Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories Read online

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  MOTHER WEST WIND "WHY" STORIES

  by

  THORNTON W. BURGESS

  Author of "Old Mother West Wind," and "The Bed Time Story-Books."

  _Illustrations in Color by HARRISON CADY_

  BOSTON

  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY

  1920

  "He went right on about his business." FRONTISPIECE.]

  BOOKS BY THORNTON W. BURGESS

  BEDTIME STORY-BOOKS

  1. THE ADVENTURES OF REDDY FOX 2. THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY CHUCK 3. THE ADVENTURES OF PETER COTTONTAIL 4. THE ADVENTURES OF UNC' BILLY POSSUM 5. THE ADVENTURES OF MR. MOCKER 6. THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT 7. THE ADVENTURES OF DANNY MEADOW MOUSE 8. THE ADVENTURES OF GRANDFATHER FROG 9. THE ADVENTURES OF CHATTERER, THE RED SQUIRREL 10. THE ADVENTURES OF SAMMY JAY 11. THE ADVENTURES OF BUSTER BEAR 12. THE ADVENTURES OF OLD MR. TOAD 13. THE ADVENTURES OF PRICKLY PORKY 14. THE ADVENTURES OF OLD MAN COYOTE 15. THE ADVENTURES OF PADDY THE BEAVER 16. THE ADVENTURES OF POOR MRS. QUACK 17. THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY COON 18. THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY SKUNK 19. THE ADVENTURES OF BOB WHITE 20. THE ADVENTURES OF OL' MISTAH BUZZARD

  MOTHER WEST WIND SERIES

  1. OLD MOTHER WEST WIND 2. MOTHER WEST WIND'S CHILDREN 3. MOTHER WEST WIND'S ANIMAL FRIENDS 4. MOTHER WEST WIND'S NEIGHBORS 5. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHY" STORIES 6. MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES 7. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHEN" STORIES 8. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES

  GREEN MEADOW SERIES

  1. HAPPY JACK 2. MRS. PETER RABBIT 3. BOWSER THE HOUND 4. OLD GRANNY FOX

  THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN

  THE BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK FOR CHILDREN

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER

  I. WHY STRIPED CHIPMUNK IS PROUD OF HIS STRIPES II. WHY PETER RABBIT CANNOT FOLD HIS HANDS III. WHY UNC' BILLY POSSUM PLAYS DEAD IV. WHY REDDY FOX WEARS RED V. WHY JIMMY SKUNK NEVER HURRIES VI. WHY SAMMY JAY HAS A FINE COAT VII. WHY JERRY MUSKRAT BUILDS HIS HOUSE IN THE WATER VIII. WHY OLD MAN COYOTE HAS MANY VOICES IX. WHY MINER THE MOLE LIVES UNDER GROUND X. WHY MR. SNAKE CANNOT WINK XI. WHY BOBBY COON HAS RINGS ON HIS TAIL XII. WHY THERE IS A BLACK HEAD IN THE BUZZARD FAMILY XIII. WHY BUSTER BEAR APPEARS TO HAVE NO TAIL XIV. WHY FLITTER THE BAT FLIES AT NIGHT XV. WHY SPOTTY THE TURTLE CARRIES HIS HOUSE WITH HIM XVI. WHY PADDY THE BEAVER HAS A BROAD TAIL

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  "HE WENT RIGHT ON ABOUT HIS BUSINESS"

  "AS THEY WERE ALL VERY HUNGRY, THEY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN THE FEAST WOULD BE READY"

  "YOU DON'T MEAN TO SAY SO, PETER," INTERRUPTED GRANDFATHER FROG

  HE WOULD MAKE NO REPLY, SAVE TO RUN OUT HIS TONGUE AT THEM

  "THEN OLD KING BEAR WISHED THAT HE HADN'T A TAIL"

  "IT MUST BE FINE TO FLY," THOUGHT PETER. "I WISH I COULD FLY"

  "HI, SPOTTY!" HE SHOUTED, "WHERE DO YOU LIVE?"

  THE FIRST THING PETER LOOKED TO SEE WAS WHAT KIND OF A TAIL PADDY HAS

  I

  WHY STRIPED CHIPMUNK IS PROUD OF HIS STRIPES

  The Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind are great friends ofStriped Chipmunk. They hurry to call on him the very first thing everymorning after Old Mother West Wind has brought them down from thePurple Hills. They always beg him to stop and play with them, butoften he refuses. But he does it in such a merry way and with such atwinkle in his eyes that the Merry Little Breezes never get crossbecause he won't play. No, Sir, they never get cross. If anything,they think just a little bit more of Striped Chipmunk because he won'tplay. You see, they know that the reason he won't play is because hehas work to do, and Striped Chipmunk believes and says:

  "When there is work for me to do The sooner started, sooner through."

  So every morning they ask him to play, and every morning they laughwhen he says he has too much to do. Then they rumple up his hair andpull his whiskers and give him last tag and race down to the SmilingPool to see Grandfather Frog and beg him for a story. Now GrandfatherFrog is very old and very wise, and he knows all about the days whenthe world was young. When he is feeling just right, he dearly loves totell about those long-ago days.

  One morning the Merry Little Breezes found Grandfather Frog sittingas usual on his big green lily-pad, and they knew by the way he foldedhis hands across his white and yellow waistcoat that it was full offoolish green flies.

  "Oh, Grandfather Frog, please do tell us why it is that StripedChipmunk has such beautiful stripes on his coat," begged one of theMerry Little Breezes.

  "Chug-a-rum! They are stripes of honor," replied Grandfather Frog, inhis deep, gruff voice.

  "Honor! Oh, how lovely! Do tell us about it! Please do!" begged theMerry Little Breezes.

