The Adventures of Johnny Chuck Read online

  Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and theOnline Distributed Proofreading Team

  THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY CHUCK

  THE BEDTIME STORY BOOKS

  By Thornton W. Burgess

  Author of "Old Mother West Wind," "The Adventures of Reddy Fox," etc.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I. GENTLE SISTER SOUTH WIND ARRIVES

  II. JOHNNY CHUCK RECEIVES CALLERS

  III. THE SINGERS OF THE SMILING POOL

  IV. JOHNNY CHUCK FINDS OUT WHO THE SWEET SINGERS ARE

  V. JOHNNY CHUCK BECOMES DISSATISFIED

  VI. JOHNNY CHUCK TURNS TRAMP

  VII. JOHNNY'S FIRST ADTENTURE

  VIII. JOHNNY HAS ANOTHER ADVENTURE

  IX. ANOTHER STRANGE CHUCK

  X. WHY JOHNNY CHUCK DIDN'T FIGHT

  XI. THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD

  XII. JOHNNY CHUCK PROVES HIS LOVE

  XIII. POLLY AND JOHNNY CHUCK GO HOUSE HUNTING

  XIV. A NEW HOME AT LAST

  XV. SAMMY JAY FINDS THE NEW HOME

  XVI. SAMMY JAY PLANS MISCHIEF

  XVII. MORE MISCHIEF

  XVIII. FARMER BROWN'S BOY MAKES A DISCOVERY

  XIX. JOHNNY CHUCK'S PRIDE

  XX. SAMMY JAY UNDERSTANDS

  XXI. SAMMY JAY HAS A CHANGE OF HEART

  XXII. JOHNNY CHUCK IS KEPT BUSY

  XXIII. THE SCHOOL IN THE OLD ORCHARD

  XXIV. SAMMY JAY PROVES THAT HE IS NOT ALL BAD

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (not available in this file)

  JOHNNY CHUCK BADE CHATTERER GOOD-BY AND STARTED ON Frontispiece

  "IS IT REALLY AND TRULY YOU, JOHNNY CHUCK?" HE CRIED

  "HO, HO, HO! THAT'S THE BEST JOKE THIS SPRING!" SHOUTED JERRY MUSKRAT

  WITH A SQUEAL OF RAGE, JOHNNY SPRANG AT THE GRAY OLD CHUCK

  IF POLLY WANTED TO LIVE THERE SHE SHOULD

  "HAVE YOU CALLED ON JOHNNY CHUCK AT HIS NEW HOME YET?" ASKED SAMMY JAY

  I. GENTLE SISTER SOUTH WIND ARRIVES

  "Good news, good news for every one, above or down below, For MasterWinsome Bluebird's come to whistle off the snow!"

  All the Green Meadows and all the Green Forest had heard the news. PeterRabbit had seen to that. And just as soon as each of the little meadowand forest folks heard it, he hurried out to listen for himself andmake sure that it was true. And each, when he heard that sweet voice ofWinsome Bluebird, had kicked up his heels and shouted "Hurrah!"

  You see they all knew that Winsome Bluebird never is very far ahead ofgentle Sister South Wind, and that when she arrives, blustering, roughBrother North Wind is already on his way back to the cold, cold landwhere the ice never melts.

  Of course Winsome Bluebird doesn't really whistle off the snow, butafter he comes, the snow disappears so fast that it seems as if he did.It is surprising what a difference a little good news makes. Of coursenothing had really changed that first day when Winsome Bluebird'swhistle was heard on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest, but itseemed as if everything had changed. And it was all because that sweetwhistle was a promise, a promise that every one knew would come true.And so there was joy in all the hearts on the Green Meadows and in theGreen Forest. Even grim old Granny Fox felt it, and as for Reddy Fox,why, Reddy even shouted good-naturedly to Peter Rabbit and hoped he wasfeeling well.

  And then gentle Sister South Wind arrived. She came in the night, and inthe morning there she was, hard at work making the Green Meadows and theGreen Forest ready for Mistress Spring. She broke the icy bands that hadbound the Smiling Pool and the Laughing Brook so long; and the SmilingPool began to smile once more, and the Laughing Brook to gurgle and thento laugh and finally to sing merrily.

  She touched the little banks of snow that remained, and straightwaythey melted and disappeared. She kissed the eight babies of Unc' BillyPossum, and they kicked off the bedclothes under which old Mrs. Possumhad tucked them and scrambled out of the big hollow tree to play.

