Johnnie and Billie Bushytail Read online

  BEDTIME STORIES

  JOHNNIE and BILLIE

  BUSHYTAIL By

  Howard R. Garis “Author of Sammie and Susie Littletail,” “Those Smith Boys,”

  “From Office Boy to Reporter,” “Dick Hamilton's Fortune,” etc. Illustrations by

  LOUIS WISA A. L. BURT COMPANY

  PUBLISHERSNEW YORK

  I

  JOHNNIE AND BILLIE LEARN TO JUMP

  SAMMIE and Susie Littletail, the rabbits of whom I told you in the book just before this, lived in an underground house called a burrow, but Johnnie and Billie Bushytail had their home in a nest on a tall tree. No, they were not birds, though they did live in a nest. Yes, you have guessed it. They were squirrels.

  Once upon a time Billie and Johnnie, who were brothers, lived with their papa and mama in a nice nest, on the Orange Mountains, but one day the papa and mama squirrels were caught in a trap by a boy. He did not mean to be cruel, but he did not know any better, so he took the two poor, frightened squirrels away with him. He put them in a nice cage, with a wheel that whirled around faster than the fastest merry-go- round you ever rode upon.

  The boy gave the squirrels nice things to eat, and was very kind to them, but of course he did not know that they would much rather have been let loose, to run in the woods. They would rather have done this than play all day in the wire house with the whirling wheel, that went around so fast. But the boy kept Mama and Papa Bushytail shut up, though one day they got loose, and, oh, how glad they were! But I am not going to tell you about that now. I will save that for another story and for this time I will tell you how Johnnie and Billie Bushytail learned to jump.

  When their papa and mama were taken away from them, the little boy squirrels were much frightened, until their grandpa came for them, and took them home with him.

  “You and I will have to look after Billie and Johnnie until their papa and mama come back,” said Grandpa Lightfoot to Grandma Lightfoot, for that was their name. They could jump from a tall tree and land on one lower down so lightly that you could not hear them. That is why they were called Lightfoot.

  “Yes, we will take good care of them,” agreed Grandma Lightfoot, and she arranged the softest leaves she could find in the nest on the tall oak tree, so Johnnie and Billie would sleep well.

  The two little squirrels lived with their grandparents for several weeks, until Johnnie and Billie were pretty well grown. All this while they stayed in the nest, or else went only a little way out on a limb, for they were afraid of falling.

  One day Grandpa Lightfoot said to his wife:

  “I think it is time we taught Johnnie and Billie to jump. They are getting big now and will soon have to learn to gather nuts and things for themselves.”

  “It is a good idea,” agreed Grandma. “I will watch you teach them.”

  So Grandpa Lightfoot took the two little boy squirrels to the edge of the nest.

  “We will begin with a very easy lesson,” said he. “You see that big limb down there?” and he pointed to one about ten feet away.

  “Yes,” said Billie, “I see it.”

  “I see it, too,” added Johnnie, who did not want his brother to get ahead of him.

  “Well, watch me jump to it,” said Grandpa, and, though he was quite an old squirrel, he jumped and landed on it, just as a man in a circus leaps over the elephants.

  “Now you two boys try it,” suggested Grandpa, as he scrambled up the tree, digging his sharp claws into the bark.

  “I--I'm afraid,” answered Billie.

  “So am I,” echoed his brother.

  “Oh, nonsense!” exclaimed Grandpa. “It can't hurt you. Look, I will jump again,” which he did, even better than before.

  But still the two little boy squirrels were afraid, and they stayed on the branch close to the nest.

  “If you jump, you shall have some hickory nut pudding for supper, and I will have Jennie put some acorn sauce on it,” promised Grandma Lightfoot.

  Oh, I forgot to tell you that living with the Lightfoot family was a little orphan girl named Jennie Chipmunk. She was a jolly little girl, always laughing and happy. She used to wash and dry the dishes and help Grandma Lightfoot. But even the promise of hickory-nut pudding with acorn sauce on it would not make Billie and Johnnie jump. They were afraid, and, though Grandpa and Grandma, and even Jennie jumped several times to show them how it ought to be done, they would not try.

