The Tale of Jimmy Rabbit Part 7

"Well, you were long enough about it, I must say!" Uncle Jerry Chuck said. "Give me my ear of corn now, for I must hurry home."

"Give _you your_ ear of corn?" Jimmy Rabbit cried. He could scarcely believe his own ears--and goodness knows they were big enough to hear anything anybody said.

"Why, certainly!" Uncle Jerry replied. "I asked you your prices, you know. And you said: 'An ear of corn for a tooth!'"

Jimmy Rabbit didn't know what to do.

"Why"--he gasped, "I thought _you_ were going to pay _me_!"

"Well, you see you were mistaken," Uncle Jerry told him. "And you had better give me that ear of corn at once, or it will be the worse for you."

For all the old fellow was toothless, Jimmy saw that his claws were long and sharp. He knew that he had got himself into a fix. And he couldn't think of any way out of it.

"You've got my tooth! I want an ear of corn! You've got my tooth! I want an ear of corn!" Uncle Jerry Chuck kept saying. And each time he said it, his voice grew louder, until he was shouting at the top of his lungs.

Then Jimmy Rabbit had an idea. He picked up Uncle Jerry's tooth off the floor and placed it in Uncle Jerry's hand.

"There's your tooth!" he cried. "I don't want it!"

"But you promised to give me an ear of corn for my tooth!" said Uncle Jerry.

"Well, haven't you got your tooth?" asked Jimmy Rabbit.

And Uncle Jerry Chuck was so puzzled that he went home without saying another word.

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[Ill.u.s.tration: 12 The Strange Man]

12

The Strange Man

A strange man had come to stay at Farmer Green's house. It was Jasper Jay who brought the news into the woods.

"He doesn't seem to work with Farmer Green, or the hired man, either,"

said Jasper. "When I first saw him he was sitting on the bank of the river, under a great, brown umbrella. But what he was doing I couldn't make out."

When Jimmy Rabbit heard that, he knew at once that he wouldn't be able to sleep a wink that night unless he found out exactly what the strange man was about. So he went off toward Swift River with a skip and a hop.

He was always like that. Whenever there was a new sight to be seen, Jimmy Rabbit was sure to be among the first to see it.

He had no trouble in finding what he was looking for. There on the river bank was a huge umbrella. Jimmy was sure it was the biggest one in the world. And under the umbrella sat the strange man. In one hand he grasped a queerly shaped board, and a number of sticks; and in the other he held one of the sticks, with which he kept dabbing at a big, flat thing that stood in front of him.

Jimmy Rabbit was puzzled. He stole nearer. And at last he had crept so close that when he stood on his hind legs he could see what the man was working at.

To his great surprise, he discovered that Swift River was rus.h.i.+ng and tumbling across the big, flat object which was propped upright in front of the stranger.

Jimmy couldn't understand it. Was the man fis.h.i.+ng? he wondered. And how had he managed to get Swift River out of its banks like that?

Jimmy Rabbit began to think that the strange man had used magic. Why, he wasn't even wet!

And Jimmy turned and ran back home. If he hadn't happened to meet Mr.

Crow, probably he would never have known to this day what that man was doing.

But Mr. Crow knew right away.

"That wasn't really Swift River that you saw in front of him. It was just something that looked like it.... Haven't you ever seen a picture?"

Mr. Crow asked.

Jimmy Rabbit had to admit that he had never had that pleasure.

"Well!" said Mr. Crow. "I can tell you where you can see better pictures than that man can make. He only paints rivers and mountains, and lakes.

But down at Farmer Green's, all over the front of the barn, you'll find the most beautiful pictures anyone could ask for. You'll see ladies riding on horses--standing up, mind you! And you'll see men perched one on top of another until they reach the clouds. And animals! There are the oddest looking animals--different from anything you ever saw in these woods."

"I'm going right down there," Jimmy Rabbit said. "I'm very glad to have met you, Mr. Crow. And thank you, very much!" It was not often that Jimmy was so polite.

He was almost afraid that Mr. Crow was playing some trick on him. But it was all just as Mr. Crow had said--only ten times more wonderful. And Jimmy Rabbit made up his mind, before he came away from Farmer Green's barn, that he wanted to make pictures himself.

Mr. Crow had said that the strange man, who made the picture of Swift River, was an artist. Well, Jimmy intended to begin to be an artist the very next day. And he was so grateful to Mr. Crow for explaining everything to him that he decided he would do something specially nice for the old gentleman.

And all at once a happy thought came into Jimmy's head. He would make a picture of Mr. Crow!

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[Ill.u.s.tration: 13 Mr. Crow's Picture]

13

Mr. Crow's Picture

In the woods near the foot of Blue Mountain news travels fast. Soon everybody knew that Jimmy Rabbit had become an artist. And many of the woods-people put on their best clothes and hurried to Jimmy's house, to have their pictures painted.

They were disappointed when Jimmy told them all that they would have to wait.

"But after I've made a picture of Mr. Crow you shall each have your turn," he promised.

Some of them grumbled. And Mr. Fox, especially, was very disagreeable.

"I was the first one here," he said. "I don't see why I should have to wait for old Mr. Crow."

But Jimmy Rabbit would not listen to him. He felt quite important.