -and wake you up. We can talk without -being disturbed then, and I will soon teach -you what a clever animal I am.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder what you will have to tell -me,” said Tommy Smith. “But say what -you will, I believe that rats were only made -to be killed.”</p> - -<p>The rat looked <i>very</i> angry. “They have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -as much right to be alive as little boys -have,” he said. “But good-bye for the -present,” and he scampered away.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith walked on, and when he -had gone some little way, he saw a number -of rooks walking about a field. There was -a haystack in the field, and he thought -that perhaps if he were to get behind it -and wait there for a little while, some of the -rooks would come near enough for him to -throw a stone at them. So he put several -stones in his pocket, and then, with one -in his hand, he began to walk towards -the haystack. When he got there, he sat -down behind it, and peeped cautiously -round the corner. Yes, the rooks were -still there, and some of them were coming -nearer. “Oh,” thought Tommy Smith (but -I think he must have thought it aloud), “I -have only to wait a little while, and then, -perhaps, I shall be able to kill one.”</p> - -<p>“For shame!” said a voice close to him.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith looked all about, but he -saw no one. “Who was that?” he said.</p> - -<p>“Oh, fie!” said the voice. “What? kill -a poor rook? What a wicked, wicked thing -to do!”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought that there must -be someone on the other side of the haystack,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -so he went there to see; but he -found no one. Then he walked all round -it, but nobody was there. But the rooks -had seen him as he went round the haystack, -and they all flew away. Then the -same voice (it was rather a hoarse one) -said, “Ah! now they are gone; so you -will not be able to kill any of them.”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” said Tommy Smith. -“I hear you, but I cannot see anybody;” -and, indeed, he began to feel rather -frightened.</p> - -<p>“If I show myself, will you promise not -to hurt me?” said the hoarse voice.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I will,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Very well, then. Throw away that -stone you have in your hand, and the -ones in your pocket as well.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith did this, and then, what -should he see, standing on the very top -of the haystack, but a large black rook. -“Why, where were you?” he said. “I -did not see you there when I looked.”</p> - -<p>“No,” the rook said; “I hid myself -under a little loose hay, for I did not want -a stone thrown at me. I saw you coming, -and I knew very well what you wanted to -do, so I thought I would wait till you came,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -and then give you a good talking to. And, -indeed, a naughty boy like you, who wants -to kill rooks, <i>ought</i> to be scolded.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why it is so naughty,” answered -Tommy Smith; “I have always -thrown stones at the rooks, and nobody -has ever told me not to.”</p> - -<p>“That is just why <i>I</i> have come to tell -you how wrong it is,” said the rook. -“Would you like anybody to throw stones -at you?”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith had to confess that he -would not like <i>that</i> at all.</p> - -<p>“Then, do you not know,” the rook went -on, looking very grave, “that you ought to -do the same to other people that you would -like other people to do to you? Have not -your father and mother taught you that?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, they have,” said Tommy -Smith; “but I don’t think they meant -animals.”</p> - -<p>“They ought to have meant them,” said -the rook, “whether they did or not, for -animals have feelings as well as human -beings. If you are kind to them, they are -happy; but if you are unkind to them and -hurt them, then they are unhappy. An -animal, you know, is a living being like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -yourself, and surely it is better to make -any living being happy than to make it -unhappy.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith looked rather ashamed -when he heard this, and did not quite -know what to say. He thought the rook -spoke as if he were preaching a sermon, -and then he remembered having heard -some old country people talk of “Parson -Rook.” Still, what he <i>said</i> seemed to be -sensible, and all <i>he</i> could say, at last, as an -answer was, “Oh, it’s all very well, but you -know you rooks do a great deal of harm.”</p> - -<p>“That shows how little you know about -us,” answered the rook. “We do not do -harm, but good; and if the farmers knew -how much good we did them, they would -think us their best friends.”</p> - -<p>“Why, what good <i>do</i> you do them?” -said Tommy Smith. “I always thought -that you ate their corn.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps we may eat a little of it,” the -rook said; “that is only fair, for if it were -not for us, the farmer would have very little -corn or anything else. I am sure, at least, -that he would have scarcely any potatoes.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! but why wouldn’t he?” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I will explain it to you,” said the rook. -“So now listen, because you are going to -learn something. There is an insect which -you must often have seen, for it is very -common in the springtime. It is about -the size of a very large humble-bee, and it -has wings too, but you would not think it -had at first, for they are hidden under a -pair of smooth, brown covers, which are -called shards. In the daytime it sits upon -a tree or a bush, or sometimes you may -see it crawling along a dusty road. But -in the evening it begins to fly about with a -humming noise. This insect is called the -cockchafer. The mother cockchafer lays -her eggs in the ground, and, after a few -weeks, there comes out of each egg something -which you would not think was a -cockchafer at all, because it is so different. -It has a yellow head and a long white -body, which is bent at the end in the shape -of a hook. On the front part of its body -it has three pairs of legs, like a caterpillar’s, -only they are very small; but behind, it -has no legs at all. It has a very strong -pair of jaws, and with these it cuts through -the roots of the grass and corn and wheat -under which it lies, for these are the things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -on which it feeds. There is hardly anything -which the farmer plants, and would -like to see grow, that this grub or caterpillar -(for that is what it is) does not eat -and destroy; but what it likes best of all -is the potato.</p> - -<p>“The cockchafer-grub lies in the ground -for four years before it turns into a real -cockchafer, and all this time it keeps growing -larger and larger; and, of course, the -larger it grows, the more it eats and the -more harm it does. Now if there were no -one to kill this great, greedy thing, I don’t -know what the farmers would do, for all -their crops would be spoilt. But we rooks -kill them, and eat them too, for they are -very nice, and we like them very much. -We eat them for breakfast, and dinner, and -supper, so you can think what a lot of -them we eat in the day. When you see -us walking about over the fields, we are -looking for these great white things, and, -whenever we give a dig into the ground -with our beaks, you may be almost sure -that we have either found one of them or -something else which does harm too. -When the fields are ploughed, a great -many grubs and worms are turned up by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -the ploughshare, and then you may see us -following the plough, and walking along in -the furrow it has made, so as to pick up all -we can get. So think what a lot of good -we must do, and remember that the boy -who kills a rook is doing harm to somebody’s -corn, or wheat, or potatoes.”</p> - -<p>“I do not want to do that,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the rook; “so you -must not throw stones at us any more.”</p> - -<p>“I won’t, then,” said Tommy Smith. -“But why do the farmers shoot you, if you -do them so much good?”</p> - -<p>“You may well ask,” the rook answered. -“They ought to be ashamed of themselves. -I will tell you something about -that. Once upon a time some farmers -thought they would kill us all because we -stole their corn; so they all went out -together with their guns, and whenever -they saw any of us, they fired at us and -killed us, until, at last, there was not a rook -left in the whole country; for all those that -had not been shot had flown away. The -farmers were so glad, for they thought that -next year they would have a much better -harvest. But they were quite wrong, for,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -instead of having a better harvest, they -had hardly any harvest at all. The slugs -and the caterpillars, and, above all, the -great, hungry cockchafer-grubs, had eaten -almost everything up; for, you see, there -were no hungry rooks to eat <i>them</i>. The -little corn we used to take from the farmers -they could very well have spared, but now, -without us, they found that they had lost -much more than they could spare. Then -the farmers saw how foolish they had been, -and they were very sorry, and did all they -could to get the rooks to come back again; -and when they did come back, they took -care not to shoot them any more.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith was very interested in -this story which the rook told him, and he -was just going to ask where it all happened, -and whether it was near where he lived or -a long way away, when the rook said, -“Well, I must be flapping” (just as an old -gentleman might say, “Well, I must be -jogging”); “there is a meeting this afternoon -which I ought to attend.”</p> - -<p>“A meeting!” Tommy Smith said, feeling -quite surprised.</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” replied the rook. “Why -not? I belong to a civilised community,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -so, of course, there are meetings. I should -be sorry not to go to <i>some</i> of them.”</p> - -<p>It seemed very funny to Tommy Smith -that birds should have meetings as well as -men. “But, perhaps,” he thought, “it is -not quite the same kind of thing.” Only -he didn’t like to <i>say</i> this, in case the rook -should be offended, so he only asked, -“What sort of a meeting is it that you -are going to, Mr. Rook?”</p> - -<p>“A very important one,” the rook answered. -“It is a meeting to try someone -who is accused of having done something -wrong.”</p> - -<p>“Why, then, it is a trial,” said Tommy -Smith. “But do rooks have trials?”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said the rook. “Have I -not just said that we are a civilised community? -We are not <i>wild</i> birds. Amongst -civilised people, when someone is accused -of doing wrong, he is tried for it, is he -not?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes!” said Tommy Smith. “If he -is a man, he is.”</p> - -<p>“If he is a man, men try him,” said the -rook; “but if he is a rook, rooks do.”</p> - -<p>“But what do you do if you find him -guilty?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why, we punish him, to be sure,” said -the rook; “and if he has been <i>very</i> wicked, -we peck him to death.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but that is very cruel,” said -Tommy Smith. He forgot that he had -seen <i>innocent</i> rooks <i>shot</i> without thinking -it cruel at all.</p> - -<p>“Not more cruel than hanging a man,” -the rook answered. “Do you think it -is?” and Tommy Smith couldn’t say -that he did. He thought he would very -much like to see this trial that the rook -was going to. “Oh, Mr. Rook,” he said, -“do let me go with you.” But the rook -said, “Oh no! that would never do. -No men are allowed at our trials. There -are no rooks at yours, you know.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tommy Smith; “but that -is because”—</p> - -<p>“Never mind why it is,” interrupted -the rook; “no doubt there is some good -reason, and we have our reasons too. -We could not try a rook properly if -we thought a man was watching us. It -would make us nervous. Sometimes -(but not very often) a man has watched -us without our knowing it, and then he -has told everybody about our wonderful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -trials. But people have not believed him; -and other men, who sit at home and see -very little, and only believe what they -see, have written to say it was all nonsense. -But now, when they tell <i>you</i> it -is all nonsense, <i>you</i> will not believe <i>them</i>, -because a rook himself has told you it -is all true.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, and I believe it,” said Tommy -Smith. “But do tell me what the rook -you are going to try has done.”</p> - -<p>“I cannot tell you that till we have -tried him,” said the rook, “for perhaps it -may not be true after all. As yet, I do -not even know what he is accused of. -Perhaps it is of stealing the sticks from -another rook’s nest to make his own -with. Perhaps it is of something even -worse than that. But this you may be -sure of, that if we <i>do</i> peck him to death, -it will be because he has behaved himself -in a manner totally unworthy of a -rook. Now I really must go, or I shall -be late. Good-bye,—and, let me see, I -think you promised never to throw stones -at rooks again.”</p> - -<p>“Oh no!” said Tommy Smith, “I -promise not to.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Or to shoot us when you grow up,” -said the rook, just turning his head round -as he was preparing to fly.</p> - -<p>“Oh no! indeed, I won’t,” said Tommy -Smith; and the rook flew away with a -loud caw of pleasure.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-039.jpg" width="400" height="255" id="i39" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc">“I SHALL KEEP AWAKE TILL THE RAT COMES”</p> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER IV.<br /> -<span class="small">THE RAT</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>The rat is a king. Tommy Smith has a peep<br /> -At his palace: but is he awake or asleep?</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap00">“I SEE you,” said the rat, as Tommy -Smith passed through the yard of -his father’s house. “I see you, but it is not -the right time yet. Wait till to-night.”</p> - -<p>So all that day Tommy Smith kept -thinking of what the rat had promised; -and when his bedtime came, instead of -wanting to stay up longer, as he usually -did, he was quite pleased to go, and -went upstairs without making any fuss. -“Now,” thought he, as he made himself -nice and snug in bed, “I shall keep -awake till the rat comes. I am not at -all sleepy. I can see the branch of the -cedar tree by the window shaking in the -wind, and I can hear the clock ticking -on the staircase. ‘Tick, tick—tick, tick,’—I -wonder if it gets tired of saying that -all day long, and all night long, too, without -ever once stopping,—unless they don’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -wind it up. ‘Tick, tick—tick, tick.’ If -I keep on counting it, I shan’t go to sleep. -‘Tick, tick—tick, tick—tick, tick—tick—squeak!’”</p> - -<p>“What was that?” said Tommy Smith, -as he sat up in bed. “That wasn’t the -clock;” and then, all at once, the old -clock on the stairs struck one. “One? -Then it must be wrong. When I got -into bed it was only”—</p> - -<p>“It is quite right,” said a squeaky -little voice close to Tommy Smith’s ear, -“I don’t know what time it was when -you got into bed, but you have been -asleep for a good many hours; and now -it is one in the morning, which is what -<i>I</i> call a nice, comfortable time.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose you are the rat,” said -Tommy Smith, rubbing his eyes.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am,” the same voice answered. -“But it is too dark for you to see me here. -Get up, and put on some of your clothes, -and then we will come down to the -kitchen. The fire is not quite out, and -you can put a few more sticks on it. -Then you will be able to see me as -well as I can see you now, and we can -talk together comfortably.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-041.jpg" width="400" height="526" id="i41" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc">PAT, PAT, PAT. “DO YOU HEAR?”</p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But can you see in the dark?” said -Tommy Smith, whilst he sat on the bed -and began to put on his stockings.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” the rat answered; “just -as well as I can in the light.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I could,” said Tommy Smith, -“for I can’t see <i>you</i> at all.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the rat. “So, -you see, it has not taken a <i>very</i> long -time to find out something which I can -do, but you can’t. Well, you are ready -now, so come along. You will be able -to follow me, for I will pat the floor just -in front of you with my tail,—and that is -another thing which you couldn’t do, -even if you were to try for a very long -time.”</p> - -<p>“Because <i>I</i> haven’t got a tail,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“That is one reason,” the rat answered; -“but you can’t be sure you could do it -even if you had one. It might be too -short, you know. Now, come along.” -Pat, pat, pat. “Do you hear?”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith heard quite plainly, and -he followed the rat through the door, and -down the stairs, and right into the kitchen. -The fire was still alight, as the rat had said.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -There were some sticks lying in the fender, -and Tommy Smith put some of them on -to make it burn up. Then there was a -blaze of light, and he could see the rat -sitting up on his hind legs, and holding his -front paws close to the bars so as to warm -them.</p> - -<p>“Now,” the rat said, “we will begin at -once. I promised to show you that I -could do some clever things as well as the -frog and toad. Do you see that bottle of -oil standing there on the dresser?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, I see it,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Well,” the rat went on, “I should like -to taste a little of it. But how do you -suppose I am to get at it?”</p> - -<p>“Why, by knocking it over,” said -Tommy Smith at once. “That is the -only way that I can see.”</p> - -<p>“Fie!” said the rat. “That may be <i>your</i> -way of drinking oil, but <i>I</i> should be -ashamed to make such a mess. <i>I</i> am a -rat, and I like to do things in a proper -manner.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith felt a little offended at -this, and he said, “I never knock a bottle -over when I want to get oil or anything -else out of it, for <i>I</i> am a little boy, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -have a pair of hands to lift it up with, and -pour what is in it out of it. But you have -no hands, and you cannot get your head -into it, because the neck is too narrow, and -your tongue is not long enough to reach -down to where the oil is. So I don’t see -what you can do, unless you knock it -over.”</p> - -<p>“Fie!” said the rat again. “Well, you -shall soon see what I can do.” And -almost as he said this, he was on the -dresser, and from there he gave a little -jump on to the window-sill, and sat down, -with his long tail hanging over the edge of -it. Now the neck of the bottle came -almost up to the edge of the window-sill, -and the rat’s tail was as long as the bottle.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see!” cried Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“You will in a minute,” said the rat, and -he drew up his tail, and began to feel about -with the tip of it till he had got it right -inside the mouth of the bottle. Then he -let it down again until it was dipped more -than an inch deep into the oil at the -bottom—for the bottle was not quite half -full.</p> - -<p>“Oh, how clever!” cried Tommy Smith, -clapping his hands.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I should think so,” said the rat, as he -drew out his tail, and then, putting the end -of it to his mouth, he began to lick off the -delicious oil. “You say that I have not a -pair of hands,” he went on. “That is true, -but you see I have a tail, and I make it do -just as well.”</p> - -<p>“So you do,” said Tommy Smith; “and -I see that you are a very clever animal -indeed.”</p> - -<p>“We are clever in many other ways -besides that,” said the rat. “Oil, you -know, is not the only thing which we care -about. We like eggs for breakfast, just as -much as you do, and when we find any, we -take them to our holes, even if they are a -long way off. Now, how do you think we -do that?”</p> - -<p>“Let me see,” said Tommy Smith. -“You have no hands, and I don’t think -you could carry an egg in your tail. I -think you must push it in front of you -with your nose and paws.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we can do that, of course,” said the -rat, “but it takes so long, and, besides, the -eggs might get broken. We have better -ways than that. Sometimes, if there are a -great many of us, we all sit in a row, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -pass the eggs along from one to the other -in our fore-paws. But we have another -way which is cleverer still, and as there is -a basket of eggs in that cupboard there, I -don’t mind showing it you; for, between -ourselves, when we do <i>that</i> trick, we like to -have a little boy in the kitchen at nights -to look at us. But, first, I must call a -friend of mine.” The rat then gave rather -a loud squeak, and out another rat came -running; but Tommy Smith didn’t see -where it came from.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” said the second rat.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I want to show little Tommy -Smith how we carry eggs about,” said the -first rat.</p> - -<p>“Very well,” said the second rat. -“Come along.” And they both scampered -into the cupboard together. (The door of -the cupboard was half open. <i>I</i> think it -ought to have been shut.)</p> - -<p>Very soon the two rats came out again, -but whatever do you think they were -doing? Why, one of them was on his -back, and the other one was dragging him -along the floor by his tail, which he had in -his mouth. But what was that white thing -which the rat who was being dragged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -along was holding? Was it an egg? Yes, -indeed it was; and he was holding it very -tightly with all his four feet, so that it was -pressed up against his body, and didn’t slip -at all.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith could hardly believe his -eyes. “Is that how you do it?” he cried. -“I see. One rat holds the egg, and the -other pulls him along by the tail.”</p> - -<p>“Of course he does,” said the rat. “He -pulls him and the egg too.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Well</i>,” Tommy Smith said, “of all the -clever things I have <i>ever</i> seen, I think that -is the cleverest. But where are you going -with it?”</p> - -<p>Yes, it was easy to ask, but there was no -one to answer him; for both the little rats -were gone all of a sudden,—and, what is -more, the egg was gone too. “That will -be one egg less for breakfast,” thought -Tommy Smith to himself. “I wonder -that I didn’t think of that before. Ah, -Mr. Rat,” he called out, “you may be very -clever, but you are a thief, for all that. -That egg which you have just taken away -belongs to me. I mean it belongs to my -father and mother. I call that stealing.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, do you?” said the rat, for he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -come out of his hole again. “Then just -let me ask you one question. Who laid -that egg?”</p> - -<p>“Why, the hen did, of course,” answered -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh, did she?” said the rat. “Then I -suppose your father, or someone else, took -it away from her, and <i>I</i> call <i>that</i> stealing.”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Tommy Smith; “I don’t -think it is.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you?” said the rat. “Well, you -had better ask the hen what <i>she</i> thinks. I -feel sure she would agree with me.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith felt certain that the rat -was wrong, and that the egg had not been -stolen. Still, he thought he had better not -ask the hen; and, whilst he was considering -what he should say, the rat went on with—“There -are other things we rats do which -are quite as clever as what you have just -seen. But, perhaps, if I were to show -them you, you would make some other -rude remark about stealing.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I should,” Tommy Smith -answered; “and, besides, I feel very sleepy, -and should like to go upstairs to bed -again.”</p> - -<p>As he said this, he yawned, and looked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -straight into the fire; but, dear me, what -<i>was</i> happening there? The coals in it -seemed to be getting larger and larger, -till they looked like the sides of great red -mountains, and the spaces between them -were like great caves, so deep that Tommy -Smith could not see to the bottom of them. -In and out of these caves, and all down -the sides of the red mountains, hundreds -of rats were running, and they all met each -other in the centre of—what? Not of the -fireplace. Of course not, for they would -have been burnt. Nor of the kitchen -either. There was no kitchen now. It -had all disappeared. It was in the centre -of a great hall, or amphitheatre, that -Tommy Smith stood now; and when he -looked round him, he saw only those great -rugged mountains, which seemed to make -its walls on every side. He looked up -but he could see nothing. There was -neither sun, nor moon, nor stars, yet -everything was lit up with a strange light, -which seemed to Tommy Smith like the -red glow of the fire, though he couldn’t see -the fire any more. It had gone with the -kitchen.</p> - -<p>“Where am I?” he cried.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p> - -<p>“In the great underground store-cupboard -of the rats,” said a voice close beside -him; and, looking round, he saw the same -rat who had come up into his bedroom, -and taken him down to the kitchen, and -shown him his clever tricks.