The Hollow Tree and Deep Woods Book Part 19

Then they all wanted to hear Jack Rabbit's poem, and Mr. Rabbit said that it really wasn't just as he wanted it yet, but that if they wouldn't expect too much, he'd let them hear how it went, anyway.

WHICH WAY, SPRING?

By J. Rabbit.

O Spring, Ho, Spring!

Whither do you go, Spring?

If I did but know. Spring, I would go there, too.

Pray, Spring, Say, Spring, Whither and away, Spring?

I would start to-day, Spring, If I go with you.

And Spring answers:--

"Why, sir, I, sir, Just go tripping by, sir-- If you did but try, sir, You could go with me.

Follow, Follow, Over hill and hollow-- Where the bluebirds call, O, I am sure to be."

Well, everybody applauded that, of course; and Mr. 'c.o.o.n said that for his part he was tired of cold weather, and that if to-morrow was a bright day, and anybody'd go with him, he'd start out at sunrise and follow Spring clear around the world. Then Mr. 'Possum said he'd go just to see whether Mr. Man was right or not, and Mr. Crow said he'd go, too.

Mr. Rabbit wanted to go to prove some things in his poem, but he had to make a garden if it was a good day, and Mr. Dog had an engagement to dig moles for Mr. Man.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SET OUT IN HIGH SPIRITS.]

So the next morning, bright and early, the three Hollow Tree people got up and started. They packed some lunch in a basket, so they wouldn't get hungry, in case they were gone all day, and set out in high spirits; for it was a beautiful morning in April, and they knew Spring had come at last.

They saw a bluebird up in a tree not far away, and they remembered what Mr. Rabbit's poem had said about following him over hill and hollow; so they went along in that direction, talking and whistling and singing, because they felt so good in the fresh morning sunlight.

And Mr. Bluebird hopped and whistled and flew along ahead, until, by-and-by, they came to where Mr. Fox lived.

"Where are you fellows going, so early?" called Mr. Fox.

"We're following Spring around the world," called back Mr. Crow; and then they told him all that Mr. Dog had said.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Then Mr. Fox looked very wise, for he didn't know if Mr. Dog was playing a trick on them, or if it were really true that the world was round and he hadn't heard of it. Anyway, he wasn't going to let on, so he said, "Why, of course! I knew that all the time. You just keep right on until you come to that big elm over yonder, and turn to the right. Anybody over there can show you the way." Then Mr. Fox coughed and went back into the house, but he made up his mind he wouldn't laugh until he had seen Mr. Dog and was sure it was all a joke. And the Hollow Tree people kept on to the elm tree, and, sure enough, there was Mr. Bluebird, hopping and whistling and flying on ahead, for he'd been listening to what Mr. Fox had told them.

So they hurried right along after him till they came to Mr. Wolf's place. Mr. Wolf was looking out of his door as they came by.

"h.e.l.lo, you early birds!" he called. "Whose hen-roost you been after?"

Then they told him they weren't thinking of such things as that on a beautiful morning like this, but that they were following Spring around the world. And they told him all that Mr. Man had said to Mr. Dog, and what Mr. Fox had said, and about Jack Rabbit's poem. Mr. Wolf thought he'd better be wise, too, until he found out just how things were, so he said:--"Sure enough! That's a good plan. I'd go along if I had time. I know the way well. You just keep on till you come to that creek yonder, then cross and turn to the right, and after that any one can show you the way."

So away went the Hollow Tree people, and when they got to the creek, and crossed, and turned to the right, there was the bluebird again, hopping and whistling and dancing on ahead, just in the direction that Mr. Wolf had said to go. Then, pretty soon, Mr. 'Possum said he was hungry, so they sat down on some moss and ate their lunch, and Mr. Bluebird came up close and sang to them till Mr. 'Possum went to sleep in the sun and took a little nap, while the 'c.o.o.n and the Crow put what was left back into the basket and got ready to go. Then Mr. 'Possum woke up and said he was sure they must be nearly around the world, for he'd just had a dream about catching a chicken with four legs and two heads, and he knew that must mean something good. So then they went on and the bluebird went ahead, until they came to a fine, big cave, where Mr. Bear lived.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Now Mr. Bear is very big and wise--at least he thinks he is--and he knew right away that Mr. Dog was just playing a joke on them, or at least he thought he did, so he said:--"Well, well! I supposed you fellows knew all that long ago. You don't mean to say, do you, that this is really your first time round? Why, I go round the world every spring and fall, and buy most of my things on the other side. You just follow this path till you come to a big black rock, and then turn to the right and keep straight ahead. You can't miss the way."

Then Mr. Bear went back in his cave, and laid down and rolled over and laughed to think what a big joke everybody was playing on the Hollow Tree people. But the Hollow Tree people kept right on, for they saw Mr.

Bluebird still whistling and dancing on ahead; and by-and-by they came to the big black rock that Mr. Bear had mentioned, and turned to the right again as he had told them, to do. Then they walked and walked, and Mr. Bluebird hopped and skipped and whistled, until at last, just as they were all getting very tired and it was most night, they came to a big hollow tree in a deep woods; and Mr. 'Possum looked up and says,

"Why," he says, "this tree looks a good deal like our tree!"

And Mr. 'c.o.o.n he says, "Why, it's just like our tree!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: AND MR. CROW, HE SAYS, "WHY, IT _IS_ OUR TREE!"]

And Mr. Crow, he says, "Why, it is our tree!" for of course they'd turned to the right three times, which brought them right back where they started from, though they did not know it.

