The Hollow Tree Snowed-in Book

by Albert Bigelow Paine

  AN EARLY SPRING CALL ON MR. BEAR

  MR. 'POSSUM'S CURIOUS DREAM AND WHAT CAME OF IT

  "WHAT did they do then?" asks the Little Lady. "What did the Deep WoodsPeople all do after they got through being snowed in?"

  "Well, let's see. It got to be spring then pretty soon--early spring--ofcourse, and Mr. Jack Rabbit went to writing poetry and making garden;Mr. Robin went to meet Mrs. Robin, who had been spending the winter downSouth; Mr. Squirrel, who is quite young, went to call on a very niceyoung Miss Squirrel over toward the Big West Hills; Mr. Dog had to helpMr. Man a good deal with the spring work; Mr. Turtle got out all hisfishing-things and looked them over, and the Hollow Tree People had ageneral straightening up after company. They had a big house-cleaning,of course, with most of their things out on the line, and Mr. 'Possumsaid that he'd just about as soon be snowed-in for good as to have tobeat carpets and carry furniture up and down stairs all the rest of hislife."

  But they got through at last, and everything was nice when they weresettled, only there wasn't a great deal to be had to eat, because it hadbeen such a long, cold winter that things were pretty scarce and hard toget.

  One morning Mr. 'Possum said he had had a dream the night before, and hewished it would come true. He said he had dreamed that they were allinvited by Mr. Bear to help him eat the spring breakfast which he takesafter his long winter nap, and that Mr. Bear had about the bestbreakfast he ever sat down to. He said he had eaten it clear through,from turkey to mince-pie, only he didn't get the mince-pie because Mr.Bear had asked him if he'd have it hot or cold, and just as he made uphis mind to have some of both he woke up and didn't get either.

  Then Mr. 'Coon said he wished he could have a dream like that; that he'dtake whatever came along and try to sleep through it, and Mr. Crowthought a little while and said that sometimes dreams came true,especially if you helped them a little. He said he hadn't heard anythingof Mr. Bear this spring, and it was quite likely he had been taking alonger nap than usual. It might be a good plan, he thought, to drop overthat way and just look in in passing, because if Mr. Bear should besitting down to breakfast he would be pretty apt to ask them to sit upand have a bite while they told him the winter news.

  Then Mr. 'Possum said that he didn't believe anybody in the world butMr. Crow would have thought of that, and that hereafter he was going totell him every dream he had. They ought to start right away, he said,because if they should get there just as Mr. Bear was clearing off thetable it would be a good deal worse than not getting the mince-pie inhis dream.

  So they hurried up and put on their best clothes and started for Mr.Bear's place, which is over toward the Edge of the World, only fartherdown, in a fine big cave which is fixed up as nice as a house and nicer.But when they got pretty close to it they didn't go so fast andstraight, but just sauntered along as if they were only out for a littlewalk and happened to go in that direction, for they thought Mr. Bearmight be awake and standing in his door.

  They met Mr. Rabbit about that time and invited him to go along, but Mr.Rabbit said his friendship with Mr. Bear was a rather distant one, andthat he mostly talked to him from across the river or from a hill thathad a good clear running space on the other slope. He said Mr. Bear'staste was good, for he was fond of his family, but that the fondness hadbeen all on Mr. Bear's side.

  THEY WENT ALONG, SAYING WHAT A NICE MAN THEY THOUGHT MR.BEAR WAS]

  So the Hollow Tree People went along, saying what a nice man theythought Mr. Bear was, and saying it quite loud, and looking every whichway, because Mr. Bear might be out for a walk too.

  But they didn't see him anywhere, and by-and-by they got right to thedoor of his cave and knocked a little, and nobody came. Then theylistened, but couldn't hear anything at first, until Mr. 'Coon, who hasvery sharp ears, said that he was sure he heard Mr. Bear breathing andthat he must be still asleep. Then the others thought they heard it,too, and pretty soon they were sure they heard it, and Mr. 'Possum saidit was too bad to let Mr. Bear oversleep himself this fine weather, andthat they ought to go in and let him know how late it was.