</p> - -<p>Yes, he was the same rat,—but how -different he looked! On his head was a -yellow crown, which was either of gold, or -<i>else</i> it must have been cut out of a cheese-paring; -and in his right fore-paw he held -his sceptre, which looked <i>exactly</i> like a -delicate spring-onion. He had a necklace -of the finest peas round his neck, from -which a lovely green bean hung as a -pendant upon his breast, and his tail was -twisted into beautiful <i>rings</i>. “I am the -king of the rats,” he said, “and all the -other rats are my subjects. Those great -caves which you see in the sides of the -mountains are so many passages that lead -into all the kitchens of the world. Through -them we bring all the good things that -we find in the kitchens, and larders, and -pantries, and then we feast on them here -in our own palace; for a rat’s palace is his -store-cupboard. See!” And with this -the rat king struck his sceptre on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -ground, and at once all the rats left off -scampering about, and formed themselves -into a great many long lines, which -stretched from the mouths of all the caves -right into the very middle of that wonderful -place. There they all sat upright, side -by side, waiting to be told what to do. -Then the king of the rats waved his sceptre -three times round his head, and called out, -“Supper.” Immediately all kinds of things -that are good for rats to eat, such as bits -of cheese, scraps of bread or toast, beans, -onions, bacon, potatoes, apples, biscuits,—everything -of that kind that you can -possibly think of (besides <i>some</i> things that -you <i>can’t</i> possibly think of), began to pour -out from all the great caves, and to fly like -lightning from rat to rat down all the long -lines. One rat seized something in his -fore-paws and passed it on to another, and -that one to the next, so quickly that it -made Tommy Smith quite giddy to look -at it; and he hardly knew what was -happening, till all at once there was an immense -heap of provisions piled up in the -very centre of the floor. Then the king of -the rats climbed up to the top of the heap, -and called out, “Take your places,” and in -a moment all the other rats came scampering -up, and sat in a large circle round the -great heap of provisions. “Begin!” said -the king; and every rat made a leap -forward, and fixed his teeth into the first -piece of bread, or cheese, or toast, or -bacon, that he could get hold of, and there -was <i>such</i> a noise of nibbling, and gnawing, -and scratching, and squeaking. Tommy -Smith was quite frightened, and put his -fingers to his ears.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-051.jpg" width="400" height="653" id="i51" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc">“BITE HIM!”</p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> - -<p>“What are you doing that for?” said the -king of the rats. “Didn’t you hear me tell -you to begin?”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t want to begin,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” said the king; and all the -other rats stopped eating, and said, “Why -not?”</p> - -<p>“Because I don’t like eating in the -night,” Tommy Smith answered; “and, -besides, I can’t eat what rats eat.”</p> - -<p>At this there was a great commotion, -and the king of the rats cried out, -“Bite him!” in a very loud and shrill -voice.</p> - -<p>Oh, how fast little Tommy Smith ran! -“The caves!” he thought. “They lead to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -all the kitchens of the world, so one of -them must lead to ours.” He got to one, -but the rats were close behind him. He -could see their eyes shining in the dark as -he looked back. “Oh dear!” he said; “I -shall be caught. It’s getting narrower and -narrower, and, of course, it must be a rat’s -hole at the other end. Ah, there! I’m -stuck, and I shall be bitten all over.” As -he said this, he kicked and squeezed as hard -as he could, and, to his great surprise, he -found that the sides of the rat-hole were -quite soft—in fact, they felt very like bedclothes; -and the next moment his head -was on his own pillow, and the old clock -on the staircase struck two.</p> - -<p>“Well, good-night,” said a squeaky little -voice, that he seemed to have heard before. -“If you <i>will</i> go to sleep, I can’t help it, but -I think the way in which little boys turn -night into day is quite dreadful.”</p> - -<p>The next time Tommy Smith heard the -old clock on the stairs, it was striking -eight, so, of course, it was broad daylight, -and high time to get up. “What a funny -dream I have had,” he said, as he rubbed -his eyes; “or did the rat really come, as -he said he would?” Then, after thinking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -a little, he said to himself, “Rats are certainly -very clever animals, and I don’t -think I’ll kill another, even if they do steal -a few things. At anyrate, <i>I</i> won’t hurt -<i>them</i> until <i>they</i> hurt <i>me</i>.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER V.<br /> -<span class="small">THE HARE</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>When you’ve read through this chapter, I’m sure you’ll declare<br /> -That you hate everybody who hunts the poor hare.</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">WHAT a beautiful day it was!</p> - -<p>How bright the sun shone, and -how pleasantly the birds were singing,—for -it was the lovely season of spring. -All the air was full of melody, so that -it seemed to Tommy Smith as if he had -somehow got inside a very large musical -box, which <i>would</i> keep on playing. And -so he had, <i>really</i>, only it was Nature’s great -musical box,—the music was immortal, -and the works were alive.</p> - -<p>Far up in the sky the lark was doing -his very best to please little Tommy -Smith and everybody else, for he made -whoever heard him feel happier than they -had felt before. But what was little -Tommy Smith doing to show how grateful -he was to the bird that gave him so -much pleasure? Why, I am sorry to -say that he was trying to find the poor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -lark’s nest, so that he might take away -the eggs which were in it,—those eggs -which the mother lark had been taking -so much trouble to keep warm, so that -little baby larks might come out of them, -which she meant to feed and take care -of till they were grown up, and could fly -and sing like herself. It was the thought -of those eggs, and of the mother bird -sitting upon them, which made the lark -himself sing so gladly up in the air, for, -when he looked down, he fancied he could -see them; and he knew that there was -someone waiting for him there who would -be glad to see him again, when he came -down to roost. But Tommy Smith did -not think of this, for nobody had talked -to him about it. All he thought of was -how he could get the eggs, so that he -could take them away with him, and show -them to other boys.</p> - -<p>Ah! what was that? How gracefully -the cowslips waved, and up went a lark -into the sky; and as he rose he seemed -to shake a song out of his wings. Tommy -Smith thought there was sure to be a nest -close to where he had risen, so he went -to look; but before he had got to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> -place, away went something—something -brown like a lark, but ever so much -larger, and, instead of flying, it galloped -along over the ground; so, you see, it was -not a bird at all. What was it? Tommy -Smith knew well enough, for he had often -seen such an animal before. “Ha!” he -cried. “Puss! puss! A hare! a hare!” -and he sent the stick which he had in -his hand whizzing after it; but, I am glad -to say, he did not hit it.</p> - -<p>The hare did not seem so very -frightened. Perhaps he knew that he -could run away faster than any stick -thrown by a little boy could come after -him. At anyrate, before he had gone -far, he stopped, and then he turned round, -and raised himself right up, almost on -his hind legs, and looked back at Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Well,” he said, as Tommy Smith came -up; “you see you cannot catch me.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tommy Smith—he was -getting quite accustomed to having talks -with animals,—“you run too quickly.”</p> - -<p>“For my part,” said the hare, “I wonder -how any little boy who has a kind heart -can like to tease and frighten a poor, timid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -animal who is persecuted in so many ways -as I am.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by ‘persecuted’?” -said Tommy Smith. “That is a word -which I don’t understand. It is too long -for me.”</p> - -<p>“It is a great pity,” the hare went on, -“that a little boy should always be <i>doing</i> -something which he does not know the -word for. To ‘persecute’ people is to be -very cruel to them, and whenever you hurt, -or annoy, or frighten, or ill-treat any of us -animals, then you are persecuting us.”</p> - -<p>“If I had known that,” said Tommy -Smith, “I would not have done it.”</p> - -<p>“Then you mustn’t do it any more,” -said the hare; “and especially not to me, -because I have so many enemies who are -always trying to injure me.”</p> - -<p>“Why, what enemies have you?” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Plenty,” the hare said. “First, there -is that wicked animal the fox, who is -always ready to kill and eat me whenever -he has the chance. He is very -cunning, and, as he knows he cannot run -fast enough to catch me, he tries all sorts -of ways to pounce upon me when I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -not expecting it. Sometimes he will wait -by a hole in the hedge that he has seen -me go through, and when I come to it -again, he springs out and seizes me with -his teeth and kills me, for he is much -stronger than I am. Then sometimes -one fox will chase me past a place where -another fox is hiding, and then the fox -that was hiding jumps out at me, and they -both eat me together.”</p> - -<p>“How wicked!” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Is it not?” said the hare. “And then -there is that horrid little creature the -weasel. He follows me about till he -catches me, and then he bites me in the -throat, so that I bleed to death.”</p> - -<p>“That <i>is</i> horrid of him,” said Tommy -Smith. “But there is one thing which I -cannot understand. The weasel does not -go so very fast, and you can run faster -than a horse. I am sure that if you were -to run away, he would never be able to -catch you.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t know what it is,” said the -hare. “That odious little animal follows -me about, and never leaves off. You see, -wherever I go I leave a smell behind me.”</p> - -<p>“Do you?” said Tommy Smith. “That<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -seems very funny. Why, I am close to -you, and I don’t smell anything.”</p> - -<p>“Little boys cannot smell nearly as well -as animals,” said the hare. “However, I -don’t <i>quite</i> understand it myself, for I am -sure I am as clean as any animal can be, -and there is nothing nasty about me; -and yet whenever my feet touch the -ground, they leave a smell upon it. That -is my <i>scent</i>; but other animals have -their scent too as well as I, so I needn’t -mind about it. Now the weasel has a -very good nose, so that he is able to -follow the scent that I have left on the -ground, until he comes to where I am; -and, besides, when I know that that cruel -little animal is following me, I get so -frightened that I cannot run away, as I -would from you, or from a fox, or a dog. -And so he comes up and kills me.”</p> - -<p>“Poor hare!” said Tommy Smith. “I -feel very sorry for you. I am afraid that -you are not clever like other animals, or -else you would escape and get away more -often. The rat would run down a hole, -I am sure, and so would the rabbit. I -have often seen him do it.”</p> - -<p>“Pray do not compare me to the rabbit,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>” -said the hare. “I have twice as much -sense as he has, and I can tell you that -you make a great mistake if you think I -am not clever, for I am very clever indeed, -as I will soon show you. If you will -follow me a few steps, I will take you -to the place where I was lying when -you frightened me out of it. See, here -it is. Look how nicely the grass is -pressed downward and bent back on -each side, so that it makes a pretty -little bower for me to rest in when I -am tired of running about. That is -better, I think, than a mere hole in the -ground; and, for my part, I look upon -burrowing as a very foolish habit. <i>I</i> -prefer fresh air, and I think that it is -much nicer to see all about one than to -live in the dark. This little bower of -mine is what people call my <i>form</i>, and -I am so fond of it that, however often -I am driven away, I always come back -to it again. And now, how do you -think I get into this form of mine? I -have told you that wherever I go I leave -a scent upon the ground, so if I just -came to my form and walked into it, -any animal that crossed my scent would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -be able to follow it till he came to where -I was. Now, what do you think I do -to prevent this?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Tommy Smith, -after he had thought a little; “I don’t see -how you can prevent it, for you must come -to your form on your feet,—you cannot -fly.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said the hare; “but I can jump. -Look!” And he gave several leaps into -the air, which made Tommy Smith clap -his hands and call out, “Bravo! how well -you do it!”</p> - -<p>“Now,” said the hare, “when I am -coming back to my form, I leap first to -this side and then to that side, and then I -make a very big jump indeed, and down I -come in my own house. Of course, by -doing this, I make it much more difficult -for a fox or a weasel to smell where I have -been, for it is only where my feet touch -the ground that I leave my scent upon it.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, I see,” cried Tommy Smith; “so, -when you make long jumps, your feet will -not touch the ground at so many places as -they would if you only just ran along it.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the hare.</p> - -<p>“And then there will not be so many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -places for a dog or a fox to smell where -you have been,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Not nearly so many,” said the hare; -“that is the reason why I do it. I hope -you think <i>that</i> quite as clever as just -running down a hole, which is what the -rat and the rabbit do.”</p> - -<p>“I think it very clever, indeed,” said -Tommy Smith; “and I see now that you -are a clever animal.”</p> - -<p>“I have other ways of escaping when I -am chased,” the hare went on; “and I think, -when you have heard them, you will confess -they are quite as clever as anything which -that conceited animal, the rat, has shown -you. As to the rabbit, I say nothing. He -is a relation of mine, and we have always -been friendly. But the brains are not on -<i>his</i> side of the family.”</p> - -<p>“Please go on, Mr. Hare,” said Tommy -Smith. “I should like to hear all you can -tell me.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-063.jpg" width="400" height="468" id="i63" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc">ALL HAPPY (EXCEPT THE HARE)</p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well,” the hare said, “I have told you -about the fox and the weasel, but they are -not my only enemies. I have others—horses -and dogs, and, worst of all, hard-hearted -men and women, who ride the -horses, and teach the dogs to run after me, -and to catch me. It is a pretty sight to -see them all meet together in some field or -lane. First one rides up, and then another, -until there are quite a number. They laugh -and talk whilst they wait for the huntsman -to come with his pack of hounds. All are -merry and light-hearted; even the horses -neigh, they are in such spirits. Does it not -seem funny that one creature’s wretchedness -should make so many creatures happy? -And there are women—ladies, some of them -quite young, and <i>so</i> pretty—like angels. I -have seen them smile as if they could not -hurt any living thing. You would have -thought that they had come to stroke me, -instead of to hunt me to death. But I -know better. They are not to be trusted. -They have soft cheeks, and soft eyes, and -soft looks, but their hearts are hard.</p> - -<p>“At last, up comes the huntsman, in his -green coat and black velvet cap. He -cracks his whip, and the dogs leap and -bark around him—<i>such</i> a noise! I hear it -all as I lie crouched in my form, and my -heart beats with terror. But I cannot lie -there long, for now they are coming towards -me. I start up, and run for my life. -Away I go, one poor, timid animal, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -never hurt anyone, and after me come men -and women, boys and girls, horses and -dogs, all happy, and all thinking it the -finest thing in the world to hunt and to -kill—a hare.”</p> - -<p>“Are the dogs greyhounds?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“No,” answered the hare; “the dogs I -am talking about now are not greyhounds, -but beagles. They hunt me by scent, but -the greyhound hunts me by sight, for he -runs so fast that he can always see me.”</p> - -<p>“Does he run as fast as you do?” asked -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” said the hare; “he runs -much faster, but he does not always catch -me, for all that. When he is close behind -me, I stop all of a sudden, and crouch flat -on the ground. The greyhound cannot stop -himself so quickly, for he is not so clever -as I am. He runs right over me, and it is -several seconds before he can turn round -again. But <i>I</i> turn round as soon as he -has passed me, and then I run as fast as I -can the other way, so that, when he starts -after me again, he is a good way behind. -When he catches up to me, I do the same -thing again. This clever trick of mine is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -called <i>doubling</i>, and I <span class="smcap">am</span> so proud of it, -for if it was not for that, the greyhound -would catch me directly.”</p> - -<p>“Then does he never catch you?” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“He never has yet,” said the hare. -“But I have other ways of getting away -from him, as well as from other dogs, and -I will tell you some of them. Sometimes -I run under a gate. The dogs are too big -to do this, so they are obliged to jump -over it. Then, when they are near me, on -the other side I double, in the way I told -you, run as fast as I can back to the gate, -and go under it again. Of course they have -to jump over it a second time, and in this -way I keep running under the gate and -making them jump over it until they are -quite tired, for, of course, it is more tiring -to jump over anything than only to run -under it. At last, when they are too tired -to run any more, I slip quietly through a -hedge and gallop away.”</p> - -<p>“Bravo!” cried Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>The hare looked very pleased, and said, -“I see that you are not at all a stupid boy, -so I will tell you something else. Now, -supposing you were being chased across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -the fields by a lot of dogs, and you were -to come to a flock of sheep, what would -you do?”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought a little, and -then he said, “I think I should call out -to the shepherd and ask him to help -me.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and I daresay he <i>would</i> help <i>you</i>,” -said the hare, “for he would remember the -time when <i>he</i> was a little boy, and he would -feel sorry for you. But he would not feel -sorry for <i>me</i>, who am only a little hare (he -was never <i>that</i>, you know). He would -throw his stick at me, as you did, and then -he would do all he could to help the dogs to -catch me. No, it is not the shepherd that -I should ask to help me, but the sheep—<i>they</i> -are so gentle,—and when I came to -them I should run right into the middle of -them, and then the dogs would not be able -to find me.”</p> - -<p>“But would not the dogs follow you in -amongst the sheep and catch you there?” -said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“No,” said the hare, “they would not -be able to; for the flock would keep -together, so that the dogs could only run -round the outside of it. But <i>I</i> should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -keep right in the middle, and wherever the -sheep went, I should go with them; <i>I</i> -could run between their feet, you know. -Besides, the dogs would not be able to see -me amongst so many sheep.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tommy Smith. “But could -not they still follow you by your scent?”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed, they could not,” said the -hare; “for, you see, sheep have a stronger -scent than I have, and they would put -down their feet just in the very place -where I had put down mine, and then -their scent would hide mine. So, you see, -by hiding amongst a flock of sheep I -should save my life, for the dogs would -not be able either to see me, or smell me, -or to follow me, even if they could.”</p> - -<p>“Have you ever done it?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes!” said the hare; “and there is -something else which I have done. Sometimes -when the dogs were chasing me, I -have run to where I knew another hare -was sitting, and I have pushed that hare -out of his place, so that the dogs have -followed <i>him</i> instead of <i>me</i>. <i>I</i> sat down -where <i>he</i> had been sitting, and they all -went by without finding it out.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well,” said Tommy Smith, “that may -have been very clever, but I don’t think it -was at all kind to the other hare.”</p> - -<p>The hare looked a little surprised at -this, as if he had not thought of it before. -“One hare should help another, you -know,” he said; “and, besides, I daresay -the dogs did not catch him after all. <i>He</i> -may have found <i>another</i> hare.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith was just beginning with -“Oh, but”—when the hare said, “Never -mind!” rather impatiently, and then he -continued, “And now I am going to tell -you something which will show you that, -although I am not a large or a fierce -animal, I can sometimes be revenged on -those who injure me, though they are -larger and fiercer than myself.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, do tell me,” said Tommy Smith, -for the hare had paused a little, and -seemed to be thinking.</p> - -<p>“Ah!” he began again; “how well I -remember it. I was very nearly caught -that time. How fast the greyhounds ran, -and how close behind me they were! -What could I do to get away? I had -gone up steep hills to tire them; and I -<i>had</i> tired them, but then I had tired<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -myself still more. I had run up one side -of a hedge and down the other, so that -they should not see me, and then I had -gone through the roughest and thorniest -part of that hedge, in hopes that they -would not be able to follow. But they -had kept close after me all the time, and -now they were just at my heels. Then I -doubled. Oh, how close I lay on the -ground as the greyhounds leaped over me! -I saw their white teeth, and their glaring -eyes, and their red tongues lolling out of -their great open mouths. But they had -missed me, and I was saved for a little -while. But where was I to run to next? -There were no hedges now; no woods, or -hills, or rocky ground, nothing but smooth -level grass, which is just what greyhounds -love to race over. Was there no escape? -Yes. What was that long line far away -where the green grass ended and the blue -sky began? White birds were wheeling -above it, and, from beneath, came a sound -as though a giant were whispering. That -was the sound of the sea, and the long line -meeting the sky was the line of the cliffs. -Oh, if I could reach it! But, first, I had -to double—once—twice—three times;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -over me they flew, and off I darted again. -And now the line grew nearer, the white -birds looked larger as they sailed in the -air, and the whispering sound was changing -to a moan—to a roar. Yes, I was -close to it now, but the greyhounds were -just behind me, and their hot breath blew -upon my fur. They had caught me! No. -On the very edge of the cliffs I doubled once -more, and <i>once</i> more they went over me.”</p> - -<p>“And over the cliffs?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the hare; “over me, and -over the cliffs as well. Something hid the -sky for a moment,—a dark cloud passed -above me. Then the sky was clear again; -and there were no greyhounds now. Over -and over, down, down, down they went, -and were dashed to pieces on the black -rocks, and drowned in the white waves. -I know they were, for I peeped over the -edge and saw it. You may ask the seagulls, -if you like. They saw it too.”</p> - -<p>“Were they all drowned?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes, all,” said the hare.</p> - -<p>“And were you glad?” he asked, for -it seemed to him very dreadful.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Well,” the hare said, “I was glad to -escape, of course, and so would you have -been. But yet I could not help feeling -sorry for the poor dogs, because they had -been <i>taught</i> to chase me, and it was not -their fault. Do you know who I should -have liked to see fall over the cliffs instead -of them?”</p> - -<p>“Who?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“The cruel, hard-hearted men who -taught them,” said the hare. “It is they -who ought to have been drowned, and I -am very sorry that they were not.”</p> - -<p>“You poor hare!” said Tommy Smith, -as he stroked its soft fur, and played with -its long, pretty ears. “It is very hard -that you should always be hunted, and I -do think that you are very badly treated. -But what clever ways you have of escaping! -Do you know, I think you are the -cleverest animal I have had a talk with -yet, and I like you very much.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! it is all very well to say that -now,” said the hare. “But who was it -that threw a stick at me?”