  She peeped in at the door of Johnny Chuck and called softly, and JohnnyChuck awoke from his long sleep and yawned and began to think aboutgetting up. She knocked at the door of Digger the Badger, and Diggerawoke. She tickled the nose of Striped Chipmunk, who was about halfawake, and Striped Chipmunk sneezed and then he hopped out of bedand hurried up to his doorway to shout good morning after her, as shehurried over to see if Bobby Coon was still sleeping.

  Peter Rabbit followed her about. He couldn't understand it at all. Peterhad smiled to himself when he heard how softly she had called at thedoorway of Johnny Chuck's house, for many and many a time during thelong winter Peter had stopped at Johnny Chuck's house and shouted downthe long hall at the top of his voice without once waking Johnny Chuck.Now Peter nearly tumbled over with surprise, as he heard Johnny Chuckyawn at the first low call of gentle Sister South Wind.

  "How does she do it? I don't understand it at all," said Peter, as hescratched his long left ear with his long left hind leg.

  Gentle Sister South Wind smiled at Peter. "There are a lot of things inthis world that you will never understand, Peter Rabbit. You will justhave to believe them without understanding them and be content to knowthat they are so," she said, and hurried over to the Green Forest totell Unc' Billy Possum that his old friend, Ol' Mistah Buzzard, was onhis way up from ol' Virginny.

  II. JOHNNY CHUCK RECEIVES CALLERS

  The morning after gentle Sister South Wind arrived on the Green Meadows,Peter Rabbit came hopping and skipping down the Lone Little Path fromthe Green Forest. Peter was happy. He didn't know why. He just washappy. It was in the air. Everybody else seemed happy, too. Peter hadto stop every few minutes just to kick up his heels and try to jump overhis own shadow. He had felt just that way ever since gentle Sister SouthWind arrived.

  "I simply have to kick and dance! I cannot help but gaily prance! Somehow I feel it in my toes Whenever gentle South Wind blows."

  So sang Peter Rabbit as he hopped and skipped down the Lone Little Path.Suddenly he stopped right in the middle of the verse. He sat up verystraight and stared down at Johnny Chuck's house. Some one was sittingon Johnny Chuck's door-step. It looked like Johnny Chuck. No, it lookedlike the shadow of Johnny Chuck. Peter rubbed his eyes and looked again.Then he hurried as fast as he could, lipperty-lipperty-lip. The nearerhe got, the less like Johnny Chuck looked the one sitting on JohnnyChuck's door-step. Johnny Chuck had gone to sleep round and fat androly-poly, so fat he could hardly waddle. This fellow was thin, eventhinner than Peter Rabbit himself. He waved a thin hand to Peter.

  "Hello, Peter Rabbit! I told you that I would see you in the spring. Howdid you stand the long winter?"

  That certainly was Johnny Chuck's voice. Peter was so delighted that inhis hurry he fell over his own feet. "Is it really and truly you, JohnnyChuck?" he cried.

  "Of course it's me; who did you think it was?" replied Johnny Chuckrather crossly, for Peter was staring at him as if he had never seen himbefore.

  "I--I--I didn't know," confessed Peter Rabbit. "I thought it was you andI thought it wasn't you. What have you been doing to yourself, JohnnyChuck? Your coat looks three sizes too big for you, and when I last sawyou it didn't look big enough." Peter hopped all around Johnny Chuck,looking at him as if he didn't believe his own eyes.

  {Illustration: "Is it really and truly you, Johnny Chuck?" he cried.}

  "Oh, Johnny's all right. He's just been living on his own fat," saidanother voice. It was Jimmy Skunk who had spoken, and he now stoodholding out his hand to Johnny Chuck and grinning good-naturedly. He hadcome up without either of the others seeing him.

  Peter's big eyes opened wider than ever. "Do you mean to say that he hasbeen eating his own fat?" he gasped.

  Jo
hnny Chuck and Jimmy Skunk both laughed. "No," said Jimmy Skunk, "hedidn't eat it, but he lived on it just the same while he was asleep allwinter. Don't you see he hasn't got a particle of fat on him now?"

  "But how could he live on it, if he didn't eat it?" asked Peter, staringat Johnny Chuck as if he had never seen him before.

  Jimmy Skunk shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me. That is one of OldMother Nature's secrets; you'll have to ask her," he replied.