So then all at once they commenced to laugh and shout:--"We've done it!

We've done it!

"We've followed Spring around the world, According to the plan!

Hurrah for Mr. Rabbit!

And hurrah for Mr. Man!"

And the bluebird up in the branches whistled and danced and shouted, too; and Jack Rabbit and Mr. Dog came over pretty soon to see if they'd got home yet. And of course Mr. Rabbit was proud about the way his poem had turned out; and Mr. Dog he was proud, too, on Mr. Man's account.

Then they all had a big supper, to celebrate, and by-and-by Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Dog went away arm in arm, singing Mr. Rabbit's poem to the moon; while the 'c.o.o.n and 'Possum and the old black Crow went to bed happy because they had followed Spring clear around the world, and hadn't got lost or tumbled off into the sky, but were home again safe and sound in the Hollow Tree.

CHRISTMAS AT THE HOLLOW TREE INN

THE STORY TELLER TOLD THE LAST HOLLOW TREE STORY ON CHRISTMAS EVE. IT WAS SNOWING OUTSIDE, AND THE LITTLE LADY WAS WONDERING HOW IT WAS IN THE FAR DEEP WOODS

Once upon a time, he said, when the Robin, and Turtle, and Squirrel, and Jack Rabbit had all gone home for the winter, n.o.body was left in the Hollow Tree except the 'c.o.o.n and 'Possum and the old black Crow. Of course the others used to come back and visit them pretty often, and Mr.

Dog, too, now that he had got to be good friends with all the Deep Woods people, and they thought a great deal of him when they got to know him better. Mr. Dog told them a lot of things they had never heard of before, things that he'd learned at Mr. Man's house, and maybe that's one reason why they got to liking him so well.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HE TOLD THEM ALL ABOUT SANTA CLAUS.]

He told them about Santa Claus, for one thing, and how the old fellow came down the chimney on Christmas Eve to bring presents to Mr. Man and his children, who always hung up their stockings for them, and Mr. Dog said that once he had hung up his stocking, too, and got a nice bone in it, that was so good he had buried and dug it up again as much as six times before spring. He said that Santa Claus always came to Mr. Man's house, and that whenever the children hung up their stockings they were always sure to get something in them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MR. CROW HE MADE HIMSELF A NEW PAIR ON PURPOSE.]

Well, the Hollow Tree people had never heard of Santa Claus. They knew about Christmas, of course, because everybody, even the cows and sheep, know about that, but they had never heard of Santa Claus. You see, Santa Claus only comes to Mr. Man's house, but they didn't know that, either, so they thought if they just hung up their stockings he'd come there, too, and that's what they made up their minds to do. They talked about it a great deal together, and Mr. 'Possum looked over all his stockings to pick out the biggest one he had, and Mr. Crow he made himself a new pair on purpose. Mr. 'c.o.o.n said he never knew Mr. Crow to make himself such big stockings before, but Mr. Crow said he was getting old and needed things bigger, and when he loaned one of his new stockings to Mr.

'c.o.o.n, Mr. 'c.o.o.n said, "That's so," and that he guessed they were about right after all. They didn't tell anybody about it at first, but by and by they told Mr. Dog what they were going to do, and when Mr. Dog heard it he wanted to laugh right out. You see, he knew Santa Claus never went anywhere except to Mr. Man's house, and he thought it would be a great joke on the Hollow Tree people when they hung up their stockings and didn't get anything.

But by and by Mr. Dog thought about something else. He thought it would be too bad, too, for them to be disappointed that way. You see, Mr. Dog liked them all now, and when he had thought about that a minute he made up his mind to do something. And this is what it was--he made up his mind to play Santa Claus!

He knew just how Santa Claus looked, 'cause he'd seen lots of his pictures at Mr. Man's house, and he thought it would be great fun to dress up that way and take a bag of presents to the Hollow Tree while they were all asleep and fill up the stockings of the 'c.o.o.n and 'Possum and the old black Crow. But first he had to be sure of some way of getting in, so he said to them he didn't see how they could expect Santa Claus, their chimneys were so small, and Mr. Crow said they could leave their latch string out down stairs, which was just what Mr. Dog wanted.

Then they said they were going to have all the folks that had spent the summer with them over for Christmas dinner and to see the presents they had got in their stockings. They told Mr. Dog to drop over, too, if he could get away, and Mr. Dog said he would, and went off laughing to himself and ran all the way home because he felt so pleased at what he was going to do.

Well, he had to work pretty hard, I tell you, to get things ready. It wasn't so hard to get the presents as it was to rig up his Santa Claus dress. He found some long wool out in Mr. Man's barn for his white whiskers, and he put some that wasn't so long on the edges of his overcoat and boot tops and around an old hat he had. Then he borrowed a big sack he found out there, too, and fixed it up to swing over his back, just as he had seen Santa Claus do in the pictures. He had a lot of nice things to take along. Three tender young chickens he'd borrowed from Mr. Man, for one thing, and then he bought some new neckties for the Hollow Tree folks all around, and a big, striped candy cane for each one, because candy canes always looked well sticking out of a stocking.

Besides all that, he had a new pipe for each, and a package of tobacco.

You see, Mr. Dog lived with Mr. Man, and didn't ever have to buy much for himself, so he had always saved his money. He had even more things than that, but I can't remember just now what they were; and when he started out, all dressed up like Santa Claus, I tell you his bag was pretty heavy, and he almost wished before he got there that he hadn't started with quite so much.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IT GOT HEAVIER AND HEAVIER.]