</p> - -<p>“I never will again,” said Tommy -Smith. “You know you jumped up all of -a sudden, so that I had no time to think.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -But I did not come out on purpose to -throw it at you. I only wanted to find a -lark’s nest, so as to get the eggs.”</p> - -<p>When the hare heard that, I cannot tell -you how sad and grieved he looked. -“What!” he said. “Would you take the -poor lark’s eggs away, and make it unhappy? -No, no; if you really like me, as -you say you do, you must promise me not -to do anything so cruel as that. The lark -is the best friend I have. He sings to me -as I lie in my form, and consoles me for -all my troubles. His voice cheers me too, -when I am being chased by the dogs, for -he always seems to be saying, ‘You will -get away; I know you will get away.’ -Then sometimes he comes down to roost -quite close to me, and we talk to each -other. <i>He</i> tells <i>me</i> what it is like up -above the clouds, and <i>I</i> tell <i>him</i> all that -has been going on down here. He has <i>his</i> -trials too, for there are hawks that try to -catch <i>him</i>, just as there are greyhounds -that try to catch <i>me</i>; so we sit and -comfort each other. Promise me never -to be unkind to my friend the lark.”</p> - -<p>“I won’t hurt him,” said Tommy Smith. -“And if ever I find his nest with eggs in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -it, I will only just look at them and leave -them there.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, thank you,” the hare said; “and -you won’t hurt me either?”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed, I won’t,” said Tommy -Smith. “Do you know, I begin to think -that it would be better not to hurt any -animal.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, much better!” said the hare, as -he skipped gladly away. “Except the -fox,—and the weasel, you may hurt <i>him</i>—if -you can catch him.” He said that, of -course, because he <i>was</i> a hare, and felt -prejudiced. You must not think <i>I</i> agree -with him. Only a critic or a silly person -would think <i>that</i>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<span class="small">THE GRASS-SNAKE AND ADDER</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>Tommy Smith has a talk with the grass-snake, and then<br /> -With the adder: they’re both as conceited as men.</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">WHEN Tommy Smith had said -good-bye to the hare, he thought -he would walk home through some woods -which were not far off. So off he set -towards them, and as he went along he -said to himself, “I know there are a -great many animals that live in the woods. -Now I wonder which of them will be the -first to have a talk with me. Let me see. -The pigeon and the squirrel both live -there, for I have often seen them together -on the same tree. And then there is the—” -Good gracious! What was that -just gliding out from under a bush? -Tommy Smith gave a start and a jump, -and well he might, for it was a large -snake, perhaps three feet long. He was -so surprised that, at first, he didn’t quite -know what to do, and before he had made -up his mind, it was too late to do anything,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -for the snake had wriggled away -into another bush. “It was an adder,” -said Tommy Smith out loud. “That, -at least, is an animal which I <i>ought</i> to -kill, because it is poisonous.”</p> - -<p>“I beg your pardon,” said a sharp, -hissing voice. “I am not an adder, and -I am <i>not</i> poisonous.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith looked all about, but -he could see nothing. Still, he felt sure -that it must be the snake who had -spoken, because the voice came from the -very centre of the bush into which he -had seen it go. So he answered, “Of -course it is very easy for you to say -that, but everybody knows that snakes -are poisonous, and, if you are not a snake, -I should just like to know what you -are.”</p> - -<p>“I did not say that I was not a <i>snake</i>,” -said the voice again. “Of course I am, -but I am not an adder for all that. There -are two different kinds of snakes in this -country. One is the adder, which is -poisonous, and the other is the grass-snake, -which is quite harmless. Now <i>I</i> -am the grass-snake, so if you had killed -me, you would have done something very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -wrong, for you would have killed a poor -harmless animal.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Tommy Smith, “if that -is true, I am glad I didn’t kill you. But -are you quite sure?”</p> - -<p>“If you don’t believe <i>me</i>,” said the -snake, “you must get some good book -of natural history, and there you will -find it mentioned that we grass-snakes -are quite harmless. It is the great -superiority which our family have always -had over that of the adder. People may -call <i>him</i> a ‘poisonous reptile,’ but they -cannot speak of <i>us</i> in that way. If they -were to, they would only show their -ignorance.”</p> - -<p>“But how am I to know which is one -and which is the other?” asked Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“You will not find <i>that</i> very difficult,” -the grass-snake answered; “and if you -will promise not to hurt me, I will come -out from where I am and show you.”</p> - -<p>Of course Tommy Smith promised (you -see he was getting a much better boy to -animals than he used to be), and directly -he had, the snake came gliding out from -under the bush, and lay on the ground<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -just at his feet. “Now”, he said, “to -begin with, I am a good deal longer -than an adder. I should just like to -see the adder that was three feet long, -and <i>I</i> am an inch longer than that. No, -indeed! Whenever you see such a fine, -long snake as I am, you may be sure -that it is a nice grass-snake, and not a -nasty adder.”</p> - -<p>“I won’t forget that,” said Tommy -Smith. “But, I suppose, snakes grow -like other animals. How should I be -able to tell you from an adder if I -were to meet you before you were three -feet long?”</p> - -<p>“Why, by my skin, to be sure!” said -the grass-snake. “Look how beautifully -it is marked, and what a fine greenish -colour it is. I may well be proud of it, -for a very great poet indeed has called -it ‘enamelled,’ and says that it is fit for -a fairy to wrap herself up in. Think -of <i>that</i>! The adder’s is quite different, -only a dull, dirty brown, which I <i>might</i> -call ugly if I were ill-natured. But I -am <i>not</i>, so I will only say that it is -plain. I don’t think any fairy would -like to wrap herself in <i>his</i> skin.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But are there fairies?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“There are, as long as you are a little -boy,” said the grass-snake; “but as soon -as you are grown up there will be none.”</p> - -<p>“How funny!” said Tommy Smith. -“But do you know, Mr. Grass-Snake, I -should not like to wrap myself up in -your skin, even if I could, because it is -so hard and covered with scales. And -besides, how could the fairies get into -it without killing you first? I don’t -suppose you can change it as the frog -and the toad do.”</p> - -<p>“Not change it!” said the grass-snake. -“And why not, pray? I should think -myself a very stupid animal if I could -not do <i>that</i>. Of course I change it, and -then it looks and feels quite different to -what it did when it was on me. You -see, it is only just the outer part which -comes off. That is quite thin, and I -don’t think you would find it <i>very</i> much -harder than the petal of a flower. Some -day, perhaps, you may find it if you look -about in the grass or the bushes; for I -rub myself against the grass or bushes -to get it off.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-079.jpg" width="400" height="292" id="i79" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc">“THERE ARE THREE FROGS IN MY STOMACH AT THE MOMENT”</p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Then you do not swallow your skin -as the toad does?” Tommy Smith asked.</p> - -<p>“I should not like to do anything so -nasty,” said the grass-snake angrily, “and -I wish you wouldn’t keep talking to me -about frogs and toads. They are very -low animals, and only fit to be eaten.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith was quite shocked when -he heard this, and he said, “Take care, -Mr. Grass-Snake. Frogs and toads are -very useful animals, and my friends, too. -So I won’t let you eat them.”</p> - -<p>“That is talking nonsense,” said the -grass-snake. “You can’t help my eating -them, especially frogs. Why, there are -three frogs in my stomach at this -moment.”</p> - -<p>Directly Tommy Smith heard that, he -made a dart at the grass-snake, and caught -hold of him before he could get away. I -don’t know what he meant to do. Perhaps -he meant to kill the poor snake, which -would have been very wrong, as you -will see. But before he had time to -do anything at all, two curious things -happened. One was that the snake -opened his mouth very wide indeed, -and out of it came first one, then another,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -and then a third frog. Yes; three large -frogs came out of the snake’s mouth, -one after the other, and there they all -lay on the grass. That was one funny -thing, and the other was that, as soon -as Tommy Smith caught hold of the -snake, the snake began to smell in a -way that was not at all pleasant. Indeed, -it was such a <i>very</i> nasty smell that Tommy -Smith was glad to drop him, so that he -got away into the bush again.</p> - -<p>“Ah, ha!” the snake said, as soon as -he was safe, “I thought you wouldn’t -hold me very long. Just look at your -hand now.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith looked at his hand. It -had a thick yellowish fluid on it, which -made it feel quite moist, and it was this -fluid which had such a disagreeable smell. -He was very much offended with the -grass-snake, and he called out to him, -“I think that is a very nasty trick to play, -indeed.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you wouldn’t like it,” replied -the grass-snake, “and that is just why I -did it. I wanted you to let me go, and, -you see, you very soon had to. I always -do that when anyone catches me; and, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -my part, I think it is a very clever idea of -mine.”</p> - -<p>“But how do you do it?” asked Tommy -Smith, whilst he stooped down and wiped -his hand on the grass.</p> - -<p>“Why, I hardly know,” said the grass-snake. -“It comes naturally to me. Nobody -can be cleaner or more well-behaved -than I am, as long as I am treated properly. -But when I am attacked, and my -life is in danger, I do the only thing which -I can do to protect myself. It is just as if -you had a bottle of something which smelt -so strongly that when you took out the -cork and sprinkled it about, nobody could -stay in the room. Now I have something -which smells like that, only instead of -keeping it in a bottle, I carry it under my -skin, and when I want to use it, then, -instead of taking out a cork, I just open -my skin, and it comes out in little drops all -over me.”</p> - -<p>“Open your skin?” said Tommy Smith. -“Why, how do you do that?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know <i>how</i> I do it,” said the -grass-snake, “but I <i>do</i> do it.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” Tommy Smith said, “however -you do it, I think it is a very nasty habit.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -And besides, I shouldn’t have caught hold -of you if you hadn’t told me that you had -been eating frogs. I think it is very cruel -of you to eat them. Why do you do it?”</p> - -<p>“Why do I do it?” answered the grass-snake. -“Why, because I feel hungry, to -be sure. Why do you eat sheep, and -oxen, and pigs, and ducks, and fowls, and -turkeys?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! but everybody eats them,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Every <i>snake</i> eats frogs,” said the grass-snake. -“We were made to eat them, and -the frogs were made for us to eat. That is -my theory. It is a good one, I feel sure, -for it explains <i>the facts</i> and makes <i>me</i> feel -comfortable.”</p> - -<p>“But they are so useful,” said Tommy -Smith; “and they do so much good in -the garden.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t eat them all,” said the grass-snake, -“and I don’t often go into gardens. -Frogs and toads may be very useful, but -perhaps if I didn’t eat some of them there -would be too many of them in the world, -and then, instead of being useful, they -would be a nuisance. You see, I don’t eat -them all. I leave just as many as are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -wanted, as long as <i>you</i> don’t kill them. -But if <i>you</i> were to kill them too, then there -would be too few.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought a little, and then -he said, “Are you obliged to eat them?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I am,” said the grass-snake, -“just as much as you are obliged to eat -beef and mutton. You would think it very -hard if you were to be killed just for eating -your dinner. Then why should you want -to kill me for eating mine? No, no; take -my advice, and learn this lesson. Never -kill one animal for eating another animal.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought over this for a -little, and it seemed to him to be right. -“After all,” he thought, “the frog and the -toad eat insects, and if no animal might -eat any other animal, then a great many -animals would die of starvation, and that -would be very dreadful.” So he said to the -grass-snake, “Well, Mr. Grass-Snake, I -think you are right, and, if you come out -of your bush, I will not try to catch you -any more.” So the grass-snake came -wriggling out again, and then Tommy -Smith asked him why he had brought the -frogs out of his mouth after he had eaten -them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It was because you frightened me,” -said the grass-snake. “You see, I wanted -to get away, and, with three frogs inside -me, I felt rather heavy. But as soon as -the frogs were gone I was much lighter, -and could go much quicker. Now don’t -you think it was a <i>very</i> clever idea?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think it was a very <i>clean</i> idea,” -said Tommy Smith; “but as you were -frightened, perhaps you couldn’t help it. -But now, Mr. Grass-Snake, are there any -other clever things which you can do, -and which are not quite so nasty? If -there are, I should like to hear about -them.”</p> - -<p>“I can lay eggs,” said the grass-snake, -“which is more than the adder can do.”</p> - -<p>“But can you really lay them?” said -Tommy Smith; “and do you make a nest -for them, like a bird?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said the grass-snake. “A bird -makes a nest for her eggs because she has -to sit on them, and she wants a nice, comfortable -place to sit in. Now I don’t sit -on my eggs, for that is not at all necessary. -I just find a nice, warm, moist place for -them, and when I have laid them there, I -go away and leave them. I have no time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -to sit on them like a bird. I am much too -busy.”</p> - -<p>“But how are your eggs ever hatched?” -said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said the grass-snake, “I am so -clever that I know the heat of the place -where they lie will be enough to hatch -them. So when they are once safely laid, -I don’t bother about them any more.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Tommy Smith; “but if you -go away, who is there to look after the -young snakes when they come out of the -egg?”</p> - -<p>“They look after themselves,” said the -grass-snake. “Birds are like little boys -and girls. They are great babies, and -want someone to take care of them whilst -they are young. But we snakes are so -clever that as soon as we come into the -world we can take care of ourselves, and -don’t want anyone to help us.”</p> - -<p>“I should like to see some of your eggs,” -said Tommy Smith. “What are they like?”</p> - -<p>“They are white,” said the grass-snake, -“and they are joined together in a long -string, sometimes as many as sixteen or -even twenty. So you may think how -beautiful they look, like a necklace of very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -large pearls. Only they are not hard like -pearls. Their shell is soft, and not at all -like the shell of a bird’s egg.”</p> - -<p>“I <i>should</i> like to see them,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the grass-snake, “you must -look about in manure-heaps, and then, -perhaps, you will find some. That is the -sort of place that I like to lay them in.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought that this was -another nasty habit of the grass-snake, but -he didn’t like to say so, because he had -said it twice before; so, after a little while, -he said, “And do you really like being a -snake, Mr. Grass-Snake?” You see he -had to say something, and he didn’t quite -know what to say.</p> - -<p>“Like it?” said the grass-snake. “Of -course I do. I should be very sorry to be -anything else. Yes, we snakes have a -happy life. In summer we crawl about -and eat frogs, and in winter we find some -nice place to go to sleep in.”</p> - -<p>“Then do you sleep all the winter?” -said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said the grass-snake. “What -else is there to do? There are no frogs in -winter, and it is cold and unpleasant. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -best thing is to go to sleep, and that is -what I always do.”</p> - -<p>Now whilst Tommy Smith was talking -to the grass-snake he kept looking at the -poor dead frogs that were lying on the -grass, and you can think how surprised he -was when, all at once, one of them moved a -little, and then began to crawl away very -slowly. Then the others moved, and began -to crawl away too. So they were not dead -after all. You see, when a snake eats a -frog (or anything else), he does not chew it, -as we do, but just swallows it whole, and -then sometimes the frog will keep alive for -some time inside the snake’s stomach. -Tommy Smith spoke to the frogs, but -they were too faint to answer. So he took -them up, and washed them in a little ditch -which was close by, and then laid them in -a nice long tuft of grass. When he had -done that, he came back to where he had -left the grass-snake, but he did not find -him there again. “Where are you?” he -called out. “Do you mean me?” said a -voice quite near him. It was a hissing -voice, certainly, and sounded a good deal -like the grass-snake’s. But still it did not -sound quite the same, Tommy Smith<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -thought. So he said, “I mean you, if you -are the grass-snake,” in rather a doubtful -tone of voice. “No, indeed,” hissed the -voice again, “I am something better than -a grass-snake. <i>I</i> am an adder.” And as -the adder said this, he came crawling out -from a little clump of furze-bush, where he -had lain hidden.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith saw that what the grass-snake -had said was true, for the adder’s -body was shorter and of a duller colour -than the grass-snake’s. His head, too, was -different. It was flatter, and swelled out -more on each side where it joined the -neck, so that the neck looked smaller in -proportion to the size of the head. Altogether, -Tommy Smith felt sure that the -next time he went out for a walk and saw -a snake, he would be able to tell whether it -was a grass-snake or an adder. “And if it -is an adder,” he said to himself, “why, I -ought to kill it.” And then he said out -loud, “Mr. Adder, you don’t seem at all -afraid of me; but, do you know, I think -I ought to kill you, because you are -poisonous.”</p> - -<p>“<i>I</i> think you ought to leave me alone -because I am poisonous,” said the adder.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -“For if you were to try to kill me, I should -have to bite you, and then, perhaps, <i>I</i> -should kill <i>you</i>.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith did not like this remark -of the adder’s at all. He began to feel -afraid himself, and he would have liked to -have run away. But he thought that if he -did, the adder might attack him when his -back was turned. So he stood quite still, -and only said, “Why aren’t you harmless -like the grass-snake?”</p> - -<p>“That is not a very polite question!” -said the adder in reply. “<i>I</i> belong to the -poisonous branch of the family, and I am -proud to belong to it. The grass-snake is -a poor creature, and I pity him. I should -like to see anyone catch <i>me</i> in the same -way that they catch <i>him</i>. I would soon -teach them the difference between us.”</p> - -<p>“But you do so much harm,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“What harm have I ever done <i>you</i>?” -said the adder.</p> - -<p>“You have not done me any harm,” said -Tommy Smith, “but that is because I -have never seen you before now.”</p> - -<p>“<i>You</i> may never have seen <i>me</i>,” said the -adder, “but <i>I</i> have seen <i>you</i> very often.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -Sometimes I have been quite near to -where you were walking, but when I have -heard you coming, I have just crawled out -of the way, and let you go by without -hurting you. Now don’t you think that -was very good of me? I should just like -to know what you have to complain of.”</p> - -<p>“You have never hurt me, I know,” said -Tommy Smith. “But think how many -people you do hurt.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know anybody that I have -hurt?” asked the adder.</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Tommy Smith, “I -don’t know anybody; but I am sure you -must have hurt a great many people, -because you are poisonous.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the adder, “I think you -might walk about a long while asking -people before you found anyone that I had -done any harm to. I never interfere with -people unless they interfere with me, so I -think the best thing they can do is just to -let me alone. It is true that my two front -teeth are poisonous, and that I can kill -some creatures by biting them. But these -creatures are not men or women, but only -mice or small birds or frogs. You know I -have to eat them, so I may just as well kill<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -them before I begin. The grass-snake eats -<i>his</i> frogs alive. That is much more cruel -than if he killed them first, as I do.”</p> - -<p>“How do you kill them?” said Tommy -Smith. “I suppose you sting them with -your forked tongue, and then they die.”</p> - -<p>“Did you not hear me say that I bit -them,” said the adder; “and that I had -two poisonous teeth? My tongue is not -poisonous at all. There is no more harm -in it than there is in yours.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! but, Mr. Adder,” cried Tommy -Smith, “do you know I once went to the -Zoological Gardens in London, and I saw -the snakes there, and whenever one of -them put out his tongue, as you do yours, -the people all said, ‘Look at its sting! -Look at its sting!’”</p> - -<p>“That is only because they were -ignorant people,” said the adder, “and did -not know any better. No; it is the two -long teeth in my upper jaw that are -poisonous, and, if you will just kneel down, -I will open my mouth so that you can see -them, and then I can explain all about it -to you.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith didn’t quite like the idea -of kneeling down and putting his face<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -close to the mouth of the adder. He had -heard of men who put their heads inside a -lion’s mouth, and he thought that this -would be almost as dangerous. However, -the adder promised not to bite him, and as -he said he never <i>had</i> bitten a little boy in -the whole of his life, and should not think -of doing so without a proper reason, he -thought he might trust him. So he -knelt down and looked. Then the adder -opened his mouth, and, as he did so, two -little white things like fish-bones seemed -to shoot forward into the front part of it. -“Those are my two poison-fangs,” he said. -“When my mouth is shut, they lie back -against my upper jaw, but as soon as I -open it to bite anyone, they shoot forward -so as to be in the right place.” Tommy -Smith looked at the teeth. They were as -sharp as needles and almost as thin, but -they were not straight like common needles, -but curved backwards like crochet-needles. -“What curious teeth!” he said.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps they are more curious than -you think,” said the adder; “just look at -the tips of them, and see if you notice -anything.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith looked as the adder told<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -him, and he was surprised to see a tiny -little hole at the tip of each tooth. “Why, -Mr. Adder,” he said, “it seems to me -as if your teeth were hollow and wanted -stopping.”</p> - -<p>“They <i>are</i> hollow,” said the adder, “and -I will tell you why. At the root of each -of them I have a little bag which is full of -poison. You cannot see it, of course, -because it is hidden under the flesh of my -upper jaw. But things which cannot be -seen are very often felt. Now, when I bite -an animal, these little bags open, and a -drop or two of poison runs down each -tooth where it is hollow, so that it goes -into the flesh of that animal and mixes -with its blood.”</p> - -<p>“And does that kill it?” asked Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes!” answered the adder; -“because I only bite small animals. It -would not kill a horse, or a cow, or even a -pig, unless it was very young. But it kills -field-mice, and shrew-mice, and things of -that sort.”</p> - -<p>“But there is one thing, Mr. Adder, -which I don’t understand,” said Tommy -Smith. “I thought that one had to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -swallow poison for it to kill one. But you -say that this poison of yours goes into the -blood.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know anything about poisons -that have to be swallowed,” said the -adder; “I only know about <i>my</i> poison, -and I use that in the way I have told you. -<i>My</i> poison must go into the blood. If -you were only to swallow it, I daresay it -would not hurt you at all.”</p> - -<p>“I should not like to try,” Tommy -Smith said. “But are you going?” for -the adder had begun to crawl away.