  "And don't ask me," said Johnny Chuck, "for I've been asleep all thetime. My, but I'm hungry!"

  "So am I!" said another voice. There was Reddy Fox grinning at them.Johnny Chuck dove into the doorway of his house with Peter Rabbit at hisheels, for there was nowhere else to go. Jimmy Skunk just stood stilland chuckled. He knew that Reddy Fox didn't dare touch him.

  III. THE SINGERS OF THE SMILING POOL

  Mistress Spring was making everybody happy on the Green Meadows and inthe Green Forest and around the Smiling Pool. With her gentle fingersshe wakened one by one all the little sleepers who had spent the longwinter dreaming of warm summer days and not knowing anything at all ofrough, blustering Brother North Wind or Jack Frost. As they wakened,many began to sing for joy. But the clearest, loudest singers of alllived in the Smiling Pool.

  It was a long time before Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck knew where theylived. Every night just before going to bed, Johnny Chuck would sit onhis door-step just to listen, and as he listened somehow he felt betterand happier; and he always had pleasant dreams after listening to thesweet singers of the Smiling Pool. Even after he had curled himself upfor the night deep down in his snug bedroom, he could hear those sweetvoices, and whenever he waked up in the night he would hear them.

  "Spring! Spring! Spring! Spring! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Spring! So gentle, so loving, so sweet and so fair! Oh, who can be cross when there's love in the air? Be happy! Be joyful! And join in our song And help us to send the glad tidings along! Spring! Spring! Spring! Spring! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Spring!"

  When Johnny Chuck had first heard them, he had looked in all thetree-tops for the singers, but not one could he see. Then he had thoughtthat they must be hidden in the bushes; but when he went to look, hefound that the sweet singers were not there. It was very mysterious.Finally he asked Peter Rabbit if he knew who the sweet singers were andwhere they were. Peter didn't know, but he was willing to try to findout. Peter is always willing to try to find out about things he doesn'talready know about. So Johnny Chuck and Peter Rabbit started out to findthe sweet singers.

  "I believe they are down in the old bulrushes around the Smiling Pool,"said Peter Rabbit, as he stood listening with a hand behind one longear.

  So over to the Smiling Pool they hurried. The nearer they got, thelouder became the voices singing:

  "Spring! Spring! Spring! Spring! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Spring!"

  But look as they would, they couldn't see a single singer among thebrown bulrushes. It was very strange, very strange indeed! It seemed asif the voices came right out of the Smiling Pool itself!

  When Peter Rabbit made a little noise, as he hopped out on the bankwhere he could look all over the Smiling Pool, the singing stopped.After he had sat perfectly still for a little while, it began again.There was no doubt about it this time; those voices came right out ofthe water.

  Johnny Chuck stared at Peter Rabbit, and Peter stared at Johnny Chuck.Nobody was to be seen in the Smiling Pool, and yet there were thosevoices--oh, so many of them--coming right out of the water.

  "How can birds stay under water and still sing?" asked Johnny Chuck.

  "Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!"

  Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck whirled around, to find Jerry Muskratpeeping up at them from a hole in the bank almost under their feet.

  {Illustration: "Ho, ho, ho! That's the best joke this spring!" shoutedJerry Muskrat.}

  "Ho, ho, ho! That's the best joke this spring!" shouted Jerry Muskrat,and laughed until he had to hold his sides. "Birds under water! Ho, ho,ho!"

  IV. JOHNNY CHUCK FINDS OUT WHO THE SWEET SINGERS ARE

  Johnny Chuck couldn't keep away from the Smiling Pool. No, Sir, JohnnyChuck couldn't keep away from the Smiling Pool. Ever since he and PeterRabbit had gone over there looking for the sweet singers, who everynight and part of the day told all who would listen how glad they werethat Mistress Spring had come to the Green Meadows and the Green Forest,Johnny Chuck had had something on his mind. And this is why he couldn'tkeep away from the Smiling Pool.

  You see it was this way: Johnny and Peter had thought that of course thesweet singers were birds. They hadn't dreamed of anything else. So ofcourse they went looking for birds. When they reached the Smiling Pool,the voices came right out of the water. Johnny knew that some birds,like many of the cousins of Mrs. Quack, can stay under water a longtime, and so he didn't know but some other birds might.

  Jerry Muskrat was always watching for Johnny, whenever he came to theSmiling Pool, and his eyes would twinkle as he would gravely say:

  "Hello, Johnny Chuck! Have you seen the birds sing under water yet?"