  So then they pushed open the door and went tiptoeing in to where Mr.Bear was. They thought, of course, he would be in bed, but he wasn't. Hewas sitting up in a big armchair in his dressing-gown, with his feet upon a low stool, before a fire that had gone out some time in December,with a little table by him that had a candle on it which had burned downabout the time the fire went out. His pipe had gone out too, and theyknew that Mr. Bear had been smoking, and must have been very tired andgone to sleep right where he was, and hadn't moved all winter long.

  MR. BEAR MUST HAVE BEEN VERY TIRED AND GONE TO SLEEPRIGHT WHERE HE WAS]

  It wasn't very cheerful in there, so Mr. 'Possum said maybe they'dbetter stir up a little fire to take the chill off before they wokeMr. Bear, and Mr. 'Coon found a fresh candle and lighted it, and Mr.Crow put the room to rights a little, and wound up the clock, and setit, and started it going. Then when the fire got nice and bright theystood around and looked at Mr. Bear, and each one said it was a goodtime now to wake him up, but nobody just wanted to do it, because Mr.Bear isn't always good-natured, and nobody could tell what might happenif he should wake up cross and hungry, and he'd be likely to do that ifhis nap was broken too suddenly. Mr. 'Possum said that Mr. Crow was theone to do it, as he had first thought of this trip, and Mr. Crow saidthat it was Mr. 'Possum's place, because it had been in his dream. Thenthey both said that as Mr. 'Coon hadn't done anything at all so far, hemight do that.

  Mr. 'Coon said that he'd do it quick enough, only he'd been listening tothe way Mr. Bear breathed, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be readyto wake up for a week yet, and it would be too bad to wake him now whenhe might not have been resting well during the first month or so of hisnap and was making it up now. He said they could look around a littleand see if Mr. Bear's things were keeping well, and perhaps brush up hispantry so it would be nice and clean when he did wake.

  Then Mr. Crow said he'd always wanted to see Mr. Bear's pantry, for he'dheard it was such a good place to keep things, and perhaps he could getsome ideas for the Hollow Tree; and Mr. 'Possum said that Mr. Bear hadthe name of having a bigger pantry and more things in it than all therest of the Deep Woods People put together.

  So they left Mr. Bear all nice and comfortable, sleeping there by thefire, and lit another candle and went over to his pantry, which was atthe other side of the room, and opened the door and looked in.

  Well, they couldn't say a word at first, but only just looked at oneanother and at all the things they saw in that pantry. First, on the topshelf there was a row of pies, clear around. Then on the next shelfthere was a row of cakes--first a fruit-cake, then a jelly-cake, thenanother fruit-cake and then another jelly-cake, and the cakes went allthe way around, too, and some of them had frosting on them, and youcould see the raisins in the fruit-cake and pieces of citron. Then onthe next shelf there was a row of nice cooked partridges, all the wayaround, close together. And on the shelf below was a row of meat-piesmade of chicken and turkey and young lamb, and on the shelf below thatthere was a row of nice canned berries, and on the floor, all the wayaround, there were jars of honey--nice comb honey that Mr. Bear hadgathered in November from bee-trees.

  Mr. Crow spoke first.

  "Well, I never," he said, "never in all my life, saw anything like it!"

  And Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum both said:

  "He can't do it--a breakfast like that is too much for _any_ bear!"

  Then Mr. Crow said:

  "He oughtn't to be _allowed_ to do it. Mr. Bear is too nice a man tolose."

  And Mr. 'Possum said:

  "He _mustn't_ be allowed to do it--we'll help him."

  "Where do you suppose he begins?" said Mr. 'Coon.

  "At the top, very likely," said Mr. Crow. "He's got it arranged incourses."

  "I don't care where he begins," said Mr. 'Possum; "I'm going to beginsomewhere, now, and I think I will begin on a meat-pie."

  And
Mr. Crow said he thought he'd begin on a nice partridge, and Mr.'Coon said he believed he'd try a mince-pie or two first, as a kind of alining, and then fill in with the solid things afterward.

  So then Mr. 'Possum took down his meat-pie, and said he hoped thiswasn't a dream, and Mr. Crow took down a nice brown partridge, and Mr.'Coon stood up on a chair and slipped a mince-pie out of a pan on thetop shelf, and everything would have been all right, only he lost hisbalance a little and let the pie fall. It made quite a smack when itstruck the floor, and Mr. 'Possum jumped and let his pie fall, too, andthat made a good deal more of a noise, because it was large and in a tinpan.