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the adder; “I am going -now, for I have plenty to do. I should -not have wasted my time like this, only I -heard that poor creature, the grass-snake, -talking about himself, so I thought I -would just show you what a much more -important animal I am than he.”</p> - -<p>“I think that you are rather conceited, -Mr. Adder,” said Tommy Smith. “The -grass-snake is very clever. He can lay -eggs, and he says that is more than you -can do.”</p> - -<p>“<i>I</i> should be ashamed to do such a -thing,” said the adder. “A young grass-snake -<i>requires</i> an egg, but a young adder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -knows how to do without one. <i>We</i> can -crawl as soon as we come into the world. -As for my being conceited, perhaps I am, -just a little. But that is natural. I can -<i>never</i> forget that I have <i>poison</i> flowing in -my veins. Now I will say good-bye, for I -have plenty to do, and must not waste my -time any longer.”</p> - -<p>“Good-bye, Mr. Adder,” Tommy Smith -called after him, for he thought he had -better be friendly with such an animal. -“I hope that you will never bite me.” -But the adder merely gave a contemptuous -hiss, and was gone.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VII.<br /> -<span class="small">THE PEEWIT</span></h2> - -<p class="pbq">“<i>To eat peewit’s eggs to a peewit seems wrong,<br /> -So a hen MAY think hen’s eggs to hens should belong.</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap06">“PEE-WEE-EET! Pee-wee-eet!” -That is what a bird kept saying -as he flew in circles round Tommy Smith. -Sometimes he flew quite a long way off, -and sometimes he came so near him that -it seemed as if he would settle on his head. -“Pee-wee-eet! Pee-wee-eet!” And what -a pretty bird this was! How his white -breast glanced in the sun, and how the -glossy green feathers of his back shone in -it. He kept turning about in the air as -he flew, so that Tommy Smith could see -every part of him.</p> - -<p>In fact, this bird was playing the -strangest antics. Sometimes he would -clap his wings together above his back, at -least Tommy Smith thought he did; and -then he would make such a swishing and -whizzing with them, that really it was -quite a loud noise—almost like a steam-engine.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -Then, all at once, he would turn -sideways and make a dive down towards -the ground, and sometimes (this was the -funniest trick of all) he would tumble right -over in the air, as if he had lost his -balance and was really falling. If Tommy -Smith had ever seen a tumbler pigeon it -would have reminded him of one, but he -never had. And all the while this bird -kept on calling out, “Pee-wee-eet! pee-wee-eet!” -as if he wanted Tommy Smith -to speak to him, as, perhaps, he did.</p> - -<p>“I know what bird <i>you</i> are,” said -Tommy Smith. “I have often seen you -flying over the fields, but you have never -come so close to me before. I think your -name is”—</p> - -<p>“Pee-wee-eet! pee-wee-eet! That is -my name. They call me the peewit.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Tommy Smith; “because -you say”—</p> - -<p>“Pee-wee-eet! pee-wee-eet!” screamed -the bird. “Yes, that is why. It is -because I say ‘Pee-wee-eet’”; and as the -peewit said this, he made a sweep down -and settled on the ground just in front of -Tommy Smith. So close! Tommy Smith -could almost have touched him with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -hand. He <i>was</i> a handsome bird! <i>Now</i> -he could see that, besides his beautiful -green back and his white breast, he had a -handsome black crest at the back of his -head, that stuck out a long way behind it—as -if his hair had been brushed up -behind, Tommy Smith thought, only, of -course, it was not hair, but feathers.</p> - -<p>The peewit was not at all afraid, but -looked up at Tommy Smith, with his head -on one side, and said, “Yes, that is my -name. A name isn’t sensible if it hasn’t -a meaning. Some people call me the -lapwing, but I don’t know what <i>that</i> -means. I would rather <i>you</i> called me the -peewit. I like that name best. Well, -now you may ask me some questions if -you like.” Tommy Smith would rather -have listened to what the peewit had to -tell him about himself first, and then asked -him some questions afterwards, for, just -then, he didn’t quite know what questions -to ask. But, of course, he had to say -something, or it would have seemed rude, -so he began with, “Please, Mr. Peewit, -will you tell me why you say ‘pee-weet’ -so often?”</p> - -<p>“Why shouldn’t I say it?” said the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -peewit. “It is my song, and I think it is -a very good one too.”</p> - -<p>“But I don’t call it a song at all,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“<i>Don’t</i> you?” said the peewit.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tommy Smith. “It is not -at all like what the lark or the nightingale -sings. That is what <i>I</i> call singing.”</p> - -<p>“If all birds were to sing as well as each -other,” the peewit said, “perhaps you -would not care to listen to any of them -half so much. <i>Now</i> you say, ‘How -sweetly the lark sings,’ or ‘How beautifully -the nightingale sings,’ because they -sing better than other birds. But if every -bird was as clever at singing as they are, -then to sing well would be such a common -thing, that you would hardly notice it at -all. As it is, you don’t think about the -lark nearly so much as the nightingale, -because you hear him much oftener. So -perhaps, after all, it is better that some -birds should sing more sweetly than other -birds. Don’t you agree with me?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Tommy Smith. -“I should never have thought of that, -myself.”</p> - -<p>“There are a number of things that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -little boys would never have thought of,” -said the peewit. “Besides,” he went on, -“however well a bird may sing, all he -<i>means</i> by his singing is that he is very -happy. That is what the lark means -when he sings high up in the blue sky; -and it is what the nightingale means when -he sings all night long by his nest. And -that is what I mean, too, when I sing, -‘Pee-wee-eet! pee-wee-eet!’ So if you -look at it in that way, my song is just -as good as theirs, or any other bird’s.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith did not think the peewit -was right in this opinion of his, but he -thought that he had better not contradict -him so early in the conversation. So he -only said, “Then, I suppose, you must -always be happy, Mr. Peewit, for you are -always saying ‘Pee-wee-eet’?”</p> - -<p>“I am always happy as long as people -don’t shoot me, or take away my eggs,” -said the peewit. “Why should I not be? -It is very pleasant to be alive.”</p> - -<p>“And the grass-snake said <i>he</i> was -happy too,” thought Tommy Smith. -“Then, are <i>all</i> animals happy, Mr. -Peewit?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” the peewit answered, “they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -all enjoy their life. That is why it is so -wrong to kill them. For when you kill -an animal, you take some of the happiness -that was in the world out of it, and you -can never put it back there again, however -much you try.”</p> - -<p>“I never will kill animals any more,” -said Tommy Smith. “But now, Mr. -Peewit, won’t you tell me something about -yourself? Do <i>you</i> do any clever things -as well as the other animals that I have -spoken to?”</p> - -<p>“Why, haven’t you seen the way I -tumble about in the air?” said the peewit. -“And don’t you think that <i>that</i> is very -clever? You couldn’t do it yourself, however -much you were to try.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tommy Smith, “but then <i>I</i> -have not got wings, you know. Perhaps -if I <i>had</i> got wings, I would be able to -do it as well as you.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think so?” said the peewit. -“That is only because you are very conceited. -Why, even the swallow can’t do -it. <i>He</i> is a splendid flier, and goes very -fast. But, though you were to watch him -for a whole day, you would not see him -do such funny things in the air as I do.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -As for the other birds—well, look at the -cuckoo. What do you think of the way -in which <i>he</i> flies? Why, he just goes -along without doing anything at all. Do -you think <i>he</i> could turn head over heels or -make the noise with his wings that I do? -If he can, then why doesn’t he? I should -just like to know that.”</p> - -<p>“Are you playing a game in the air -when you fly like that, Mr. Peewit?” asked -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered the peewit; “that is -just what I am doing. Sometimes I play -it by myself, but I like it better when -there are some other peewits to play it -with me. We do it to amuse ourselves, -and because we are so happy and have -such good spirits. But it is only in the -springtime that we play such games, for -we are happier then than at any other -time of the year. In the autumn and -winter we fly about in great flocks over -the fields and marshes, or come down -upon them and look for worms and slugs -and caterpillars, for those are the things -we eat. We are happy then, too, but -not quite so happy as we are in the springtime, -and you won’t see us playing such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -pranks then, although there are a great -many more of us together. Oh yes! it -is a game, but it is a very useful kind of -game, I can tell you.”</p> - -<p>“How is it useful?” asked Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Why, it prevents people from finding -our eggs,” answered the peewit. “I have -told you that we only fly like this in the -spring. Well, that is just the time when -we lay our eggs. Now whilst the mother -peewit is sitting quietly on her eggs, the -father peewit keeps flying and tumbling -about in the air. When you go for a -walk over the fields, you do not notice -the mother peewit on her eggs, for she -sits quite still and never moves. But you -can’t help noticing the father peewit, and -you only think of him. If you happen -to go too near the place where the eggs -are, the father peewit comes quite close -to you, and flies round and round your -head, as I did just now. You think that -is very funny, and so you keep looking -at him up in the air, and never think of -looking on the ground where the eggs are.”</p> - -<p>“Are the eggs laid on the ground?” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Of course,” said the peewit. “But -let me go on. When the father peewit -sees you are looking at him, he flies a -little farther away from the eggs, and, -of course, you follow him. Then he flies -a little farther off still, and in this way -he keeps leading you farther and farther -away from the eggs, till he thinks they -are safe, and then off he flies altogether.”</p> - -<p>“That is very clever,” said Tommy -Smith. “But supposing you didn’t follow -the father peewit, but kept walking towards -where the eggs were, what would -the mother peewit do?”</p> - -<p>“Why, she would fly away before you -got to her,” said the peewit. “And you -would find it very difficult to find the eggs -even then.”</p> - -<p>“Then, is it only the father peewit that -tumbles over in the air?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“It is he who does it most,” said -the peewit. “He has more time, and -besides it would not be thought right -for a mother peewit to throw herself -about in that way whilst she has a -family to attend to. When the mother -peewit goes up from her eggs, she flies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -quietly away till she is a long way -off. Then she settles somewhere on -the ground, and waits for you to go -away, and when you have gone away, she -comes back to her eggs again.”</p> - -<p>“Then I suppose <i>you</i> are a father -peewit?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” the peewit answered. “You -have seen how <i>I</i> can tumble. And -besides, look how long my crest is. The -crest of the mother peewit is not nearly -so long.”</p> - -<p>“Where is the mother peewit?” asked -Tommy Smith—for he thought he would -like to see her too.</p> - -<p>“She is not far off,” the peewit answered, -“and she is sitting on her eggs.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I should so like to see them,” -cried Tommy Smith. “May I?”</p> - -<p>“If I show you them,” said the peewit, -“will you promise not to take them away.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, I promise not to,” said -Tommy Smith. “I will only look at -them—unless you would be so kind as -to give me one,” he added.</p> - -<p>“<i>Give</i> you one!” cried the peewit. “I -would rather give you the bright green -feathers from my back, or the beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -crest that is on my head. Give you one, -indeed! No, no; they are not things to -be given away. But come along. You -have promised that you will not take -them, and I know you will not break -your word.” Then the peewit spread his -wings, and rose into the air again, and -began to fly along in front of Tommy -Smith, who had to run to keep up with -him. “Pee-wee-eet! pee-wee-eet!” he -cried. “Come along. Come along.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but you go so fast!” said Tommy -Smith, panting. “I wish I had wings like -you.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t wonder at your wishing <i>that</i>,” -the peewit said. “<i>I</i> should think it -dreadful if I could only walk and run.” -All at once the peewit flew down on to -the ground again. “Here they are,” he -said, as Tommy Smith came up; “and -what do you think? Why, one of them -has hatched already; a day earlier than -I expected.”</p> - -<p>“But where are the eggs?” asked -Tommy Smith. “I don’t see them, and -I don’t see any nest either. But what—Oh! -there is the mother peewit sitting -on the ground,” he cried out suddenly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -And so she was, with her eggs underneath -her. This time she did not fly away, for -the father peewit had told her not to be -uneasy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, but there is no nest,” said Tommy -Smith. “She is sitting on the bare -ground.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Bare</i>, indeed!” exclaimed the mother -peewit. “There is plenty of sand on the -ground, and what more can one want? -Just look!” and as she spoke she moved -a little to one side, and there, in a slight -hollow, Tommy Smith saw four—no, three -eggs, and something else, something that -was soft and fluffy, so it could not be -an egg, although it was the same size, -and the same sort of colour, yellowish, -with black spots. Why, could that be -a little baby peewit? Yes, indeed it -was, for it moved a little, and made a -little chirping noise.</p> - -<p>“Don’t touch him,” cried the father -peewit. “He is too young for that.”</p> - -<p>“And little boys are so rough,” said -the mother peewit.</p> - -<p>“But you may look at him,” said the -father peewit.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, do,” said the mother peewit;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -“and tell me what you think of him. -Isn’t he the prettiest little fluffy thing -in the whole world?”</p> - -<p>“Until the others are hatched,” said -the father peewit. “Then there will be -three more, you know.”</p> - -<p>“To be sure there will,” said the mother -peewit, looking <i>very</i> proud; “and they -will all be as pretty as each other. But -I think this one will be the cleverest,” she -added. “There was a certain something -in the way he chipped the shell, and he -has lain in a thoughtful attitude ever -since he came out.”</p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear it,” said the father -peewit. And then they both looked up -at Tommy Smith, as if they expected -him to say something.</p> - -<p>But Tommy Smith was too busy to -say anything just then. He had gone -down on his hands and knees, and was -looking at the eggs, for they interested -him more even than the little peewit -that had just been hatched. They were -such funny-shaped eggs, large at one end -and pointed at the other, something like -a small pear, Tommy Smith thought, -and they lay in the little hollow with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -their pointed ends all meeting together -in the middle of it. They were of a -greenish yellow colour, with great black -splotches upon them. Of course they -were much smaller than the eggs that -a hen lays, but still, Tommy Smith -thought, they were large eggs for a peewit -to lay. A peewit is hardly so large -as a pigeon, but these eggs were a good -deal larger than a pigeon’s egg. “Yes, -they are very nice eggs,” he said at last, -as he got up from his hands and knees. -“Are they good to eat?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the father peewit, “they -are”; and as he said this he looked -<i>very</i>, <i>very</i> sad.</p> - -<p>“Yes, they <i>are</i> good to eat,” said the -mother peewit, as she nestled down on -her eggs again. “Oh, how I wish they -were not!”</p> - -<p>“Why?” said Tommy Smith. (He -was only a little boy, or he would not -have asked such questions.)</p> - -<p>“I will tell you why,” said the mother -peewit. “There are bad men who come -and take our eggs <i>because</i> they are so -good to eat, and then they sell them to -greedy wretches, who are still worse than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -themselves. Oh, how wicked men are! -Just fancy! They eat our poor little -children whilst they are still in their -cradles.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the father peewit, “for the -mere pleasure of eating, they will ruin -thousands of families.”</p> - -<p>“Is it so <i>very</i> wicked to eat eggs?” -asked Tommy Smith. “I have eaten a -great many myself.”</p> - -<p>“What! peewit’s eggs?” cried both the -birds together.</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Tommy Smith feeling -<i>very</i> uncomfortable. “But I have often -eaten fowl’s eggs.”</p> - -<p>“That is different,” said the mother -peewit. “We will say nothing about -that.”</p> - -<p>“No, no,” said the father peewit. “We -do not wish to be censorious.”</p> - -<p>“What does that mean?” asked Tommy -Smith, for it was a long word, and he -did not remember having heard it -before.</p> - -<p>“I mean,” said the father peewit, “that -if people <i>only</i> ate fowl’s eggs, peewit’s -eggs would be let alone, and that would -be a very good thing. Fowls, you know,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -are accustomed to it, but we peewits -have finer feelings.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the mother peewit; “we -are more sensitive than common poultry.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith couldn’t help remembering -what the rat had said to him -about asking the hen, and he thought -he <i>would</i> ask her some day. But now -he was talking to peewits. “You told -me it was very difficult to find your -eggs,” he said.</p> - -<p>“So it is,” said the father peewit; “but -it is not impossible.”</p> - -<p>“I wish it were,” said the mother -peewit. “But there are wicked men -who learn how to do it, and then they -can find them quite easily. Oh, what -a wicked world it is!”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith didn’t know what to -say to comfort the poor peewits, until -all at once an idea occurred to him. -“Why do you lay eggs at all?” he said. -“You know, if you didn’t lay them, nobody -could take them away from you.”</p> - -<p>“Not lay eggs?” cried the mother peewit. -“Why, it is our duty to lay them. -We have our duties to perform, of course.”</p> - -<p>“If we did <i>not</i> lay eggs,” said the father<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -peewit (he looked <i>very</i> grave as he spoke), -“there would soon be no more peewits -in the world, and what do you suppose -would happen then?”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith didn’t know, so he said, -“What <i>would</i> happen, Mr. Peewit?”</p> - -<p>“It is too dreadful to think about,” the -peewit said. “The very idea of it makes -one shudder. A world without peewits! -Oh dear! a nice sort of world <i>that</i> would -be!”</p> - -<p>The mother peewit shook her head. -“It could hardly go on, dear; could it?” -she said.</p> - -<p>“It <i>might</i>,” answered the father peewit, -“but there would be very little <i>meaning</i> -in it.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith certainly thought the -world might go on without peewits, but -he didn’t <i>quite</i> understand the last part -of the sentence. “But it seems to me,” -he said to himself, “that <i>animals</i> think -themselves very important.” “And are -<i>you</i> a useful animal?” he said aloud to -the father peewit,—for the mother peewit -was busy again with her eggs and -the young one.</p> - -<p>“Useful!” exclaimed the peewit. “Why,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -we are sometimes put into gardens to eat -the slugs and the insects there. I suppose -<i>that</i> is being useful.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Tommy Smith; “if you -don’t eat the cherries, or the strawberries, -or the asparagus, or”—</p> - -<p>“We are not vegetarians,” said the peewit, -“we prefer an animal diet, and we -only eat things that do harm.”</p> - -<p>“But don’t you eat worms?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Of course we do,” said the peewit.</p> - -<p>“But I don’t think worms do harm.”</p> - -<p>“If they don’t, it is because we eat -them,” the peewit retorted. “If we didn’t -eat them, there would be too many of them, -and then, of course, they would do harm.”</p> - -<p>“Well, when I grow up,” said Tommy -Smith, “I will have peewits in my garden -as well as frogs, and—Oh! but do you -agree with frogs?” he asked, for this was -an important point.</p> - -<p>“Young frogs agree very well with <i>us</i>,” -said the peewit. “So it comes to the same -thing, doesn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Tommy Smith. -“Not if the old ones don’t.”</p> - -<p>“As for the old ones,” said the peewit,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> -“we leave them alone. They are too big -to be interfered with. So, you see, that’s -all right too.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith didn’t feel quite so sure -about this. He couldn’t help thinking that -perhaps the peewits ate the little frogs. -But, just as he was going to ask them -this, he remembered that if he didn’t make -haste home, he would be late for dinner. -Of course, as soon as he began to think -about his own dinner, he forgot all about -the peewit’s, and said good-bye at once. -So off he ran. The mother peewit just -nodded to him as she sat on her eggs, but -the father peewit rose up into the air again, -and flew round him, and swished his wings, -and tumbled about, and cried, “Pee-wee-eet! -pee-wee-eet!” and Tommy Smith felt quite -sure that he meant “Good-bye, good-bye.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VIII.<br /> -<span class="small">THE MOLE</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>If we’re only contented, some cause we shall find<br /> -To be thankful: the mole thought it nice to be blind.</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">THE next walk that Tommy Smith -took was over some fields where -there were a great many mole-hills. Of -course, Tommy Smith had often seen mole-hills -before, but I am not sure if he had -ever seen a mole; for a mole, as you know, -lives underneath the ground, and does not -often come up to the top of it. So, when -he saw a little black thing scrambling about -in the grass, he cried out, “Oh! whatever -is that?” and ran to it and picked it up.</p> - -<p>“You won’t <i>hurt</i> me, I know,” said the -mole (for it was one)—“and I don’t mind -your <i>looking</i> at me.” You see Tommy -Smith was getting a much better boy to -animals, now that they had told him something -about themselves, and the animals -were beginning to find this out, and were -not so frightened of him as they used -to be.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> - -<p>Tommy Smith looked at the mole, and -stroked it as it lay in his hand, and then -he said, “Why, what a funny little black -thing you are.”</p> - -<p>“Little!” said the mole; “I don’t know -what you mean by that. I am much -bigger than the mouse or the shrew-mouse. -You don’t expect me to be as big as the -rat, do you?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Tommy Smith, -“but, you know, the rat is not so very big.”</p> - -<p>“He is as big as he requires to be, I -suppose,” said the mole, “and so am I. -I have never felt too small in all my life, -and I wonder that you should think me -so. Why, look at those great hills of -earth which I have flung up all over the -fields. I am big enough to have made -those, anyhow, and strong enough too. -And look, how large and high they are.”</p> - -<p>“But are they so very high?” said -Tommy Smith. “Why, I step over them -quite easily.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, that seems very wonderful,” -said the mole. “But I advise you not to -do it often, for it must be a great exertion, -and you might hurt yourself. But you -must not think that because <i>you</i> are very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -big, <i>I</i> am very small. That would be very -conceited.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith saw that he had not said -the right thing, so he tried to think of -something to say that the mole would like -better. “Oh,” he said at last, “what a -very pretty, soft coat you have! I like it -very much, indeed.”</p> - -<p>“Yes; feel it,” said the mole. “It is a -very handsome fur; and I can tell you -something about it which is curious.”</p> - -<p>“What is that?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Why, you may stroke it whichever way -you like,” answered the mole, “without -hurting me. It is not every animal that -has a coat like <i>that</i>. There is the cat, -poor thing! If you stroke her fur one -way, she is very pleased and begins to -purr; but if you stroke it the other way, it -hurts her, and she does not like it at all. -That is because her hair is long and lies all -one way. Now my hair is short, and it -does not lie any way.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose you mean that it does not -point either towards your head or your -tail,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that is what I mean,” said the -mole. “Instead of that, it sticks straight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -up, and when you stroke it, it moves -whichever way your hand moves, without -making me feel at all uncomfortable.”