  Then, all at once, when the old squirrels were down on a far limb, what should come flying out of the woods but a big owl. He wanted to eat Billie and Johnnie and he swooped right at them. Then they were too frightened to stay up there alone on the limb by the nest, and they jumped down where their Grandma and Grandpa were, and the owl did not get them.

  “Fine!” cried Grandpa Lightfoot. “You have at last learned to jump!”

  “Now, if you do not pull the cat's tail once to-morrow, I shall tell you, to-morrow night, how Billie Bushytail found some Christmas nuts.

  II

  HOW BILLIE FOUND THE NUTS

  AFTER Billie and Johnnie Bushytail learned to jump, they kept at it nearly all the while. You know how it is; when a boy learns to go on roller skates, he doesn't want to stop, does he? Anyway, in a few days the little squirrels got to be very good jumpers, and they could do almost as well as their Grandpa and Grandma Lightfoot.

  ``Keep on practising,” said Grandpa. “You will need to be very nimble when the hunting season opens.”

  One day Billie and Johnnie thought it would be fun to go off in the woods and wander about, jumping from tree to tree.

  “Don't you want to come, Jennie?” asked Billie.

  “Oh, I have to do the dishes,” answered Jennie, with a laugh, that showed her sharp little teeth.

  “Do you like to do dishes?” asked Billie.

  “Yes; it's lots of fun to splash in the water, and get your paws nice and white. I just love it!” and Jennie laughed so heartily that she rattled down some of the acorn-top cups that she had just set on a shelf to dry.

  “Let's help her,” suggested Billie, “then she can come with us in the woods.”

  “Sure,” agreed his brother; so they set to work and those dishes were done up in less than no time, which, as you all know, is very quick, indeed.

  Grandpa and Grandma Lightfoot were out for a walk, and Billie, Johnnie and Jennie did not have to lock any doors when they left, for there were no doors to the nest. They ran down the tree trunk, jumped from branch to branch, and were soon nearly a half mile from the place where they lived.

  “Supposing something happens to us?” suggested Jennie, with a laugh, as they leaped along.

  “What could happen?” asked Billie.

  “An adventure,” replied Jennie, and she laughed again. “I would just love to have an adventure happen to me.”

  “Maybe one will happen,” went on Billie.

  Then they went on for some distance farther, until they came to the edge of the woods. There stood a house--a house just like the one you boys and girls live in, only, perhaps, it was smaller.

  “What is that?” asked Billie, for it was the first house he had ever seen.

  “That,” said Jennie, “is a house where people live,” and she laughed so that the little dried fern she was standing under shook as though the wind had blown it. Jennie had traveled around more than the little squirrels had, so she knew more than they did.

  “Maybe there will be an adventure here,” said Johnnie. “Let's go look.”

  “All right,” agreed his brother, and, after Jennie had stood up on her hind legs, and listened with all her might, moving her whiskers to and fro, like a cat smelling for a mouse, she said:

  “I guess it
will be safe. No one lives there. It is a deserted house, and, very likely, we shall meet with an adventure.”

  Then the squirrels and Jennie ran up the porch pillars and down the chimney of the house, coming out through a fireplace into a large room. No one was in it--in fact, no one was in the whole house. Billie ran across the floor, and in one corner what do you think he found? Why, a stocking filled with nuts. There were many kinds, such as you get at Christmas, and they were strange to the squirrels, who only had such kinds as hickory-nuts, acorns, beech-nuts and black walnuts. But they ate some of each kind, and liked them very much.

  “How do you s'pose they got here?” asked Johnnie.

  “That must be the adventure part of it,” said Billie.

  “No,” said Jennie, “these are Christmas nuts, they are not adventure nuts. Some little boy or girl hung this stocking by the fireplace for Santa Claus to fill, but something happened, and they did not take the nuts out. Maybe the family had to move away in a hurry, and forgot them, or maybe the little boy or girl got sick on candy, and was not allowed to eat the nuts. Anyway, here are the nuts, and I think we ought to take some home to Grandma and Grandpa.”