  "Chug-a-rum!" began Grandfather Frog, his big, goggly eyes twinkling."Once upon a time, when the world was young, old Mr. Chipmunk, thegrandfather a thousand times removed of Striped Chipmunk, lived verymuch as Striped Chipmunk does now. He was always very busy, verybusy, indeed, and it was always about his own affairs. 'By attendingstrictly to my own business, I have no time to meddle with the affairsof my neighbors, and so I keep out of trouble,' said old Mr.Chipmunk,"

  "Just what Striped Chipmunk says now," broke in one of the MerryLittle Breezes.

  "That shows that he is just as wise as was his grandfather a thousandtimes removed, about whom I am telling you," replied Grandfather Frog."Old Mr. Chipmunk wore just a little, plain brown coat. It didn'tworry him a bit, not a bit, that his coat was just plain brown. Itkept him just as warm as if it were a beautiful red, like that of Mr.Fox, or handsome black and white, like that of Mr. Skunk. He wasperfectly satisfied with his little plain brown coat and took the bestof care of it.

  "One day as he was hurrying home to dinner, he climbed up on an oldstump to look around and make sure that the way was clear. Over in alittle path in the meadow grass was walking old Mr. Meadow Mouse. Hewas strolling along as if there was nothing in the world to fear. Wayback behind him in the same little path, walking very fast but veryquietly, was big Mr. Bob Cat. His eyes were yellow, and a hungry lookwas in them. He didn't see Mr. Meadow Mouse, but he would in a fewminutes. Mr. Chipmunk saw that he would, and that there was no placefor Mr. Meadow Mouse to hide.

  "'Humph! I never meddle in other people's affairs, and this is none ofmy business,' said little Mr. Chipmunk.

  "But old Mr. Meadow Mouse was a friend. He thought a great deal of Mr.Meadow Mouse, did little Mr. Chipmunk. He couldn't bear to think ofwhat would happen to Mr. Meadow Mouse if big Mr. Bob Cat should catchhim. Then, almost without realizing what he was doing, little Mr.Chipmunk began to shout at big Mr. Bob Cat and to call him names. Ofcourse big Mr. Bob Cat looked up right away and saw little Mr.Chipmunk sitting on the old stump. His eyes grew yellower andyellower, he drew his lips back from his long, sharp teeth in a veryangry way, and his little bob tail twitched and twitched. Then, withgreat leaps, he came straight for the old stump on which little Mr.Chipmunk was sitting.

  "Little Mr. Chipmunk didn't wait for him to get there. Oh, my, no! Hetook one good look at those fierce, hungry, yellow eyes and long,cruel teeth, and then he whisked into a hole in the old stump. Yousee, there wasn't time to go anywhere else. Big Mr. Bob Cat found thehole in the stump right away. He snarled when he saw it. You see itwas too small, very much too small, for him to get into himself. Buthe could get one hand and arm in, and he did, feeling all aroundinside for little Mr. Chipmunk. Little Mr. Chipmunk was frightenedalmost to death. Yes, Sir, he was frightened almost to death. He madehimself just as flat as he could on the bottom of the hollow and heldhis breath.


  "'You'd better come out of there, Mr. Chipmunk, or I'll pull you out!'snarled Mr. Bob Cat.

  "Little Mr. Chipmunk just snuggled down flatter than ever and didn'tsay a word. Mr. Bob Cat felt round and round inside the hollow stumpand raked his long claws on the sides until little Mr. Chipmunk's hairfairly stood up. Yes, Sir, it stood right up on end, he was soscared. When it did that, it tickled the claws of Mr. Bob Cat. Mr.Bob Cat grinned. It was an ugly grin to see. Then he reached in alittle farther and made a grab for little Mr. Chipmunk. Hiswide-spread, sharp claws caught in little Mr. Chipmunk's coat near theneck and tore little strips the whole length of it.

  "Of course little Mr. Chipmunk squealed with pain, for those clawshurt dreadfully, but he was glad that his coat tore. If it hadn't, Mr.Bob Cat would surely have pulled him out. After a long time, Mr. BobCat gave up and went off, growling and snarling. When he thought itwas safe, little Mr. Chipmunk crawled out of the old stump and hurriedhome. He ached and smarted terribly, and his little plain brown coatwas torn in long strips.

  "'This is what I get for meddling in the affairs of other folks!'said little Mr. Chipmunk bitterly. 'If I'd just minded my ownbusiness, it wouldn't have happened.'

  "Just then he happened to look over to the house of Mr. Meadow Mouse.There was Mr. Meadow Mouse playing with his children. He didn't know athing about what his neighbor, little Mr. Chipmunk, had done for him,for you remember he hadn't seen Mr. Bob Cat at all. Little Mr.Chipmunk grinned as well as he could for the pain.

  "'I'm glad I did it,' he muttered. 'Yes, Sir, I'm glad I did it, andI'm glad that Neighbor Meadow Mouse doesn't know about it. I'm gladthat nobody knows about it.

  'A kindly deed's most kindly done In secret wrought, and seen of none.

  And so I'm glad that no one knows.'

  "Now just imagine how surprised little Mr. Chipmunk was, when in thefall it came time to put on a new coat, to have Old Mother Nature handhim out a beautiful striped coat instead of the little plain browncoat he had expected. Old Mother Nature's eyes twinkled as she said:

  "'There's a stripe for every tear made in your old coat by the clawsof Mr. Bob Cat the day you saved Mr. Meadow Mouse. They are honorstripes, and hereafter you and your children and your children'schildren shall always wear stripes.'

  "And that is how it happens that Striped Chipmunk comes by his stripedcoat, and why he is so proud of it, and takes such good care of it,"concluded Grandfather Frog.