</p> - -<p>“That is a very nice fur to have,” said -Tommy Smith. “Then, I suppose that -sometimes if you were burrowing, and you -wanted to go backwards for a little way, it -would not hurt you to do so.”</p> - -<p>“Not at all,” said the mole. “Now the -poor cat could not do that. She could not -go backwards in a burrow, because it would -rub all her hair up the wrong way.”</p> - -<p>“But cats don’t burrow,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the mole. “They -know that they would not be able to, so -they don’t try. They are poor things.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith could not see why cats -should be poor things because they didn’t -burrow, but the mole seemed quite sure of -it, and he did not like to contradict him. -“I suppose, Mr. Mole,” he said, “that you -are made for burrowing.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am,” said the mole, “and I can -do it better than any other animal in the -world. You see, I have a pair of spades to -help me, and I dig with both of them at -the same time.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> - -<p>“A pair of spades!” cried Tommy Smith -in surprise. “Why, where are they? I -don’t see them.”</p> - -<p>“Where are they?” said the mole; -“why, here they are, to be sure,” and he -stretched out his two little front feet, and -moved them about.</p> - -<p>“Ah, now I see what you mean,” said -Tommy Smith, and he bent down his -head and began to look at them more -closely.</p> - -<p>The mole might well have called his feet -spades, for they were shaped something -like them, and he used them to dig with,—which -is what spades are used for. They -were short and broad, with five little toes, -and each toe had a very strong claw at the -end of it. These funny little feet stuck out -on each side of the mole’s body, and they -were so very close to the body that they -looked as if they had been sewn on to it. -There did not seem to be any leg belonging -to them at all. Of course there <i>were</i> legs, -and very strong ones too, but they were so -short, and so hidden under the skin, that -Tommy Smith could not see them, although -he felt them directly. The hind -legs and feet were much smaller, and not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -nearly so strong, which, the mole said, was -because they had not so much work to do. -Between them there was a very short tail, -just long enough, Tommy Smith thought, -to take hold of and lift the mole up by. -But he did not do this, in case he should -be offended. “Well,” said the mole, after -Tommy Smith had looked at him for a -little while, “what do you think of me? I -hope you think me handsome.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think you are,” Tommy Smith -answered, though he did not feel quite sure -of this. “At anyrate, your fur is handsome, -for it is like velvet.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the mole; “and, do you -know, I am sometimes called the little -gentleman in the black velvet coat.”</p> - -<p>“It is not quite black,” said Tommy -Smith. “There is a greyish colour in it -too. I think it would look very pretty if -it was made into something. Oh, Mr. -Mole,” he cried all of a sudden, “now I -remember that I have heard people talk -about moleskin waistcoats!”</p> - -<p>At this the mole gave a little squeak, -and jumped quite out of Tommy Smith’s -hand, and then he began to burrow into -the ground as fast as he could, and this was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -very fast indeed, so that before Tommy -Smith had got over his surprise, he was -almost out of sight. “Oh, Mr. Mole,” he -cried, “do come back!” but the mole was -very angry, and would not consent to for -some time.</p> - -<p>“If I do,” he said at last, “you must -promise me never to talk in that way again.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I never will,” said Tommy Smith. -“I quite forgot who I was talking to.”</p> - -<p>“Moleskin waistcoats, indeed!” said the -mole. “I think the people who wear them -are very wicked people. They never think -how many poor little moles must be killed -only to make one. I hope <i>you</i> have never -worn a waistcoat like that?”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” answered Tommy Smith, “I -never have. Nobody has ever given me -one.”</p> - -<p>“I hope you never will,” said the mole; -“for if you do, you will be almost as -wicked a man as a mole-catcher, and he -is the wickedest person I know of.”</p> - -<p>“A mole-catcher!” cried Tommy Smith; -“then are there men who catch moles?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, indeed there are,” said the -mole. “There are men who do that and -nothing else.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> - -<p>“How do they do it?” asked Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“They have traps,” answered the mole, -“which they put in the passages and -corridors of our great underground -palaces.”</p> - -<p>“Your houses, I suppose, you mean,” -said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“I mean what I say,” said the mole. -“You may live in a house, I daresay, but I -think the place that I live in is quite large -and fine enough to be called a palace, so I -call it one.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! but it cannot be so big as the -house that I live in,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the mole, “I should just -like to know how long the longest corridor -in your house is.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought to himself a -little. The house he lived in was not a -very large one, for his father was not a -<i>very</i> rich man. There were not many -passages in it, and he did not think the -longest of them was long enough to be -called a corridor. Still, he thought that -they must be longer than the passages of a -mole’s house, and he couldn’t help feeling -rather proud as he said, “Oh! I don’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -know exactly, because I have never -measured it, but perhaps it is six yards -long.”</p> - -<p>“Six yards?” cried the mole. “Do you -call <i>that</i> a corridor? Why, some of mine -are more than twenty times as long as -that. You might walk over a whole field -without coming to the end of them. And -how many corridors has your house got, -then?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I think there are three,” said -Tommy Smith; but this time he didn’t -feel nearly so proud.</p> - -<p>“Good gracious!” cried the mole. -“Why, yours must be a very poor place -to live in. I wish I could show you over -my palace, but you are such an awkward -size that you would never be able to get -into it. My corridors are longer than -yours, but they are not nearly so high. -However, perhaps it is just as well that -you can’t get into it, for if you were once -there, I am sure you would never want to -go back again.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps, Mr. Mole,” said Tommy -Smith, “as you can’t show me over it, you -will tell me what it is like.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the mole, “I will; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -perhaps, if you are always a good boy, and -<i>never</i> think of wearing a moleskin waistcoat, -I will show it you some day from the -outside; but that can only be when I -have done with it, and am going to build a -new one, for I should have to break open -the roof for you to see into it. Well, then, -the principal part of my palace is called -the keep, or fortress,—<i>I</i> call it the fortress. -It is very large, and the roof goes up into -a beautiful, high dome. You know what a -dome is, I suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Tommy Smith; for once -he had been to London, and he remembered -the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral.</p> - -<p>“I wish you could see how high and -stately it is,” said the mole. “It goes -right up into the bush ever so high.”</p> - -<p>“You mean ‘into the air,’ I think,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“I mean what I say,” said the mole; -“into the bush. That is why you can’t -see it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but I can see it,” said Tommy -Smith. “I can always find your fortresses, -Mr. Mole. I see lots of them every time -I go out walking. They are not hidden at -all. Why, there they are all over the field,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -and you know you told me to look at them -yourself.”</p> - -<p>The mole gave a little choky laugh. -“Oh dear!” he cried, “and do you -<i>really</i> think that <i>those</i> are my fortresses? -You are <i>very</i> much mistaken if you do. -Why, they are only the hills that I throw -up when I am making my tunnels and -corridors. All you will find if you open -them is a hole going down into one of -those. Oh no; my fortress is not built -there. It is carefully hidden under a bush -or the root of a tree, so that you can’t see -it, however high it is. Only the wicked -mole-catcher is able to find it, and I am -very sorry he can.”</p> - -<p>This was a great surprise to Tommy -Smith, for he had always thought that the -mole lived under those little brown heaps -of earth. But he had only thought so -because he had never taken any trouble to -find out about it. “I see you are cleverer -than I thought, Mr. Mole,” he said; “but -I should like you to tell me something -more about your palace and fortress.”</p> - -<p>“I told you that it was very large,” said -the mole, “and that it went up into a high -dome outside. Inside, it is not nearly so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -high, but it is very nice and comfortable; -and the floor and the sides and ceiling are -always quite smooth and polished, for I -polish them myself, and never leave it to -the servants.”</p> - -<p>“But how do you polish them?” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Why, with my fur to be sure,” said the -mole. “I prefer that to a piece of wash-leather.” -(He laughed again as he said -this, but Tommy Smith didn’t know what -for.) “My fur, as you see, is smooth too. -If you were to walk down one of my -corridors, you would be surprised to find -how hard and smooth the sides of it are. -That is because I am always running up -and down them, and rubbing them with -my fur.”</p> - -<p>“But doesn’t that make you very -dirty?” said Tommy Smith. “Surely the -earth must get into your fur and stay -there.”</p> - -<p>“It <i>never</i> stays there,” said the mole -with great pride. “I have a very strong -muscle which runs all along my back just -under the skin, and when I twitch that, -every little piece of mould or earth that -is in my fur flies out of it again. There!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -now I have twitched it. Look at me and -see how clean I am, although I have only -just come out of the ground. Oh no; there -is never anything in <i>my</i> coat! It is a saying -in our family that a mole <i>may</i> live in -the dirt, but he is never <i>dirty</i>.”</p> - -<p>“That seems very funny,” said Tommy -Smith. “But tell me some more about -the fortress that you live in.”</p> - -<p>“That is just what I was going to do,” -said the mole, “but you ask so many -questions, that I am not able to get on. -Now I will begin again, and perhaps it -would be better if you were to say nothing -till I have done.”</p> - -<p>So Tommy Smith sat down on the -ground to listen, and the mole went on in -these words:</p> - -<p>“Inside my fortress there is a large -room which is quite round. I call it my -bedroom or dormitory, because sometimes -I go to sleep there. There are two -different ways of getting into it. One of -them is by the floor, and that is easy. But -the second way is by the ceiling, and that -is much more difficult.”</p> - -<p>“By the floor and the ceiling?” cried -Tommy Smith, quite forgetting what the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -mole had said. “How very funny! I get -into <i>my</i> room through a door in one of the -sides.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me!” said the mole. “Well, I -should not like to enter a room in that -way.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“The idea of such a thing!” said the -mole. “As for doors, they are things I -don’t understand. Galleries and tunnels -are what I use, and I think them much -grander.”</p> - -<p>“But”—Tommy Smith was beginning.</p> - -<p>“Let me get on,” said the mole. “I -have two galleries inside my fortress, an -upper one and a lower one. The lower -one is the largest. It runs all round the -ceiling of my bedroom. From it there are -five little passages which run up into the -upper one. That goes round in a circle -too, but it is high up inside the dome of -my fortress, and a long way above the -ceiling of my bedroom. So what do you -think I have done? I have made three -little tunnels, which go from my upper -gallery right into the top of my bedroom. -I just run down one of them, and tumble -into it through the ceiling.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But can’t you get into your bedroom -from the lower gallery too?” asked -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said the mole; “that would -never do. It would be so easy; and a mole -likes to do things that are difficult. I go -into my lower gallery first, and then I go -from that into my upper gallery. I can -go by five different passages, and choose -which I like.”</p> - -<p>“Five different passages! That is a lot,” -cried Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes; and there are three more from the -upper gallery into the bedroom!” said the -mole. “How many doors are there into -<i>your</i> rooms?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, one,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Only one!” said the mole. “That is -very sad. Why, if I had only one tunnel -into my room I should be almost ashamed -to go through it. But then you have only -a house to live in, and not a palace, as I -have.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought that this was -rather a grand way of talking, and he was -just beginning, “Perhaps, if you were to -see my house”—when the mole went on -with, “Of course, such a fine palace as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -mine ought to have a good many fine -roads leading up to it.”</p> - -<p>“Ought it?” said Tommy Smith; “and -how many has it?”</p> - -<p>“Seven,” said the mole.</p> - -<p>“Seven!” exclaimed Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the mole, “and I make them -all myself. Why, how many has yours?”</p> - -<p>“It has only one,” said Tommy Smith, -“but I think that is quite enough.”</p> - -<p>“For a house, perhaps, it may be,” said the -mole; “but <i>I</i> should be sorry to have to -put up with it. <i>My palace</i> has seven, and -I know some very rich moles who have -eight. These are the great corridors which -some people call the high roads. Some of -them run through fine avenues of tree-roots, -and, you know, a fine avenue of tree-roots -has a splendid appearance. They -wind all about, and go for ever such a way, -and there are smaller corridors which run -out of them on each side, and spread all -over the fields.”</p> - -<p>“You mean <i>under</i> the fields, Mr. Mole,” -said Tommy Smith; “for, you know, the -grass grows over your corridors, and -nobody can see them.”</p> - -<p>“I am very glad they can’t,” said the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -mole, “or my bedroom, or my nursery -either.”</p> - -<p>“What, have you a nursery too?” said -Tommy Smith. “Why, that is just as if -you were a person.”</p> - -<p>“Of course I have a nursery,” said the -mole. “What should I do with my -children if I had not? I could not have -them always in the fortress, or playing -about in the corridors. They would be -quite out of place there, and very much in -the way. So I have a nursery for them, -and they lie there upon a nice warm bed, -which I make myself, of young grass and -other soft things.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, then I suppose that you are the -mother mole,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am,” said the mole; “and you -should call me Mrs. Mole, and not Mr. as -you have been doing; and as for my -being like a person, why, I am one, of -course, and an important person too, <i>I</i> -think. Why, do you know that I drain the -land?”</p> - -<p>“Do you really, Mrs. Mole?” said -Tommy Smith; “but is not that very -difficult?”</p> - -<p>“You would find it so, I daresay,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>” -answered the mole, “but to me it is quite -easy.”</p> - -<p>“How do you do it?” asked Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Why, by digging to be sure,” the mole -said. “I just make my tunnels, and my -trenches, and my corridors, and then when -the rain comes it runs off into them, and -doesn’t lie on the ground so long as it -would if they were not there.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but if the water runs into your -tunnels,” said Tommy Smith, “how is it -that you are not drowned?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it does not stay there long enough -for that,” said the mole; “and, besides, I -am a very good swimmer. Just take me -up again and put me into that little pond -there, and I will show you,”—for there was -a pond not far off where some ducks and -geese were swimming about. “Drive those -rude things away first,” said the mother -mole, as Tommy Smith stood with her in -his hand, at the edge of the pond, just -ready to drop her in. “If they see me, -they will be sure to make some rude -remark, and, indeed, there is no saying -what liberties they might take.”</p> - -<p>So Tommy Smith drove away the ducks -and geese, and then dropped the mother<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -mole into the water, and,—would you -believe it?—she swam almost as well -as if she had been a duck or a goose -herself, moving all her four little feet at -a great rate, and going along very quickly. -She <i>did</i> look so funny. She went across -the pond, and then turned round and came -back again, and, as she scuttled out on to -the bank, she said, “So now you see that -a mole can swim. Can <i>you</i>?”</p> - -<p>“No,” answered Tommy Smith; for he -had not learnt to, yet.</p> - -<p>“Dear me,” said the mother mole, “you -cannot swim, or dig, or drain the ground, -and I am so much smaller and can do all -three, besides a great many other things. -But then <i>I</i> am a mole.”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say that I couldn’t dig,” Tommy -Smith said. “I can, a little, only <i>I</i> do it with -a spade. I mean a real spade,” he added. -“Of course, I can’t do it with my hands.”</p> - -<p>“What stupid hands!” said the mole. -“Why, what <i>can</i> they be good for? But -are you sure you could dig properly, even -if you had a spade? Do you think you -could do anything useful now? For -instance, could you dig a well?”</p> - -<p>“I shouldn’t like to do it all by myself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>” -said Tommy Smith; “it would take me a -very long time. But I don’t suppose <i>you</i> -dig wells either.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t you!” said the mole; “then -how do you think we get our water to drink -when the weather is dry? Of course, if we -have a pond or a ditch near us we can -easily make a tunnel to the edge of it, but -it is not every mole who is so fortunate as -to live by the waterside. Those who do -not, have to dig deep pits for the water to -run into; for I must tell you that there is -always water to be found in the earth, if -only you dig deep enough for it. If you -make a hole which goes right down into -the ground, very soon the water will begin -to trickle into it through the sides and the -bottom, and then, of course, it is a well. -I wish you could see some of our wells. -They are so nicely made, and sometimes -they are brim full.”</p> - -<p>“So you have real wells with water in -them!” cried Tommy Smith; for it seemed -to him so very funny that moles should -have wells as well as men.</p> - -<p>“To be sure, we have,” said the mole; -“and I think it is very clever of us to have -thought of it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, it is indeed,” said Tommy Smith; -“and I begin to think that all the animals -are clever.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know about <i>that</i>,” said the mole; -“but <i>we</i> are.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes; and so is the rat, and the frog, -and the peewit, and”—</p> - -<p>“I am glad to hear it,” said the mole. -“<i>I</i> should not have thought so.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! but they are really,” Tommy -Smith went on eagerly. “Do let me tell -you how the peewit”—</p> - -<p>“I have nothing to learn from <i>him</i>, I -hope,” said the mole; “a poor foolish bird -who wastes all his time in the air.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but if you only knew how the -mother peewit”—Tommy Smith was beginning -again.</p> - -<p>“I should be sorry to take <i>her</i> as an -example,” said the mole sharply; “she is -a flighty thing, without solid qualities. -Other animals may be all very well in -their way,” she went on, after a pause, -“but they are not <i>moles</i>, and they none -of them know how to dig.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but the rabbit”—</p> - -<p>“The rabbit, indeed!” cried the mole -very indignantly. “Why, what can <i>he</i> do?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -He can just make a clumsy hole, and that -is all. He is a mere labourer; and I hope -you do not compare him with a real artist -like myself.”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Tommy Smith; but he -thought the mole was very conceited.</p> - -<p>“Not that it is his fault,” the mole continued. -“Of course, he cannot be expected -to make such wonderful places as I do. -After all, what has he got to dig with? -His feet are only paws, they are not -spades, as mine are; and then he has -two great big eyes for the dirt to get -into, which must be a great inconvenience -to him.”</p> - -<p>“But haven’t you eyes, too, Mrs. Mole?” -asked Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Would you like to try and find them?” -answered the mole. “You may, if you -like.”</p> - -<p>So Tommy Smith knelt down on the -ground and began to look all about where -he thought the mole’s eyes were likely to -be, and to feel with his fingers in the fur. -But look and feel as he might, it was no -use, he couldn’t find the eyes anywhere. -But, just as he was going to give up trying, -all at once he thought he saw two little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -black things hardly so big as the head of -a small black pin. Could those be eyes? -Tommy Smith hardly believed that they -could be, for some time; they were so <i>very</i> -small. “Are those your eyes, Mrs. Mole?” -he asked at last.</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed they are,” the mother mole -answered; “and are they not a beautiful -pair? How difficult they are to find, and -how well my fur hides them! It would -not be easy for the mould to get into <i>them</i>; -<i>they</i> are not like those great staring things -of the rabbit.”</p> - -<p>“They are very small,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“I should think so!” said the mole; -“and what an advantage it is to have -small eyes.”</p> - -<p>“But can you see with them?” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said the mole; “and what -an advantage it is not to be able to -see.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith did not understand this -at all. “The rabbit can see,” he said, “and -so can all the other animals.”</p> - -<p>“<i>They</i> are obliged to,” answered the -mole, “and so they have to put up with it;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -but a mole lives in the dark, and therefore -it does not require to see.”</p> - -<p>“But what are eyes for, if they are not -to see with?” Tommy Smith asked. He -felt sure it was a sensible question, and it -seemed to him that the mole was talking -nonsense.</p> - -<p>“They are for not getting in the way -when you make tunnels in the ground,” -said the mole. “Mine never get in the -way, so I know that they are the best eyes -that anyone can have.”</p> - -<p>This was quite a new idea to Tommy -Smith, and he tried to think what it would -be like to live in the ground, and to have -eyes that you couldn’t see with, and that -didn’t get in the way. At last he said, -“It seems to me, Mrs. Mole, that it would -be much better if you had not any eyes -at all.”</p> - -<p>“That is a strange idea, to be sure!” -said the mole. “Not have eyes, indeed! -That would be a fine thing.”</p> - -<p>“But if you can’t see with them,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“What of that?” said the mole; “we -have them, and so we are proud of them. -It is a saying in our family that a mole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -<i>may</i> be blind, but he has <i>eyes</i> for all -that.”</p> - -<p>“Poor little mole,” said Tommy Smith, -for though the animal seemed to be quite -happy itself, he couldn’t help feeling very -sorry for it. “But are you <i>quite</i> blind?”</p> - -<p>“If I am not quite, I am very nearly,” -the mole answered, “and I am thankful -for <i>that</i>. I just know when it is light -and when it isn’t, which is all a mole -requires to know.”</p> - -<p>“But can’t you see me?” Tommy Smith -asked.</p> - -<p>“You, indeed!” answered the mole. -“And why should I want to see you?”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid you <i>are</i> blind,” Tommy -Smith said quite sadly.</p> - -<p>“At anyrate,” said the mole, “I have -less seeing to do than almost any other -animal, and, when I think of that, I can’t -<i>help</i> feeling proud, though I know I -oughtn’t to be. But I think you have -talked enough about my eyes,” the mole -continued. “Perhaps you would like to -know something about my teeth now. -Look! there they are,” and she opened -her mouth as wide as she could, which -was not very wide, for her mouth was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -so small. What funny little white teeth -they were, and how sharp,—as sharp and -as pointed as needles.</p> - -<p>“Why are they so pointed?” asked -Tommy Smith. “The rabbit’s teeth are -not at all like that, and the rat’s are not -either.”</p> - -<p>“It is because we eat different things,” -said the mole. “Different kinds of animals -have different food, and so they have -different kinds of teeth to eat it with. -Mine are nice and sharp, because they -have to bite and kill whatever they -catch hold of.”