  Which the squirrels and Jennie did, and, just as they had all they could carry, what should happen but a big rat came running right into that room, and scared them so that Jennie almost forgot how to smile. They ran home in a hurry, I can assure you, and all agreed that it was a most wonderful adventure indeed, but it was nothing to what happened the next day, as I shall tell you to- morrow night, when the bedtime story will be about a trick that Billie Bushytail played.

  III

  BILLIE BUSHYTAIL'S TRICK

  BILLIE and Johnnie Bushytail were jumping about from tree to tree. They could do this quite well, since Grandpa Lightfoot had taught them, and they enjoyed doing it.

  “Let's take a nice long trip through the woods,” suggested Johnnie to his brother. “I know a place where there are lots of acorns. It's in a hollow stump. I saw them yesterday.”

  “Pooh! those are wormy acorns,” replied Billie. “I saw a woodpecker bird hide them there, so the worms would get in them. They are no good for us.”

  “What did the woodpecker do that for?” asked Johnnie.

  “Because he likes worms better than nuts. But I don't mind going with you. Maybe we'll find some more Christmas nuts. They were fine.”

  “Shall we ask Jennie?” inquired Johnnie.

  “No, let's run off by ourselves. We don't want a girl with us.”

  So the little boy squirrels started off without the little orphan chipmunk, and it was too bad that they did so, for if Jennie had been along something that did happen might not have happened. But that is always the way in this world, isn't it, children?

  Well, Johnnie and Billie jumped along through the trees for quite a distance, and Johnnie showed Billie where the acorns were in the hollow stump.

  “I told you they were wormy,” said Billie, after tasting one.

  “Maybe there are some at the bottom of the stump which are not,” said Johnnie. “I'll look.”

  So he began throwing out the acorns until he had dug all the way to the bottom, and there, sure enough, were some good nuts, that the worms had not yet reached.

  “Goody!” exclaimed Billie. “Now we will have a feast.”

  So the little squirrels carried off as many of the acorns as they could, and took them up into a tall tree to eat them, as it was safer there than staying on the ground.

  All at once, as Billie was eating his fifth nut, he looked down, and saw a big creature asleep under the tree.

  “Oh, look!” cried Billie to his brother, “What's that down there?”

  Johnnie took a look, and said: “That's a man. I know because I heard Grandpa telling about them. He is asleep. Don't wake him up, or he may shoot us.”

  “Why not?” asked Billie. “I never saw a man awake, and I'd like to see one. I'm going to wake him up.”

  “You had better not,” warned his brother.

  “I am going to,” insisted Billie. “I am going to play a trick on him. I am going to drop an acorn on his nose.”

  Then he got out on a limb, right over where the man was sleeping, and dropped down a nut. It struck the man right on the end of his nose, and he woke up just as quick as a wink, if not quicker.

  “Ha! Ha!” laughed Billie, only of course the man did not understand squirrel laughter.

  The man sat up, and he looked up through the trees, but he could not see the little squirrels. Then Billie, who was a mischievous little chap, dropped another acorn. It hit the man on the head and bounced off, just like a rubber ball.

  “I am a fine shot!” said Billie to Johnnie.

  “You had better be careful,” warned his brother. “I think the man is angry. He may shoot us.”

  “He has no gun,” said Billie, which was true enough. “I am going to drop another nut.”

  “You had better not,” said Johnnie. But Billie did. He got farther out on the limb, and dropped an acorn down, and, as the man happened to be looking up, with his mouth open, the nut went right into it, and he choked and sneezed and coughed, and had a dreadful time indeed before he got the nut out of his mouth. All this while Billie was laughing so that his bushy tail shook to the very tip. Then, all at once, the man saw the squirrels, and, oh, how angry he was! He took up some stones, and threw them at Billie and Johnnie, though Johnnie had done nothing. And one of the stones hit Billie on the left hind paw, and made him lame. Then the two little squirrels were very much frightened, and dropping all their acorns, that pattered down on the leaves like rain, they ran home to the nest, the man throwing stones at them as far as he could see them. So that is the trick Billie Bushytail played, and to-morrow night, providing nothing happens in the meantime, you shall hear about Johnnie and the tame squirrel.