  Johnny would smile good-naturedly and reply: "Not yet, Jerry Muskrat.Won't you point them out to me?"

  Then Jerry would reply:

  "Two eyes you have, bright as can be; Perhaps some day you'll learn to see."

  Then Johnny Chuck would sit as still as ever he knew how, and watch andwatch the Smiling Pool, but not a bird did he see in the water, thoughthe singers were still there. One day a sudden thought popped into hishead. Perhaps those singers were not birds at all! Why hadn't he thoughtof that before? Perhaps it was because he was looking so hard forbirds that he hadn't seen anything else. Johnny began to look, not foranything in particular, but to see everything that he could.

  Almost right away he saw some tiny little dark spots on the water. Theydidn't look like much of anything. They were so small that he hadn'tnoticed them before. One of them was quite close to him, and as JohnnyChuck looked at it, it began to look like a tiny nose, and then--why,just then, Johnny was very sure that one of those singing voices cameright from that very spot!

  He was so surprised that he hopped to his feet and excitedly beckonedto Jerry Muskrat. The instant he did that, the voices near him stoppedsinging, and the little spots on the water disappeared, leaving just thetiniest of little rings, just such tiny little rings as drops of rainfalling on the Smiling Pool would make. And when that tiny spot nearestto him that looked like a tiny nose disappeared, Johnny Chuck caughtjust a glimpse of a little form under the water.

  "Why--why-e-e! The singers are Grandfather Frog's children!" criedJohnny Chuck.

  "No, they're not, but they are own cousins to them; they are thegrandchildren of old Mr. Tree Toad! and they are called Hylas!" saidJerry Muskrat, laughing and rubbing his hands in great glee. "I told youthat if you used your eyes, you'd learn to see."

  "My, but they've got voices bigger than they are!" said Johnny Chuck,as he started home across the Green Meadows. "I'm glad I know who thesingers of the Smiling Pool are, and I mustn't forget their name--Hylas.What a funny name!" But Farmer Brown's boy, listening to their song thatevening, didn't call them Hylas. He said: "Hear the peepers! Spring issurely here."

  V. JOHNNY CHUCK BECOMES DISSATISFIED

  Johnny Chuck was unhappy. Here it was the glad springtime, wheneverybody is supposed to be the very happiest, and Johnny Chuck wasunhappy. Why was he unhappy? Well, he hardly knew himself. He had sleptcomfortably all the long winter. He had awakened very, very hungry, butnow he had plenty to eat. All about him the birds were singing or busilyat work building new homes. And still Johnny Chuck felt unhappy. It wasdreadful to feel this way and not have any good reason for it.

  One bright morning Johnny Chuck sat on his door-step watching Drummerthe Woodpecker building a new home in the old apple-tree. Drummer's redhead flew back and forth, back and forth, and his sharp bill cut outtiny bits of wood. It was slow work; it was
hard work. But Drummerseemed happy, very happy indeed. It was watching Drummer that startedJohnny Chuck to thinking about his own home. He had always thought it avery nice home. He had built it just as he wanted it. From the doorstephe could look in all directions over the Green Meadows. It had a frontdoor and a hidden back door. Yes, it was a very nice home indeed.

  But now, all of a sudden, Johnny Chuck became dissatisfied with hishome. It was too near the Lone Little Path. Too many people knew whereit was. It wasn't big enough. The front door ought to face the otherway. Dear me, what a surprising lot of faults a discontented heart canfind with things that have always been just right! It was so with JohnnyChuck. That house in which he had spent so many happy days, which hadprotected him from all harm, of which he had been so proud when he firstbuilt it, was now the meanest house in the world. If other people hadnew houses, why shouldn't he? The more he thought about it, the moredissatisfied and discontented he became and of course the more unhappy.You know one cannot be dissatisfied and discontented and happy at thesame time.

  Now dissatisfied and discontented people are not at all pleasant to havearound. Johnny Chuck had always been one of the best natured of all thelittle meadow people, and everybody liked him. So Jimmy Skunk didn'tknow quite what to make of it, when he came down the Lone Little Pathand found Johnny Chuck so out of sorts that he wouldn't even answer whenspoken to.

  Jimmy Skunk was feeling very good-natured himself. He had just had afine breakfast of fat beetles and he was at peace with all the world.So he sat down beside Johnny Chuck and began to talk, just as if JohnnyChuck was his usual good-natured self.