</p> - -<p>“But what is it that they have to bite -and kill?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Ah, you would never guess,” answered -the mole. “You must know that we -moles are very brave animals, and we -fight a great deal; sometimes with each -other, but mostly with great serpents -which live in the ground, although it -really belongs to us.”</p> - -<p>“Serpents?” said Tommy Smith. “Why, -do you mean snakes?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I do,” said the mole.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-141.jpg" width="400" height="252" id="i141" - alt="" - title="" /> - <div class="caption"><p class="pc">“WE MOLES ARE VERY HEROIC”</p> -</div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Snakes that live in the ground!” -Tommy Smith cried. “Why, I don’t -know of any that do. The grass-snake -doesn’t, or the adder either. What are -these snakes like, Mrs. Mole?”</p> - -<p>“They are smooth and slimy,” said -the mole. “They have no head, or, if -they have, it looks like another tail, and -they are always crawling through the -ground, which is ours, of course, and -trying to break into our palaces.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but I call those worms!” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“You may call them so if you like,” -said the mole, “but <i>I</i> call them snakes. -You should see the way I fight with -them! How they writhe and twist -about when I seize them between my -sharp teeth. They try hard to get -away, and they would kill me if only -they could. But I am too brave and -too strong for them, so I kill <i>them</i> -instead, and eat them as well. We -moles are very heroic.”</p> - -<p>“Do you eat anything else?” asked -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Caterpillars sometimes, and a beetle -or two,” answered the mole. “But I -like snakes best of all.”</p> - -<p>“Worms,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Snakes,” said the mole. But Tommy -Smith was right, the mole’s snakes were -harmless worms; but it is nice to think -oneself a hero.</p> - -<p>“Good-bye,” said the mole rather -suddenly. “I am tired of talking, and -I want to have a little sleep.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but it is the middle of the day,” -said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“What of that?” said the mole. “I -feel tired, so I shall go to sleep.”</p> - -<p>“Then do you always sleep in the -daytime?” asked Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“I know nothing about daytime or -nighttime,” the mole answered, “and -perhaps if you lived under the ground, -as I do, you would not either. I feel -tired <i>now</i>, so I shall go to sleep now. -Good-bye”; and the mother mole began -to sink into the earth, and all at once -she was gone,—just as Tommy Smith -was going to ask her what was the use -of having such a grand palace to live -in if she was blind and couldn’t see it.</p> - -<p>One sometimes thinks of a good question -just too late to ask it.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER IX.<br /> -<span class="small">THE WOODPIGEON</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>The woodpigeon greets Tommy Smith with a coo,<br /> -Which he modifies slightly to ‘How do you do?’</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">WHAT could be more beautiful -than the woods that fine spring -morning on which Tommy Smith walked -through them? The sky was blue, and -the air was soft, and the birds were -singing everywhere. There was a concert, -surely; the trees had given it. That is -what came into Tommy Smith’s head, -and perhaps he was right. It is in -spring that the season begins. Then -ladies and gentlemen dress themselves -finely, and come and stand together in -a crowd, and there is talking, and -laughing, and singing. And here in the -woods the trees had all put on fine new -dresses of bright green, for <i>their</i> season -of spring had come, and green was the -fashionable colour. <i>They</i> stood together -too,—ever so many of them,—and bent -their heads towards each other, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -seemed to be whispering. Then their -leaves rustled, which was a much -pleasanter sound than ladies’ and gentlemen’s -talking and laughing (though perhaps -it did not mean <i>quite</i> as much); -and, oh! what beautiful sounds came -from their midst. Tommy Smith knew -that it was not the trees who were -singing, but the birds in them. “But -it seems as if it were the trees,” he -thought, “because I can’t see the birds. -But perhaps the trees ask the birds to -sing for them, as we ask people to play -and sing for us. That is how they -give their concerts and parties, perhaps. -The large ones are like rich people who -can afford to hire a whole band, but the -little ones and the bushes are the people -who are not so well off, and <i>they</i> can -only have a bird or two.” Tommy -Smith thought all this, because he was -a little boy, and liked to pretend things, -but a long time afterwards, when he was -much wiser, he used to remember those -walks of his in the woods, and sometimes -he would say to himself, “Yes, those were -the best seasons; those were the concerts -and parties most worth going to.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> - -<p>A fallen tree lay across Tommy Smith’s -path. It had once been a tall, stately oak, -now it made a nice mossy seat for a little -boy. We are not all of us so useful -when we grow old. “I will sit down on -it,” thought Tommy Smith, “and listen to -the birds singing, and pretend they are -people, and not birds at all.” So Tommy -Smith sat down and listened. A thrush -was sitting on the very tip-top of a high -fir tree, and soon he began to fill the -whole air with his beautiful, clear, joyous -notes. “I like that as well as the piano,” -said Tommy Smith, “and I don’t think -I know any lady who could sing such a -beautiful song.” Then the robin began. -“That is lower and sweeter,” he thought. -“<i>People</i> make a great deal more noise -when they sing, but it doesn’t seem to -mean so much, or, if it does, I don’t like -the meaning so well. Then a jay screamed, -and some starlings began to chatter. “Oh, -there!” cried Tommy Smith, clapping his -hands. “That is much more like people. -Ladies talk and sing just like that. But -not like <i>that</i>,” he continued; for now -another sound began to mingle with the -rest, such a pretty, such a <i>very</i> pretty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -sound, <i>so</i> soft, and so tender and sleepy, -“like a lullaby,” Tommy Smith thought. -And, as he listened to it, all the woods -seemed to grow hushed and still, as if -they were listening too. “Oh,” said -Tommy Smith, “it is no use pretending -any more. That couldn’t be people. -No men, and no women either, have -such a pretty voice as that.”</p> - -<p>“Coo-oo-oo-oo, coo-oo-oo-oo,” said the -voice. It had been some way off before, -but now it sounded much nearer. “Coo-oo-oo-oo, -coo-oo-oo-oo.” Why, surely it -was in that tree, only just a little way -from where Tommy Smith was sitting. -“I will go and look,” he thought. “I -know who it is. It is the woodpigeon. -Perhaps he will stay and talk to me.”</p> - -<p>So he got up, and walked towards the -tree. But—was it not strange?—as he -came to it the voice seemed to change just -a little. Only just a little; it had still the -same pretty, soft sound, and the end part -was just the same, but, instead of “Coo-oo-oo-oo, -coo-oo-oo-oo,” which it had been -saying before, now it was saying—yes, and -quite distinctly too—“How do you do-oo-oo-oo? -How do you do-oo-oo-oo?” Yes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -there could be no doubt of it, and as -Tommy Smith came quite up to the tree, -there was the woodpigeon sitting on one -of the lowest branches, bowing to him -quite politely, and asking him how he was.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I am quite well, Mr. Woodpigeon,” -answered Tommy Smith. “I -hope you are.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I am quite well too-oo-oo-oo,” -cooed the woodpigeon, bobbing his head -up and down all the while.</p> - -<p>“Why do you move your head up and -down like that whilst you speak?” asked -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Why, because it is the proper thing to -do-oo-oo-oo,” replied the woodpigeon.</p> - -<p>“But <i>I</i> don’t do it when <i>I</i> speak,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh no; but then <i>I</i> am not you-oo-oo-oo,” -said the woodpigeon.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith didn’t know how to -answer this, so he thought he would -change the subject. “What have you -been doing this morning, Mr. Woodpigeon?” -he said.</p> - -<p>“Why, sitting here in the woo-oo-oo-oods -and coo-oo-oo-ing,” the woodpigeon -answered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, but not all the morning, have -you?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said the woodpigeon. “From -about six to nine I was having my breakfast -in the fields.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought that three hours -was a very long time to take over one’s -breakfast, and he said so. “I don’t take -half an hour over mine,” he added.</p> - -<p>“That is all very well,” said the woodpigeon; -“but your breakfast is brought to -you, whilst I have to find mine for myself. -What you eat is put down before you on -a table, but <i>my</i> table is the whole country, -and it is so large and broad that it takes -me a long while to find what is on it, and -to eat as much of it as I want.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder what your breakfast is like, -Mr. Woodpigeon,” said Tommy Smith. -“I suppose it is very different to mine.”</p> - -<p>“Let me see,” cooed the woodpigeon. -“This morning I had a few peas and -beans, besides some oats and barley. I -got those in the fields, and I found some -green clover there too, as well as some -wild mustard, and some ragweed and -charlock, and a few other seeds and roo-oo-oo-oots.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh dear, Mr. Woodpigeon,” said -Tommy Smith; “why, what a lot you do -eat.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t call that much,” said the woodpigeon. -“When I was tired of looking -about in the fields, I went to the woods -again, and got a few acorns, and some -beechnuts, and”—</p> - -<p>“Oh! but look here, Mr. Woodpigeon,” -said Tommy Smith. “You couldn’t have -eaten all those this morning, because they -are not all ripe now, and”—</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say they were ripe,” said the -woodpigeon; “and if I didn’t eat them -this morning, then I did on some other -morning, so it’s all the same. Those are -the things I eat, at anyrate, and I can’t be -expected to remember exactly when I eat -them. I had a few stones though, of -course. They are always to be had, whatever -time of year it is. <i>Stones</i> are <i>always</i> -in season.”</p> - -<p>“Stones!” cried Tommy Smith in great -surprise. “Oh, come now; I know you -don’t eat them.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t I?” said the woodpigeon. -“I should be very sorry if I couldn’t get -any,—I know that. It would be a nice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -thing, indeed, if one couldn’t have a few -stones to eat with one’s meals. That -would be a good joke.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought that <i>he</i> wouldn’t -think it a joke to <i>have</i> to eat stones, and -he could hardly believe that the woodpigeon -was speaking the truth. But he -was such an innocent-looking bird, and -seemed so <i>very</i> respectable, that he -thought he must be. “Are they very -large stones?” he asked at last.</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” answered the woodpigeon. -“They are not large, but very small—just -the right size to go into my mill.”</p> - -<p>“Into your mill?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the woodpigeon; “the little -mill which is inside me.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith was getting more and -more puzzled. What could the woodpigeon -mean? “And yet he is such a -nice bird,” he said to himself. “I don’t -think he would tell stories.”</p> - -<p>“I see that you don’t understand me,” -said the woodpigeon; “so, if you like, I -will explain it all to you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I should so like to know!” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>So the woodpigeon gave a gentle coo,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -and began to tell him all about it. “Yes,” -he said, “I have a mill inside me, and -everything that I eat goes into it to get -ground up.”</p> - -<p>“Why, then, you are a miller,” said -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“In a way, I am,” said the woodpigeon; -“for I own a mill. But then, you know, a -miller lives inside <i>his</i> mill, but <i>my</i> mill is -inside me.”</p> - -<p>“I should so like to see it,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“You never can do that,” said the woodpigeon -in an alarmed tone of voice; “for -you would have to kill me first, and that -would be a most shocking thing to do. -But it is there, all the same, though you -can’t see it, and it is called the gizzard.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, the gizzard!” said Tommy Smith. -“I know what that is, because I have”—and -then he stopped all of a sudden. He -had been going to say that he had tasted it -sometimes when there was fowl for dinner, -but he thought he had better not. It -didn’t seem quite delicate to talk to a -woodpigeon about eating a fowl.</p> - -<p>“The gizzard is the mill that I am -talking about,” said the woodpigeon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -“All the food that we eat goes into it, -and then it is ground up, just as corn is -ground between two hard stones. But -though our gizzard is very hard, it is not -quite so hard as stones are, so we swallow -some small sharp stones, which go into our -gizzard, and are rolled about with the -grain and seeds there, and help to crush -them. Then, when they are nice and soft, -they are ready to go on into the stomach. -So now you know what sort of thing a -gizzard is, and why we swallow stones.”</p> - -<p>“But don’t the stones hurt you?” asked -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Do you think we would swallow them -if they did?” answered the woodpigeon. -“What a foolish question to ask!”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith stood for a little while -thinking about it, and wondering if <i>he</i> -had a mill inside <i>him</i>, till at last the woodpigeon -said, “Perhaps you would like to -ask me a <i>sensible</i> question.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Tommy Smith, and he -tried to think what was a sensible question. -He had thought of a good many -questions to ask, and they had seemed -sensible at the time, but now he began -to feel afraid that the woodpigeon would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -think them foolish. At last he said, “Please, -Mr. Woodpigeon, where do you live?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, in this tree,” said the woodpigeon, -“half-way up on the seventeenth storey.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose you mean the seventeenth -branch,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Of course I do,” said the woodpigeon. -“I have my nest there, and my wife is -sitting on the eggs now.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, do let me see them,” cried Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said the woodpigeon. “They -are too high up for that. You would not -be able to climb so far, and you cannot -fly as we birds do, for you are only a -poor boy, and have no wings.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I had wings,” said Tommy -Smith. “Is it very nice to fly, Mr. Woodpigeon?”</p> - -<p>“It is nicer than anything else in the -whole world,” the woodpigeon answered. -“Just fancy floating along high above -everything, as if the air were water, and -you were a boat. Only you go much -quicker than a boat does, and sometimes -you need not use the oars at all.”</p> - -<p>“Your wings are the oars, I suppose,” -said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” said the woodpigeon, -“and how fast they row me along. -Swish! swish! swish! and when I am -tired I just spread them out and float -along without using them. That is -delightful. I call it resting on my -wings.”</p> - -<p>“It must be something like swinging, -I think,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the woodpigeon; “only you -swing upon nothing, and you only swing -forwards. Oh, how cool and fresh the -air is, even on the hottest day in summer! -The sun seems shining quite near to me, -and the sky is like a great blue sea that -I am swimming through; but oh, so -quickly! quicker than any fish can swim. -When I look up, I see great white ships -with all their sails set. They are the -clouds, and sometimes I am quite near -them. How fast we go! We seem to -be chasing each other. And when I look -down, I see green islands far below me. -Those are the tops of trees that I am -flying over. My nest is in one of them, -and I always know which one it is. -When I am above it, I pause as a boat -pauses on the crest of a wave, and then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -down, down, down I go, such a deep, -cool, delicious plunge, till at last the -leaves rustle round me, and I am sitting -amongst the branches again, and cooing.”</p> - -<p>“By your nest?” asked Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes; when I have one,” said the -woodpigeon. “I have now, you know, -because it is the springtime.”</p> - -<p>“I wish I could see it with the eggs -in it,” said Tommy Smith. But it was -no use wishing, he hadn’t wings, and he -couldn’t climb the tree. “How many -eggs are there?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Two-oo-oo-oo,” said a voice, higher -up amongst the foliage; and Tommy -Smith knew that the mother woodpigeon -was sitting there on her nest, and looking -down at him all the while.</p> - -<p>“Only two eggs!” he said. “I don’t -call that many.”</p> - -<p>“It may not be <i>many</i>,” said the mother -woodpigeon, “but it is the right quantity. -Three would be <i>too</i> many, and one would -not be enough. Two is the only possible -number.”</p> - -<p>“Oh no, indeed it isn’t,” said Tommy -Smith eagerly. “Fowls lay a dozen eggs -sometimes, and pheasants”—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Possible for a woodpigeon, <i>I</i> meant,” -said the mother woodpigeon. “With -fowls, no doubt, anything may take place, -but large families are considered vulgar -amongst <i>us</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Fowls may do what they please,” said -the father woodpigeon. “They are lazy -birds, and don’t feed their young ones.”</p> - -<p>“That is why they lay so many eggs,” -said the mother woodpigeon. “They -don’t mind having a herd of children, -because they know they won’t have to -support them.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith was surprised to hear -the woodpigeons talk like this of the -poor fowls, for he had often seen the -good mother hen walking about with her -brood of children, calling to them when -she found a worm, and taking care of -them so nicely. “It seems to me,” he -thought, “that every animal thinks itself -better than every other animal; and they -all think whatever they do right, just -because they do it, and the others don’t. -But I suppose <i>that</i> is because they <i>are</i> -animals, and not human beings.” Then -he said out loud, “But I am sure the -mother hen feeds her chickens, because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -I have seen her scratching up worms for -them out of the ground, and”—</p> - -<p>“Yes, that is a nice way to feed one’s -little ones,” said the mother woodpigeon. -“A raw, live worm! Why, what could -be nastier? No wonder they are forced -to pick up things for themselves.”</p> - -<p>“If they waited till their parents put -a worm into their mouths, they would -starve,” said the father woodpigeon. “It -is quite dreadful to think of.”</p> - -<p>“But I think the little chickens like -picking up their own food,” said Tommy -Smith. “They look so pretty running -about.”</p> - -<p>“They would look much prettier sitting -in a warm nest, as ours do,” said the -mother woodpigeon.</p> - -<p>“And they would feel much more -comfortable with you feeding them, my -dear,” said the father.</p> - -<p>“And with you helping me, you know,” -said the mother bird, and she stretched -her neck over the branch, and cooed softly -to her husband, who looked up at her, and -cooed again.</p> - -<p>“Then do you both feed them?” asked -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the father woodpigeon; -“and we take it in turns. You would -not find many cocks who would do that, -I think.”</p> - -<p>“No; or help to hatch the eggs,” said -the mother woodpigeon. “He does that -too. Oh, he <i>is</i> so good!”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” said the father woodpigeon. -“It is what all birds ought to -do-oo-oo-oo.”</p> - -<p>“Yes; but it isn’t what they all do -do-oo-oo-oo,” said the mother woodpigeon.</p> - -<p>“More shame for those who do not,” -said the father woodpigeon; “but I hope -there are not many.” And then they -both waited for Tommy Smith to ask -them another question.</p> - -<p>“Please, Mrs. Woodpigeon,” said Tommy -Smith, “what do you feed your young ones -with?”</p> - -<p>“We feed them with whatever we eat -ourselves,” said the mother woodpigeon, -“and we always swallow it first, to be sure -that it is quite good.”</p> - -<p>This surprised Tommy Smith very -much indeed, for it seemed to him -almost as wonderful as eating stones. -“Oh! but if you swallow the food yourselves,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>” -he said, “how can your young -ones have it?”</p> - -<p>“They don’t have it till we bring it -up again,” said the father woodpigeon. -“They put their beaks inside ours, and -then it comes up into our mouths all ready -for them to swallow.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t that rather nasty?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“You had better ask <i>them</i> about <i>that</i>,” -said the mother woodpigeon. “<i>They</i> will -tell you whether it is nasty or not.”</p> - -<p>“<i>They</i> think it <i>nice</i>,” said the father -woodpigeon.</p> - -<p>“And no wonder,” said the mother -woodpigeon. “When <i>we</i> swallow it, it is -hard and cold, but when it comes up again -for <i>them</i> to swallow, it is soft and warm, -and very like milk. It is not every bird -who feeds its young ones like <i>that</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Tommy Smith; “most -birds fly to them with a worm or a caterpillar -in their beaks, and give it to them -just as it is.”</p> - -<p>“That is the old-fashioned way,” said -the mother woodpigeon; “but we are -more civilised, and have learnt to <i>prepare</i> -our children’s food.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Besides,” said the father woodpigeon, -“we eat seeds and grains, and little things -like that, and it would take us a very long -time to carry a sufficient number of them -to the nest. Our young ones would be so -hungry, and we should not be able to -bring them enough to satisfy them, and -then they would starve. So we have -thought of this way of managing it, and I -think it is one of the cleverest things in -the whole world.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” cooed the mother woodpigeon, -as she looked down from the -branch where she sat on her nest; “one -of the cleverest things in the whole -world.”</p> - -<p>“Is it only pigeons that do that?” asked -Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“I won’t say that,” answered the mother -woodpigeon. “There are some other birds, -I believe, who have followed our example.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, they imitate us,” said the father -woodpigeon; “but they can never be -pigeons, however much they try to be.”</p> - -<p>“Never,” said the mother woodpigeon. -“They don’t drink water as we do. That -is the test.”</p> - -<p>“Why, how do you drink water?” asked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -Tommy Smith. “Don’t you drink it like -other birds?”</p> - -<p>“I should think not,” said the father -woodpigeon. “Other birds take a little -in their bills, and then lift their heads up -and let it run down their throats, but we -pigeons would be ashamed to drink in such -a way as that. We keep our beaks in the -water all the time, and suck it up into our -throats. That is how <i>we</i> drink, and nothing -could make us do it differently. We don’t -lift <i>our</i> heads up.”</p> - -<p>“But why shouldn’t you lift them up?” -said Tommy Smith; for he thought to -himself, “If all the other birds drink like -that, it ought to be the right way.”</p> - -<p>“Why shouldn’t we?” said the father -woodpigeon. “Why, because it would be -stupid,—and wrong too,” he added after a -pause, during which he seemed to be -thinking.</p> - -<p>“There is a still stronger reason,” said -the mother woodpigeon, “the strongest of -<i>all</i> reasons; at least, <i>I</i> cannot imagine one -stronger. It would be <i>unpigeonly</i>.” And -from the tone in which she said this, -Tommy Smith felt that it would be no -use to say anything more on the subject.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> - -<p>“If there was any water here,” said the -father woodpigeon, “I would drink a little -just to show you, but the nearest is some -way off. However, you can watch some -tame pigeons the next time they are -drinking, for we all belong to one great -family, and have the same ideas upon -important points. Now I am going for a -short fly, but if you like to stay and talk to -my wife, I shall be back again in an hour.”</p> - -<p>But Tommy Smith had to go too, for -his lessons began at eleven o’clock, and of -course it would not do to miss them, -though it seemed to him that he was getting -a much better lesson from the woodpigeons. -“But I wish,” he said, “before you fly -away, Mr. Woodpigeon, you would just -tell me what you do all day.” But as -Tommy Smith said this, there was a rustle -and a clapping of wings, and the father -woodpigeon was gone.