  Then Mr. Crow blew out the light quick, and they all stood perfectlystill and listened, for it seemed to them a noise like that would wakethe dead, much more Mr. Bear, and they thought he would be right up andin there after them.

  But Mr. Bear was too sound asleep for that. They heard him give a littlecough and a kind of a grunt mixed with a sleepy word or two, and whenthey peeked out through the door, which was open just a little ways,they saw him moving about in his chair, trying first one side and thenthe other, as if he wanted to settle down and go to sleep again, whichhe didn't do, but kept right on grunting and sniffing and mumbling andtrying new positions.

  Then, of course, the Hollow Tree People were scared, for they knewpretty well he was going to wake up. There wasn't any way to get out ofMr. Bear's pantry except by the door, and you had to go right by Mr.Bear's chair to get out of the cave. So they just stood there, holdingtheir breath and trembling, and Mr. 'Possum wished now it _was_ a dream,and that he could wake up right away before the nightmare began.

  Well, Mr. Bear he turned this way and that way, and once or twice seemedabout to settle down and sleep again; but just as they thought he reallyhad done it, he sat up pretty straight and looked all around.

  Then the Hollow Tree People thought their time had come, and they wantedto make a jump, and run for the door, only they were afraid to try it.Mr. Bear yawned a long yawn, and stretched himself, and rubbed his eyesopen, and looked over at the fire and down at the candle on the tableand up at the clock on the mantel. The 'Coon and 'Possum and the OldBlack Crow thought, of course, he'd know somebody had been there by allthose things being set going, and they expected him to roar outsomething terrible and start for the pantry first thing.

  But Mr. Bear didn't seem to understand it at all, or to suppose thatanything was wrong, and from what he mumbled to himself they saw rightaway that he thought he'd been asleep only a little while instead of allwinter long.

  "Humph!" they heard him growl, "I must have gone to sleep, and wasdreaming it's time to wake up. I didn't sleep long, though, by the waythe fire and the candle look, besides it's only a quarter of ten, and Iremember winding the clock at half after eight. Funny I feel so hungry,after eating a big supper only two hours ago. Must be the reason Idreamed it was spring. Humph! guess I'll just eat a piece of pie and goto bed."

  So Mr. Bear got up and held on to his chair to steady himself, andyawned some more and rubbed his eyes, for he was only about half awakeyet, and pretty soon he picked up his candle and started for the pantry.

  Then the Hollow Tree People felt as if they were going to die. Theydidn't dare to breathe or make the least bit of noise, and just huddledback in a corner close to the wall, and Mr. 'Possum all at once felt asif he must sneeze right away, and Mr. 'Coon would have given anything tobe able to scratch his back, and Mr. Crow thought if he could only coughonce more and clear his throat he wouldn't care whether he had anythingto eat, ever again.

  And Mr. Bear he came shuffling along toward the pantry with his candleall tipped to one side, still rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up,and everything was just as still as still--all except a little scratchysound his claws made dragging along the floor, though that wasn't a nicesound for the Hollow Tree People to hear. And when he came to the pantrydoor Mr. Bear pushed it open quite wide and was coming straight in, onlyjust then he caught his toe a little on the door-sill and _stumbled_ in,and that was too much for Mr. 'Possum, who turned loose a sneeze thatshook the world.

  Then Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon made a dive under Mr. Bear's legs, and Mr.'Possum did too, and down came Mr. Bear and down came his candle, andthe candle went out, but not any quicker than the Hollow Tree People,who broke for the cave door and slammed it behind them, and struck outfor the bushes as if they thought they'd never live to get there.

  But when they got into some thick hazel brush they stopped a minute tobreathe, and then they all heard Mr. Bear calling "Help! Help!" as loudas he could, and when they listened they heard him mention somethingabout an earthquake and that the world was coming to an end.