  IV

  JOHNNIE AND THE TAME SQUIRREL

  JOHNNIE BUSHYTAIL was lonesome. Grandpa and Grandma Lightfoot had gone to see some cousins who lived away off in the woods, and had taken Billie Bushytail and Jennie Chipmunk with them. The reason they did not take Johnnie was because he had a sore throat and they thought it best for him to stay at home.

  “Never mind, Johnnie,” Jennie had said when all the family were going away, “I will bring you some hickory nuts with sugar and sassafras on when we come back,” and the little orphan chipmunk smiled in such a jolly way that Johnnie did not feel so lonesome.

  But after Jennie, Grandpa, Grandma and Billie had been gone nearly two hours Johnnie felt lonesome again. It was quite warm outside the nest, so he thought he would jump about from one branch to another. He did so, and felt much better. All at once he saw another squirrel on the ground at the foot of the tree. At first Johnnie thought it was his Grandpa who had come back, but he soon saw that it was a much younger squirrel than old Mr. Lightfoot.

  “Chip, chip!” called Johnnie, for that was his way of saying “Hello!” Then he went on, “Hello, down there! What are you doing?”

  “Hello, up there!” answered the other squirrel, looking up. “What are you doing there?”

  “Oh, I asked you first, and you ought to answer me,” said Johnnie.

  “I will,” replied the other squirrel. “I am doing nothing. What are you doing?”

  “I am getting over a sore throat,” said Johnnie. “Can't you come up here?”

  The other squirrel said he would, so he scrambled up the tree trunk, and was soon beside Johnnie.

  “What is your name?” asked Johnnie.

  “Jacko,” said the other.

  “Where do you live?” went on Johnnie.

  “No place in particular. I am a tame squirrel, and a traveler.”

  “What is a tame squirrel?” asked Johnnie.

  “A tame squirrel is one that is not afraid of people,” answered Jacko, “and while I am about it I may as well tell you what a traveler is, for I don't suppose you know.”

  “No,” said Johnnie, “I do not.”

 
; “Well,” said the other, “a traveler is a squirrel who has been everywhere and seen everything there is to be seen. I am that.”

  “I have traveled, too,” went on Johnnie. “I once went to a deserted house, and I found some Christmas nuts in a stocking. Did you ever do that?”

  “That?” exclaimed Jacko. “That is nothing! I have lived in a public park, and the children have fed me peanuts.”

  “Tell me about it,” pleaded Johnnie, and Jacko did. He told how he had been tamed when he was a very little squirrel, and how he had been taken to live in a tree in a big city park, where boys and girls and big people came every day.

  “I was once in a place called Central Park, in New York,” said Jacko, frisking his big tail, “and then they brought me over to Newark, and put me in Lincoln Park. Only I didn't get quite so many peanuts in Lincoln Park, so I ran away, and here I am. Oh, I am a great traveler.”

  “Tell me some more,” pleaded Johnnie, who had forgotten all about his sore throat now. So Jacko told of other woods he had visited, and how he had once just missed being shot by a hunter. Then he and Johnnie had a game of tag in the tree, and they were in the midst of the fun when Grandpa and Grandma Lightfoot, with Billie and Jennie, returned. They were much surprised to see the tame squirrel, and when Johnnie told them who he was, they had to hear his story all over again. Then Jennie gave Johnnie some of the sassafras nuts she had brought home, and the whole family sat down to supper.

  “Where are you going to stay to-night?” asked Grandma Lightfoot of Jacko, and when the tame squirrel said he thought he would have to go to a hotel, Grandma invited him to sleep with Johnnie and Billie, which Jacko was very glad to do, as it was getting chilly. So Jacko stayed with the Bushytails for some days, and was the cause of quite an adventure, as you shall hear to-morrow night, if nothing occurs to prevent it.

  V

  A BOY CLIMBS A TREE

  WHAT fun the Bushytail boys and Jacko were having ln the tall tree! The little boy squirrels and the tame squirrel, who was spending a few days with them, tried to see who could jump the greatest distance; they played tag and hide-the- acorn, and then one of them would go up to the top of the big tree and drop a leaf down, and see if he could get to the ground before the leaf did. Almost every time the squirrel was quicker than the leaf, which shows you that a squirrel is very quick, indeed, quicker even than a wink.