</p> - -<p>“He is so impetuous,” said the mother -woodpigeon. “There is no stopping him -when he wants to do anything. But <i>I</i> -will tell you what we do all day, so listen. -We rise early, of course, and fly down to -breakfast at about six. After three or -four hours we come back to the woods<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -again, and coo and talk to each other there -for about an hour. Then we go off to -drink and to bathe, which is the nicest -part of the whole day. After that we -feel a little tired and sleepy, so we sit -quietly in the woods till about two. Then -it is quite time for dinner, so off we go -again and feed till about five. After -dinner it is best to sit quiet and coo a -little. A quiet coo aids digestion. Then -we have a nice refreshing drink in the cool -of the evening, and after that we go -straight to tree.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean to bed?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Of course I do,” said the mother woodpigeon. -“We sleep in trees. They are -the only beds we should care to trust -ourselves to.”</p> - -<p>“Aren’t they rather hard?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Not at all,” said the woodpigeon. -“You see, we have our own feathers, so -that makes them feather-beds. They are -soft enough and warm enough for us, you -may be quite sure.”</p> - -<p>“But it must be very windy up in the -trees,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<p>“That is the great advantage of the -situation,” said the mother woodpigeon. -“Our beds are always well aired, so we -need never feel anxious about that. However -much it rains they can never be -damp, for how can a bed be damp and -well-aired at the same time?”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith couldn’t think of the -right answer to this, and the woodpigeon -went on, “So, now, I have told you how -we pass the day. What a happy, happy -life! He must have a cruel heart who -could put an end to it.” (And Tommy -Smith thought so too.)</p> - -<p>“But is that what you always do?” he -asked.</p> - -<p>“Of course, when there are eggs and -young ones it makes a difference,” said the -mother woodpigeon; “and in winter we -keep different hours. But that is our -usual summer life, and <i>I</i> think it a very -pleasant one.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, so do I!” said Tommy Smith. -“Thank you, Mrs. Woodpigeon, for telling -me. Now I must go to my lessons, -and I will tell them all about it at -home.”</p> - -<p>“If you come back afterwards, I will tell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -you some more,” said the mother woodpigeon.</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith said he would, and then -he ran away as fast as he could to his -lessons, for he was a little late. And as he -ran, he could hear the mother woodpigeon -saying, “Come back soo-oo-oo-oon! come -back soo-oo-oo-oon!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> -<span class="small">THE SQUIRREL</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>The pert little squirrel’s as brisk as can be;<br /> -He calls his house ‘Tree-tops,’ and lives in a tree.</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap08">SO Tommy Smith went home to his -lessons, and when he had finished -them, he put on his hat and came out -again, and began to walk through the -woods to where the mother woodpigeon -was waiting for him on her nest. -“Tommy Smith! Tommy Smith! Where -are you going to, Tommy Smith?” said a -voice which he had not heard before. At -any rate, he had not heard it talk before. -Such a funny little voice it was, something -between a cough and a sob, and if it had -not said all those words so <i>very</i> distinctly, -it would have sounded like “sug, sug,—sug, -sug,—sug, sug, sug, sug, sug.” Now I -come to think of it, Tommy Smith must -have heard it before, for he had often been -for walks in the woods. But when a voice -which has only said “sug, sug” before, -begins to talk and say whole sentences, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -is not so easy to recognise it. “Who can -that be?” said Tommy Smith; and then he -looked all about, but he could see no one. -“Who are you?” he called out; “and where -are you calling me from?”</p> - -<p>“From here, Tommy Smith, from here,” -answered the voice. “Can’t you see me? -Why here I am.”</p> - -<p>“Are you the rabbit?” said Tommy -Smith; but he thought directly, “Oh no, it -can’t be the rabbit, because it comes from a -tree, and no rabbit could burrow up a tree.”</p> - -<p>“The rabbit, indeed!” said the voice. -“Oh no, I am not the rabbit. That <i>is</i> a -funny sug, sug, sug, sug-gestion.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I know!” cried Tommy Smith. -“It is the”—</p> - -<p>“Look!” said the voice. And all at -once there was a red streak down the -trunk of a beech tree and along the -ground, and there was a little squirrel -sitting at Tommy Smith’s feet, with his tail -cocked up over his head. “Oh!” cried -Tommy Smith,—and before he could say -anything else the squirrel said “Look!” -again, and there was another red streak, up -the trunk of a pine tree this time,—and -there he was sitting on a branch of it, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -his tail cocked up over his head, just the -same as before.</p> - -<p>“Oh dear, Mr. Squirrel,” said Tommy -Smith—the branch was not a very high -one, and they could talk to each other -comfortably—“how fast you do go!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I like to do things quickly,” said -the squirrel. “Mine is an active nature -during three-parts of the year.”</p> - -<p>“And what is it during the other part?” -asked Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know anything about it -then,” the squirrel answered.</p> - -<p>This puzzled Tommy Smith a little. -“Why not?” he said.</p> - -<p>“Oh, because I’m asleep,” said the -squirrel. “One can’t know much about -oneself when one’s asleep, you know; and, -besides, it doesn’t matter.”</p> - -<p>“But do you go to sleep for such a long -time?” said Tommy Smith. “I know that -the frogs and the snakes go to sleep all the -winter, but I didn’t know any regular -animal did.”</p> - -<p>“Why, doesn’t the dormouse?” said the -squirrel. “He’s a much harder sleeper -than I am. I suppose you call <i>him</i> a -regular animal.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Tommy Smith. He had -forgotten the dormouse, and, of course, <i>he -was</i> a regular animal. By a “regular -animal,” I suppose Tommy Smith meant -one that wasn’t an insect, or a reptile, or a -worm, or something of that sort. Perhaps -he couldn’t have said exactly <i>what</i> he -meant, but whatever he did mean, you -may be sure that it was not very sensible, -because all living creatures are animals, -and one is just as regular as another, if you -look at it in the right way.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the squirrel, “I think we are -to have a little chat, are we not? It’s you -that must ask the questions, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I should so like to,” said Tommy -Smith, “but I promised the mother woodpigeon -to go back and talk to her, and I -am going there now.”</p> - -<p>“The mother woodpigeon will be on -her nest for another hour or two,” said the -squirrel, “so you will have time to talk to -her and to me too. And let me tell you, it -is not every little boy who can have a -talk with a squirrel.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought that it was not -every little boy who could have a talk -with a woodpigeon either. But he wanted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -to have both, so he said, “Very well, Mr. -Squirrel, and I hope you will tell me -something interesting about yourself.”</p> - -<p>The squirrel only nodded, and said -nothing; and then Tommy Smith remembered -that he had to ask the -questions, so he said, “Why is it, Mr. -Squirrel, that you go to sleep in the -winter? It seems so funny that you -should. I stay awake all the time, you -know—except at night, of course,—so why -can’t you?”</p> - -<p>“That is easily answered,” said the -squirrel. “You have food in the winter, -don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Of course you do,” said the squirrel. -“It is all got for you, so you have no -trouble. <i>I</i> have to find mine myself, but -in the winter there is none to find. So if I -didn’t go to sleep, I should starve.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith remembered, then, that -the grass-snake had told him that <i>he</i> went -to sleep in the winter, because he could get -no frogs to eat; and the frog had said <i>he</i> -did, because he could find no insects. So -he saw that there was the same reason -for all these three animals, who were so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -different from each other, doing the same -thing. “And that’s why the dormouse goes -to sleep too, I suppose,” he said to himself, -and then he began to think that if any -other animals went to sleep all the winter, -it must be because <i>they</i> could get no food.</p> - -<p>“But I don’t think <i>I could</i> go to sleep if -I was very hungry,” he said to the squirrel; -“and if I did, I’m sure I should wake up -again very soon and want my dinner.”</p> - -<p>“I daresay you would,” said the squirrel; -“and if you couldn’t get it, you would soon -die.”</p> - -<p>“But do <i>you</i> never wake up and want -<i>your</i> dinner, Mr. Squirrel?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said the squirrel, “I often -wake up, but whenever I do, I can always -get it. Do you know why? Because I -am such a clever animal, that I hide away -food in the autumn, so that I can find it in -the winter.”</p> - -<p>“But you <i>said</i> you couldn’t find food in -the winter,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I meant that I couldn’t find it -growing on the trees and bushes,” said the -squirrel. “Of course I can find what I -have stored away, and that is enough for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -all the time I am awake. But it wouldn’t -be enough for the whole winter, so I sleep -or doze most of the time, and then I don’t -require anything.”</p> - -<p>“But why don’t you store away enough -food for the whole winter?” said Tommy -Smith. “Then you needn’t go to sleep at -all, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Good gracious!” said the squirrel, -“that would take a great deal too much -time. It is all very well to put a few -things aside, so as to have something to eat -on sunny days—for those are the days I -like to wake up on,—but just fancy having -to find dinners beforehand for every day -all through the winter. I could never do -that, you know. One dinner to think -about is quite enough as a rule. How -should you like to have to cook two -dinners every day, and always put one of -them in a cupboard?”</p> - -<p>“But you don’t <i>cook your</i> dinners, Mr. -Squirrel,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“And <i>you</i> don’t <i>look</i> for <i>yours</i>,” said the -squirrel. “<i>I</i> do. You see,” he went on, -“I only begin hiding things away towards -the end of autumn, so there isn’t so very -much time.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But you have the rest of the year to -do it in too,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said the squirrel; “that’s quite -a mistake. In the spring and summer I -have something else to think about. -Besides, there is nothing worth hiding -away then—no acorns, or beechnuts, or -filberts, and, of course, one wants to have -something really nice to eat when one -wakes up in the winter. But in the -autumn all those things are ripe. The -autumn is the great eating-time. That is -the time of the year that I like best of all.”</p> - -<p>“What! better than the spring or the -summer?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Well, in the spring there are buds on -the trees,” the squirrel reflected; “and the -birds’ nests have got eggs inside them. -They are both very nice, though I like -nuts better still. But, you see, buds and -birds’ eggs don’t keep, and so”—</p> - -<p>“Oh but, Mr. Squirrel,” cried Tommy -Smith, “you surely don’t eat the eggs of -the poor birds! Oh, I hope you don’t!” -(You see he was not at all the same -Tommy Smith now that he used to be, -and he didn’t go birds’-nesting any more.)</p> - -<p>The squirrel looked just a little bit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -ashamed. “I wouldn’t, you know,” he -said, “if they didn’t make their nests in -the trees.”</p> - -<p>“Of course they make their nests in the -trees!” said Tommy Smith indignantly. -“They have just as much right to the -trees as you have, and I think it is very -wicked of you to eat their eggs.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it is,” said the squirrel; “but, -you see, I get so hungry, and fresh eggs -are so nice. By the bye, on what tree did -you say the woodpigeon was sitting? I -think I will go there with you.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Indeed</i>, you shan’t!” said Tommy -Smith (and he was <i>very</i> angry). “I won’t -take you there. You want to eat her eggs, -I know; and I think you are a very -naughty animal.”</p> - -<p>The squirrel looked at Tommy Smith -for a little while without speaking, and -then he said, “You know, <i>I</i> never eat -hen’s eggs.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you?” said Tommy Smith. It -was all he could think of to say, for he -remembered that <i>he did</i> eat hen’s eggs. -Of course he knew that that was different—the -peewit had told him that it was—but -just at that moment he couldn’t think of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -<i>why</i> it was different, and he couldn’t help -wishing that he hadn’t been <i>quite</i> so angry -with the squirrel. “Perhaps you don’t eat -too many eggs,” he said in a milder tone.</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” said the squirrel. -“Wherever there are plenty of squirrels, -there are plenty of birds too, as long as -people with guns don’t shoot them. That -shows that we don’t eat too many. And -then, as for our killing trees”—</p> - -<p>“Oh, but <i>do</i> you kill trees?” said -Tommy Smith. “I didn’t know that you -did that.”</p> - -<p>“Why, sometimes when we are very -hungry,” said the squirrel, “we gnaw the -bark all round the trunk of a small tree, -and then it dies. So those people who are -always finding out reasons for killing -animals say we do harm to the forests. -But I can tell them this, that no forest was -ever cut down by the squirrels that lived -in it. Men cut down the forests, and -shoot the birds and the squirrels; but if -they left them all three alone, they would -all get on very well together. Once, you -know, almost the whole of England was -covered with forests. Do you think it was -the squirrels who cut them all down?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Tommy Smith. “It was -men with axes, I should think.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the squirrel. “It is that -great axe of theirs that does the mischief, -not these poor little teeth of mine. It is -axes, not squirrels, that they should keep -out of the woods.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought the squirrel -might be right, but he wanted to hear -something more about what he did and -the way he lived, so he said, “Oh, Mr. -Squirrel, you haven’t told me where you -hide the nuts and acorns that you eat -when you wake up in the winter.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, in all sorts of places,” said the -squirrel. “Sometimes I scrape a hole in -the ground and bury them in it, and sometimes -I put them into holes in the trunks -of trees, or under their roots, if they run -along the ground, or into any other little -nook or crevice near where I live. In fact, -I put them anywhere where it is convenient, -but <i>not</i> where it is <i>in</i>convenient. -That is another of my clever notions.”</p> - -<p>“But isn’t it rather difficult to find them -again when you wake up a long time -afterwards?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“It would be to you, I daresay,” said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -the squirrel; “but it is quite easy to me. -You see, I have a wonderful memory, and -never forget where I once put a thing. -Even when the snow is on the ground, I -know where my dinner is. It is <i>under</i> -a white tablecloth then, instead of being -<i>upon</i> one. I have only to lift up the tablecloth, -and there it is.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean that you scrape the -snow away, Mr. Squirrel?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that is what I mean,” said the -squirrel; “but I like to talk prettily. -Well, have you anything else to ask me? -You had better make haste if you have, -because we squirrels can never stay still -for very long, and I shall soon have to -jump away. Look how my tail is whisking. -I always go very soon after that -begins.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought that, as the -squirrel had proposed having a chat himself, -and had prevented him from going on -to the woodpigeon, it was not quite polite -of him to be so very impatient. But he -thought <i>he</i> would be polite, at anyrate, so -he went on, all in a hurry, “I suppose, Mr. -Squirrel, as you go to sleep in the winter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -you have to come out of the trees and find -a place on the ground to”—</p> - -<p>“Out of the trees!” exclaimed the -squirrel. “I should think not, indeed. -That would be very unsafe. Besides, I -should never feel comfortable if I did not -rock with the wind when I was asleep. I -should have a nasty fixed feeling, which -would wake me up every minute.”</p> - -<p>This surprised Tommy Smith a good -deal. He knew that squirrels lived in the -trees all day, but he did not know before -that they slept in them at night too. -“Then do you make a nest like a bird, -Mr. Squirrel?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Like a bird, indeed!” said the squirrel. -“No; I make one like a squirrel. It is not -necessary for me to imitate a bird. We -squirrels can make nests a great deal -better than birds can.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith did not quite believe -this. At anyrate, he felt sure that a -squirrel could not make a better nest than -some birds can. But he remembered that -some other birds make only slight nests, -or none at all. “And perhaps,” he thought, -“he only means those kinds of birds.” -But he thought he had better not ask the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -squirrel this, in case he should be offended, -so he only said, “Oh, Mr. Squirrel, will -you please tell me all about your nest, and -how you make it, and what it looks like.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” the squirrel began, “it is very -large; much larger than you would ever -think, to look at <i>me</i>. I could get inside -the cap you have on your head. But how -large do you think the house I make, and -go to sleep in, is?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it is a little larger than my -cap,” said Tommy Smith. He did not -think it could be <i>much</i> larger.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said the squirrel, “it is larger -than you sometimes. You know those -great heaps of hay that stand in the fields—haycocks -I think they call them,—well, -if you were to take my house to pieces, -it would sometimes make a heap almost -as big as one of them.”</p> - -<p>“Would it, really?” said Tommy Smith. -“But why is it so large?”</p> - -<p>“You see,” said the squirrel, “if the -walls were not nice and thick, they would -not keep out the cold properly, and so I -have to find a great deal of moss and -grass, and a great many sticks and leaves, -to make it with. Then I have to repair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -it every year—it would be too much -trouble, you know, to build a new one,—and -so it keeps on getting bigger, because -of the fresh sticks and things I bring to -it. That is why my house is so large.”</p> - -<p>“And are you always quite comfortable -inside it?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said the squirrel; “always -comfortable, and always dry. I knit -everything so closely together, that neither -the rain nor the snow can get through.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose your house has a door to -get in and out by,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“It has <i>two</i> doors,” said the squirrel, -“a large one and a small one. Why, -what a question to ask! You will be -asking if it has a roof to it next.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Has</i> it a roof?” said Tommy Smith. -(So, you see, the squirrel was quite right.)</p> - -<p>“Of course it has,” said the squirrel. -“The idea of living in a house without a -roof to it! I build it high up in the -fork of a tree,” he went on; “and I lie -curled up inside it, as snug and as warm -as can be.”</p> - -<p>“But isn’t it too warm in the summer?” -asked Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t go into it then,” said the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -squirrel. “The house I have been telling -you about is for the winter, but in the summer -I have my summer-house to go into.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, then you have two houses!” said -Tommy Smith. “That is cleverer than -a bird, for they have only one nest.”</p> - -<p>“<i>I</i> have two,” said the squirrel, “and -they are not at all the same.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, do tell me what the summer-house -is like,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“It is more lightly built than the winter-house,” -said the squirrel, “and not nearly -so large. That is how summer-houses -are always built, you know. Perhaps you -have one in your garden.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, we have,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“And isn’t it much smaller than the -other one?” said the squirrel.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, it is,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the squirrel, “my summer-house -is constructed on the same principle. -I will show it you, if you like, for I really -can’t sit still any longer. Just <i>look</i> at -my tail! It will whisk itself off soon if -I don’t jump about.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I should so like to see it, Mr. -Squirrel!” cried Tommy Smith. “Yes, -do come down, and”—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m not coming down,” said the -squirrel. “I shouldn’t think of doing that. -I shall go home by the treeway, and you -can walk underneath me. Now then!” -And as the squirrel said this, he gave his -tail <i>such</i> a whisking, and away he ran -along the branch he had been sitting on, -right to the end of it, and then gave <i>such</i> -a jump on to the branch of another tree, -and then out of that tree into another one, -and so from tree to tree, so fast that -Tommy Smith could hardly keep up -with him as he ran along the ground -underneath.</p> - -<p>It was not always that the squirrel had -to jump from one tree to another, because -their branches often touched each other, -and then he would run along them -without jumping at all. Sometimes they -would be very near together without -quite touching, and then when he came -to the end of the branch he was on, he -would lean forward, and, with his little -fore-paws, catch hold of the tips of several -of those belonging to another tree, and -draw them all together, and then give a -little spring amongst them, and away he -would go again. This was when he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -in the fir trees. But to see him run down -the long, drooping branch of a beech tree, -right to the very end, and then drop off -it on to another one far below—that was -the finest sight of all. He did it so very -gracefully. His tail was not turned up -over his back now, as it had been whilst -he was sitting up, but went streaming -out behind him like a flag. And sometimes -he would whisk it from side to side, -and say, “Sug, sug,—sug, sug,—sug, sug, -sug, sug, sug!”</p> - -<p>“Here it is!” cried the squirrel at last, -from one of the very top branches of the -tree he was on (it was a large beech tree). -“Here is ‘Tree-tops.’ Can you see it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, I can see the top of the tree -you are on,” said Tommy Smith; “but”—</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t mean that!” said the -squirrel. “‘Tree-tops’ is the name of my -residence. You know, houses have usually -a name of some sort. So I call mine -‘Tree-tops.’ That describes it very well, -because it is in a tree-top, and there are -tree-tops all round it.”</p> - -<p>“But aren’t all squirrels’ nests like -that?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said the squirrel; “and they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> -can all be called ‘Tree-tops.’ I daresay -you’ve seen more than one house that -was named ‘The Elms,’ or ‘The Firs,’ or -‘The Beeches.’ But now look about, and -see if you can see my summer-house.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith looked all about near -where the squirrel was sitting high up in -the tree, and at last he saw something -that looked like a little black ball. “Is -that it?” he said.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the squirrel, “that’s it. -Look! Now I am in it,” and he made -a little spring at the ball of sticks, and -disappeared inside it. The jump made -the thin end of the branch swing about, -and the squirrel’s summer-house swung -with it, so that it looked as if it might -be shaken off.</p> - -<p>“Oh, do come out,” Tommy Smith -cried. “I’m sure it can’t be safe in there.”</p> - -<p>“Not safe!” said the squirrel, as he -poked his little head out, and looked down -at Tommy Smith. “Do you think I would -live with all my family in a house that was -not safe? I have a wife and five children, -you know, and we all live here together.”</p> - -<p>“Do you really, Mr. Squirrel?” said -Tommy Smith, for he could hardly believe it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Why, of course we do,” said the -squirrel; “and great fun it is, too. You -should see how we swing about in a high -wind. Delightful!”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith thought that it would -make <i>him</i> giddy. “It <i>must</i> be dangerous,” -he said. “Suppose you were all to be -swung out, or the branch were to be -blown off, or”—</p> - -<p>“Oh, we never think of such things,” -said the squirrel. “They are sure not -to happen; and even if they did, we should -be all right, somehow, I daresay.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think you would,” said Tommy -Smith. “The woodpigeon might, perhaps, -but, you see, you can’t fly, and -so”—</p> - -<p>“Oh, can’t I?” said the squirrel. “Why, -how did I get here then, from tree to tree? -Didn’t you see me?