  Then Mr. 'Possum said that from the sound of Mr. Bear's voice he seemedto be unhappy about something, and that it was too bad for them to justpass right by without asking what was the trouble, especially if Mr.Bear, who had always been so friendly, should ever hear of it. So thenthey straightened their collars and ties and knocked the dust off alittle, and Mr. 'Coon scratched his back against a little bush and Mr.Crow cleared his throat, and they stepped out of the hazel patch andwent up to Mr. Bear's door and pushed it open a little and called out:

  "Oh, Mr. Bear, do you need any help?"

  MR. 'COON SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH]

  "Oh yes," groaned Mr. Bear, "come quick! I've been struck by anearthquake and nearly killed, and everything I've got must be ruined.Bring a light and look at my pantry!"

  So then Mr. 'Coon ran with a splinter from Mr. Bear's fire and lit thecandle, and Mr. Bear got up, rubbing himself and taking on, and beganlooking at his pantry shelves, which made him better right away.

  "Oh," he said, "how lucky the damage is so small! Only two pies and apartridge knocked down, and they are not much hurt. I thought everythingwas lost, and my nerves are all upset when I was getting ready for mywinter sleep. How glad I am you happened to be passing. Stay with me,and we will eat to quiet our nerves."

  Then the Hollow Tree People said that the earthquake had made themnervous too, and that perhaps a little food would be good for all ofthem; so they flew around just as if they were at home, and brought Mr.Bear's table right into the pantry, and some chairs, and set out thevery best things and told Mr. Bear to sit right up to the table and helphimself, and then all the others sat up, too, and they ate everythingclear through, from meat-pie to mince-pie, just as if Mr. 'Possum'sdream had really come true.

  And Mr. Bear said he didn't understand how he could have such a goodappetite when he had such a big supper only two hours ago, and he saidthat there must have been two earthquakes, because a noise of some kindhad roused him from a little nap he had been taking in his chair, butthat the real earthquake hadn't happened until he got to the pantrydoor, where he stumbled a little, which seemed to touch it off. He saidhe hoped he'd never live to go through with a thing like that again.

  Then the Hollow Tree People said they had heard both of the shocks, andthat the last one was a good deal the worst, and that of course such athing would sound a good deal louder in a cave anyway. And by-and-by,when they were all through eating, they went in by the fire and sat downand smoked, and Mr. Bear said he didn't feel as sleepy as he thought heshould because he was still upset a good deal by the shock, but that heguessed he would just crawl into bed while they were there, as it seemednice to have company.

  So he did, and by-and-by he dropped off to sleep again, and the HollowTree People borrowed a few things, and went out softly and shut the doorbehind them. They stopped at Mr. Rabbit's house on the way home, andtold him they had enjoyed a nice breakfast with Mr. Bear, and how Mr.Bear had sent a partridge and a pie and a little pot of honey to Mr.Rabbit because of his fondness for the family. Then Mr. Rabbit feltquite pleased, because it was too early for spring vegetables and hardto get good things for the table.

  "And did Mr. Bear sleep all summer?" asks the Little Lady.

  MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER]

  No, he woke up again
pretty soon, for he had finished his nap, and ofcourse the next time when he looked around he found his fire out and thecandle burned down and the clock stopped, so he got up and went outside,and saw it was spring and that he had slept a good deal longer thanusual. But when he went to eat his spring breakfast he couldn'tunderstand why he wasn't very hungry, and thought it must be becausehe'd eaten two such big suppers.

  "But why didn't the Hollow Tree People tell him it was spring and notlet him go to bed again?"

  Well, I s'pose they thought it wouldn't be very polite to tell Mr. Bearhow he'd been fooled, and, besides, he needed a nice nap again after theearthquake--anyhow, he thought it was an earthquake, and was a good dealupset.

  And it was a long time before he found out what _had really_ happened,and he never would have known, if Mr. Rabbit hadn't seen him fishing oneday and thanked him from across the river for the nice breakfast he hadsent him by the Hollow Tree People.

  That set Mr. Bear to thinking, and he asked Mr. Rabbit a few questionsabout things in general and earthquakes in particular, and the more hefound out and thought about it the more he began to guess just how itwas, and by-and-by when he did find out all about it, he didn't care anymore, and really thought it quite a good joke on himself for fallingasleep in his chair and sleeping there all winter long.