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but that was jumping,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Jumping? Nonsense!” said the squirrel. -“Why, I went through the air, you know, -and that is just what one does when one -flies, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, of course,” said Tommy Smith, -“but”—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Very well,” said the squirrel; “then -when <i>I</i> jump, I fly.”</p> - -<p>“But you haven’t got wings,” said Tommy -Smith. He knew he was right, but he -didn’t know how to prove it.</p> - -<p>“That makes it all the more clever of -me,” said the squirrel. “It is easy enough -to fly if you have wings, but very difficult -indeed if you haven’t. But we squirrels -are a clever family, and can do anything. -Why, one of us is called the ‘Flying -Squirrel,’ you know; and why should he -be called a flying squirrel if he can’t fly? -Not fly? Why, look here!—look here!—look -here!”—and at each “look here!” -the squirrel was in a different tree, and still -he went on jumping, or flying (which do -<i>you</i> think it was?), from one to another, -until very soon he was quite out of sight.</p> - -<p>And he never came back—at least not -whilst Tommy Smith was there. I think -he must have come back at <i>some</i> time or -other, to sit in his little summer-house -again with his wife and children. But -Tommy Smith had not time enough to -wait for him; so, as soon as he was sure -that he was really gone, he walked away to -his friend the woodpigeon.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XI.<br /> -<span class="small">THE BARN-OWL</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>In at Tommy Smith’s window the owl has a peep;<br /> -He talks to him wisely, and leaves him asleep.</i>”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">IT was just the very exact time for a -little boy like Tommy Smith to have -been in bed for about five minutes (your -mother will know <i>what</i> time it was); so, -of course, he <i>had</i> been in bed for about -five minutes, and he wasn’t asleep yet. It -was a beautiful night, the window was -open a little at the top, and Tommy Smith -was looking through it, right away to where -the moon and the stars were shining. All -at once a great white bird flitted across the -window—so silently!—without making any -noise at all. Most birds, you know, make -a swishing with their wings, which you can -hear when you are close to them (sometimes -when a good way off too, like the -peewit), but this bird made none at all.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” cried Tommy Smith, “whatever -was that?” As he said this, the great -white bird flew back again, but—just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -fancy!—instead of passing by the window -as it did before, it flew up on to it, and sat -with its head inside the room, looking at -Tommy Smith. “Oh, who are you?” said -Tommy Smith. And yet he knew quite -well that it was an owl. No other bird -could have such great, round eyes, and such -a funny wise-looking face.</p> - -<p>The owl sat looking at Tommy Smith -for a little while, and then he said in a very -wise tone of voice, “Guess who I am.”</p> - -<p>“I think you are the owl,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“That is right,” said the owl. “But what -kind of owl do you think I am?”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Tommy Smith, “I suppose -you are the owl that says ‘Tu whit, tu -whoo.’”</p> - -<p>“I am <i>not</i>,” said the owl very decisively. -“I have never said anything so absurd in -the whole of my life. Why, what does it -mean? Nothing, <i>I</i> should say. It has -simply <i>no</i> meaning. What I <i>do</i> say is -‘Shrirr-r-r-r,’ which is very different, is it -not now?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Tommy Smith, “it is very -<i>different</i>, but”—</p> - -<p>“Of course it is,” said the owl; “when I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -say <i>that</i>, I feel that I am making a sensible -remark.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith didn’t think that -“shrirr-r-r-r” was a <i>much</i> more sensible -remark than “tu whit, tu whoo,” but he -thought he had better not say so, as the -owl spoke so positively.</p> - -<p>“There are a great many different kinds -of owls in the world, you know,” the barn-owl -continued. “Some are very large, as -large as an eagle, and others are a good -deal smaller than I am. Here, in England, -there are three kinds,—the wood-owl, the -tawny owl (I can’t answer for what <i>they</i> -say), and the barn-owl. Now <i>I</i>, thank -goodness, am a barn-owl. I must ask you -to remember that, because, naturally, I -shouldn’t like to be mistaken for one of -the others.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m sure I shall remember it,” said -Tommy Smith, “because”—</p> - -<p>“Never mind saying why,” said the owl, -“it would take too long. Well, and were -you surprised to see me?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, I was a little,” said Tommy -Smith. “I just looked up, and I saw a great -white thing going past the window.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose I looked white to you,” said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -the owl; “but that is because <i>you</i> are not -nocturnal, as I am. But, if you were an -owl, like me, you would see that I am not -really white. At anyrate, there is more of -me that isn’t white, than that is. My face -is white, I know,—these beautiful, soft, silky -feathers that make two circles round my -fine dark eyes,—my face-discs they are -called (what a pity you can’t see them -better!), <i>they</i> are white, and very handsome -they look. I am very proud of them, for -I am the only owl in England that has -them. But, after all, my face, though it is -beautiful, is only a small part of me. My -back, which is much larger, is not white at -all, but a light reddish yellow. There, -now you get the moonlight on it nicely. -Such pretty, delicate colouring. What a -pity you are not nocturnal! Then, even -my breast is not quite white. It has some -very pretty grey tints about it. And yet -I am called the ‘white owl,’ as well as the -‘barn-owl,’ and often that name is put first -in books. It is very annoying. The barn-owl -is a good sensible name; for I do know -something about barns, and I am very fond -of catching the mice that live in them. -But why should I be called white, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -I have such pretty colours? It is one of -my grievances. You know I have a good -many grievances.”</p> - -<p>“Have you?” said Tommy Smith. (He -knew what a grievance was; one of those -things that ought never to be made out of -anything.)</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the owl; “and do you know -what I do with them?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Tommy Smith. He didn’t -<i>quite</i> understand what the owl meant.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the owl—“mind, I’m going -to say something very wise now (you know -I’m an owl),—I put up with them.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the owl. “It will take you -a very long time to find out what a wise -remark that was. <i>You</i> couldn’t have made -it, you know; I mean, of course, with the -proper expression. I couldn’t myself <i>once</i>, -when I was only a young owl, but now -that I am grown up, and have a wife and -family to assist me, I can.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes,” said Tommy Smith. (It was -all he could think of to say.)</p> - -<p>“You’ve no idea,” the owl went on, -“what a time it takes one to make <i>some</i> -remarks properly. Now take, for instance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -the one, ‘It’s a sad world!’ It <i>seems</i> very -easy, but even if you were to repeat it a -hundred times a day for the next fortnight, -you wouldn’t be able to say it in the way -it ought to be said—like this,” and the owl -snapped his beak, and said it again. “<i>That</i> -sounds <i>convincing</i>,” he remarked; “but as -for a little boy saying it in <i>that</i> way,—no, -no.”</p> - -<p>“Is it so <i>very</i> difficult,” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Well, it wants help,” said the owl; -“that’s the principal thing. If you were -left to yourself, you’d never manage it; but -first one person helps you, and then -another, until at last—after a good many -years, you know—you get into the way -of it. It’s like shrugging one’s shoulders. -It takes one half a lifetime to do <i>that</i>—<i>well</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Does it?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Ask your father,” said the owl; “only -you mustn’t expect him to make such a -wise answer as I should, because, of course, -he isn’t an owl, like me.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith didn’t think the owl had -said anything so <i>very</i> wise, but he had -used a word twice which he didn’t know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -the meaning of, and so he said, “Please, -Mr. Owl, what does being ‘nocturnal’ -mean?”</p> - -<p>“To be nocturnal,” said the owl, “is to -wake up and see at night, and go to bed -in the daytime, which is what we owls do.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, I know,” said Tommy Smith; -“and if an owl ever <i>does</i> come out in the -daytime, a lot of little birds fly after him -and”—</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the owl. “It is very grand, -is it not, to be attended in that way? -Common birds have to fly about by themselves, -but, of course, when one is a great -owl, it is natural that people should make -a fuss about one.”</p> - -<p>“But, Mr. Owl,” said Tommy Smith (he -really couldn’t help saying this, though he -was afraid the owl might be angry), “don’t -the little birds fly after you because they -don’t like you, and”—</p> - -<p>“Dear, dear!” said the owl, “what funny -notions little boys do get into their heads. -Not like me, don’t they? That is very -ungrateful of them, because <i>I</i> like <i>them</i> -very much. Sometimes I like them almost -as much as a mouse, you know. But, after -all, what does it matter whether they like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> -me or not? The important thing is to -have a retinue, all the rest is of no consequence. -Why do you suppose”—The -owl stopped all of a sudden, as if he had -just thought of something, and then he -said, “But, perhaps, hearing so many wise -things, one after the other, in such a short -time, may be bad for you,—too much -strain on the brain, you know. What do -you think?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t think it will do me any -harm,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Very well,” said the owl; “in the cool -of the night, perhaps, it may not, but I -wouldn’t answer for it in the daytime, if -the sun was at all hot. Well, now do you -suppose that if all the people in the world -who had retinues were to know what their -retinues thought about them, they would -be any the happier for it?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the owl (I really cannot tell -you how wise he looked as he said this), -“<i>I do</i>.”</p> - -<p>“But what <i>is</i> a retinue?” asked Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh dear,” said the owl, “I have been -forgetting that I am a wise owl, and that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -you are only a little boy who doesn’t know -long words. A retinue is an <i>entourage</i>, -you know, and”—</p> - -<p>“But I don’t know what that word -means either,” said Tommy Smith (and, -indeed, he thought it was rather a more -difficult one than the other).</p> - -<p>“Oh dear,” said the owl, “I am forgetting -again. Why, when there are a lot of little -birds, who fly round you and twitter -whenever you come out and show yourself, -that is what I call having a retinue or -an <i>entourage</i>; and, depend upon it, it is -a very grand thing to have. The more -birds there are to twitter about you, the -grander bird <i>you</i> are. But it doesn’t so -much matter <i>what</i> they twitter, and as for -what they <i>think</i>, you had better know -nothing at all about <i>that</i>.”</p> - -<p>It was all very well for the owl to talk -in this very wise way, but Tommy Smith -felt sure that the little birds didn’t like him -at all, and only flew round him to annoy -him when he happened to come out in the -daytime. And he didn’t think it was -such a very grand thing to have a retinue -like that. “They would peck at him too, -I daresay, if they weren’t afraid,” he said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -to himself; “and no wonder, if he eats -them.” But he wasn’t quite sure whether -the owl did this or not, so he thought he -had better ask him before feeling angry -with him.</p> - -<p>“<i>Do</i> you eat the little birds, Mr. Owl?” -he said.</p> - -<p>“Not very often,” the owl answered. -“The fact is, I don’t so <i>very</i> much care -about them. Only, sometimes, when I -want a change of diet, or if they happen -to get in my way, I like to try them. -They can’t complain of <i>that</i>, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“They haven’t time,” said the owl. -“You see, I catch them asleep, and by the -time they wake up, they’ve been eaten.”</p> - -<p>“I think it’s a great <i>shame</i>,” said Tommy -Smith; “and I think you’re a <i>wicked</i> bird -to do it. You ought to be shot for doing -such things, and when I am grown up, and -have a gun”—</p> - -<p>“Wait a bit,” said the owl. “Do you -know what you would be doing if you were -to shoot me? Why, you would be shooting -the most useful bird in the whole -country. You wouldn’t want to do <i>that</i>, I -suppose?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p> - -<p>Tommy Smith didn’t quite know what -to say to this. “Of course, if you really -<i>are</i> very useful,” he began—</p> - -<p>“Well, if you were a farmer,” the owl -went on, “I don’t suppose you would like -to have all your corn, and wheat, and hay, -and everything eaten up by rats and mice, -would you?”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“That is what would happen, though, if -it wasn’t for me,” said the owl. “You see, -<i>I</i> eat the rats and mice. They are my -proper food, especially the mice. A full-grown -rat is rather large for me—too large -to swallow whole, at anyrate; and I like to -swallow things whole if I can. But the -mice and the young rats are just the right -size, and you’ve no idea what a lot of them -I eat. I have a very good appetite, I can -tell you, and so have my children. Of -course, I have to feed them as well as -myself, so there is plenty of work for me -to do. Every night I fly round the fields -and farmyards, and when I see a mouse, -or a rat, or a mole, or a shrew-mouse, -down I pounce upon it. Now think how -many owls there are all over the country, -and think what thousands and thousands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -of rats and mice they must catch every -night, and then think what a lot of good -they must do. Or, here is another way. -Think how many rats and mice there are -even now, although there are so many owls -to catch them, and think how much harm -they do, and think how many more there -would be, and how much more harm they -would do if there were no owls to catch -them. That is a lot of thinking is it not? -Well, have you thought of it all?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve tried to,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“It’s difficult, isn’t it?” said the owl. -“It’s all very well to say ‘think,’ but the -fact is, you <i>can’t</i> think what a useful bird -an owl is—and especially a barn-owl. But, -perhaps, you don’t believe me.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, I do,” said Tommy Smith. -“I always thought that owls killed rats -and mice.”</p> - -<p>“You can prove it, if you like,” said the -owl, “and I’ll tell you how. I told you -that I liked to swallow animals whole, -so, of course, everything goes down—fur, -bones, feathers (if it does happen to be a -bird), and all. But I can’t be expected to -digest such things as that, so I have to get -rid of them in some way or other. Well,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -what do I do? Why, I bring them all up -again in pellets about the size and shape -of a potato.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but potatoes are of different sizes -and shapes,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“<i>I</i> mean a smallish-sized oblong potato,” -said the owl. “That is what my pellets -look like, only they are of a greyish sort -of colour. Sometimes they are quite -silvery.”</p> - -<p>“How funny!” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“How pretty, I suppose you mean,” -said the owl. “Yes, they <i>are</i> pretty. -Now, if you look about under the trees -in the fields where I have been sitting, -you will see these pretty pellets of mine -lying on the grass. Pick them up and -pull them to pieces, and you will find that -they are nothing but the fur, and skulls, -and bones of mice, and shrew-mice, and -young rats. Sometimes the skull and beak -of a bird will be there, and then it will -almost always be a sparrow’s. Sparrows -are a nuisance, you know, because there -are too many of them. But, as for mice, -there will be three or four of them in -every pellet (you can count them by the -skulls), and you know what a nuisance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -<i>they</i> are. Let anyone who is not quite -sure whether I am a useful bird or not -look at my pellets. Then he’ll know, and -if he shoots me after that, he must either -be very stupid, or very wicked, or both. -Well, do you still mean to shoot me when -you grow up?”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Tommy Smith, “I never -will, now that I know how useful you are, -and what a lot of good you do.”</p> - -<p>The owl looked very pleased at this, so -Tommy Smith thought he would take the -opportunity to ask his advice about something -which had been puzzling him a good -deal. “Please, Mr. Owl,” he said, “I promised -the rat not to kill him any more. But, if rats -and mice do such a lot of harm, oughtn’t I -to kill them whenever I can?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,” said the owl. “A little -boy should be kind to animals, and not -trouble his head about anything else. No, -no; be kind to animals and leave the rats -and mice to <i>me</i>.” That was the wise owl’s -advice to Tommy Smith, and <i>I</i> think it -was very good advice.</p> - -<p>“Where do you live, Mr. Owl?” (that -was the next question that Tommy Smith -asked). “I suppose it is in the woods.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> - -<p>“No,” the owl answered. “Barn-owls -do not live in the woods. The tawny-owls -and the wood-owls do. Woods are good -enough for them, but we like to have more -comfortable surroundings. We don’t object -to trees, of course. A nice hollow tree is -a great comfort, and I, for one, could not -do without it. But it must be within a -reasonable distance of a village, and the -closer it is to a church, the better I like it.”</p> - -<p>“Do you, Mr. Owl,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the owl. “I don’t mind -how far I am from a railway station or -even a post office, but the church <i>must</i> be -near.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose you like to sit in the tower, -Mr. Owl,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“I should think so,” said the owl; “the -belfry is there, you know, and I am so -fond of that. It is so nice to sit in one’s -belfry and think of one’s barns, and farms, -and haystacks. And then, when the bells -ring, you can’t think what fun that is—especially -on the first day of January -when they ring in the New Year. I get -quite excited then, and I give a scream, -and throw myself off the old tower, and fly -round it, and whoop and shriek until I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -seem to be one of the mad bells myself. -For they <i>are</i> mad then, you know. They -go mad once every year—on New Year’s -day. People come out to listen sometimes. -They look up into the air, and -say, ‘Hark! There they go. It is the -New Year now. They are ringing it in.’ -Then all at once the bells stop ringing, -and it is all over; the New Year has been -rung in. But what there is new about it -is more than <i>I</i> can say, wise as I am. It -all seems to go on just the same as before, -and sometimes I wonder what all the fuss -has been about. I have never been able -to see any difference myself between the -last minute of the thirty-first of December -and the first minute of the first of January. -On a cold rainy night especially, they seem -very much alike. But, of course, there -must <i>be</i> a difference, or the bells wouldn’t -ring as they do.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, they ring because it’s the new -year, Mr. Owl,” said Tommy Smith.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that’s it,” said the owl; “but I -should never have found it out without -them.”</p> - -<p>Tommy Smith began to think that -the owl couldn’t be so <i>very</i> wise after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -all, or surely he would have known the -difference between the old year and the -new year. He was going to explain it -to him thoroughly, but he was getting -rather sleepy by this time, and it is -difficult to explain things when one is -sleepy.</p> - -<p>So he didn’t, and the owl went on -with, “Oh yes, we love churches, we -owls do. We have our nests there, you -know, and we could not find a safer -place to make them in. Anywhere else -we might be disturbed and rudely treated, -for people are not nearly so polite to us -as they ought to be. But we are always -safe in a church, for no one would be -so wicked as to annoy us there. Besides, -a church is a wonderful place to hide -in. People pass by it, and come into -it, and sit down and go out again, -without having any idea that we are -there, and have been there all the time. -They never think of that.”</p> - -<p>“What part of the church do you -build your nest in, Mr. Owl?” said Tommy -Smith.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that is in the belfry too,” said -the owl. “The belfry is my part of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -church. I think it must have been built -for me, it suits me so well. I am called -the belfry-owl sometimes, and that is a -very good name for me too. But now -don’t ask me any more questions, because -you are getting sleepy, and I have something -to tell you before you go to sleep.”</p> - -<p>And then the owl told all about the -grand meeting that the animals had held -in the woods, and all that they had said -to each other, and what they had decided -to do to try and make Tommy Smith a -better boy to animals, and how, at first, -they had wanted to hurt him (or even -to kill him), because they were so angry -with him, until the owl had persuaded -them not to. It was all the wise owl’s -doing. <i>He</i> knew that the best way to -make a little boy kind to animals was -to teach him something about them; -and who could teach him so well as -the animals themselves?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XII.<br /> -<span class="small">THE LEAVE-TAKING</span></h2> - -<p class="pp6q">“<i>All ‘Tommy Smith’s Animals’ take leave with joy</i>,<br /> -<i>For they know Tommy Smith is a different boy</i>.”</p> - -<p class="drop-cap04">WHEN Tommy Smith had gone to -sleep, the owl flew away, and he -flew to the same place where he had -met the other animals before, and found -them all there again waiting for him (of -course, it had been arranged). Then -all the animals began to tell each other -about the conversations they had had -with Tommy Smith, and what a very -much better boy he had become. They -were all so glad; and, of course, they all -thanked the owl, because it had been -his idea.</p> - -<p>Then the owl thanked all the animals -for thanking <i>him</i>, and he said that it <i>was</i> -his idea, but that it might just as well -have been the idea of any other animal -there, and he wished that it <i>had</i> been, -because, <i>then</i>, he could have called it -clever, but <i>now</i>, of course, he couldn’t,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> -for <i>that</i> would be praising himself,—which -would <i>never</i> do. You see, he wanted to -be modest. One ought always to be -modest when one makes a speech. And -now (the owl said) he was quite sure -that Tommy Smith would never be -unkind to animals any more as long as -he lived, because, just before he flew -away, he had asked him to promise that -he wouldn’t. But Tommy Smith had -just gone off to sleep then, and so he -had had to promise it in his sleep. -“And, you know,” said the owl, “that -when a promise is made in <i>that</i> way, it -is always kept.” Then all the animals -clapped their—well, whatever they could -clap, and said “Hurrah!” and the -meeting broke up.</p> - -<p>And the owl was right. As Tommy -Smith grew older, and became a big -boy, he found that animals did not talk -to him any more in the way they used -to do. It seemed as if they only cared -to talk to <i>little</i> boys or girls. But there -was one way of having conversations -with them, which he got to like better -and better, and that was to go out into -the woods and fields and watch what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -they were doing. He soon found that -that was quite as interesting as really -talking to them. In fact, it <i>was</i> talking -to them in another kind of way, for -they kept telling him all about themselves, -only without speaking. And the -more Tommy Smith learnt about them, -the more he liked them, until the animals -became his very best friends. Of course, -one is never unkind to one’s very best -friends, and, besides, Tommy Smith had -given the owl a promise—in his sleep.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 reduct"><i>Printed by</i><br /> -<span class="smcap">MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED</span><br /> -<i>Edinburgh</i></p> - -</div> - -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tommy Smith's Animals, by Edmund Selous - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOMMY SMITH'S ANIMALS *** - -***** This file should be named 51933-h.htm or 51933-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/9/3/51933/ - -Produced by Giovanni Fini, Emmanuel Ackerman and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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