CHAPTER XIV.
"EGGS! eggs!" cried Toto, springing lightly into the barn, and waving abasket round his head. "Mrs. Speckle, Mrs. Spanish, Dame Clucket, whereare you all? I want all the fresh eggs you can spare, please!directly-now-this-very-moment!" and the boy tossed his basket up in theair and caught it again, and danced a little dance of pure enjoyment,while he waited for the hens to answer his summons.
Mrs. Speckle and Dame Clucket, who had been having a quiet chat togetherin the mow, peeped cautiously over the billows of hay, and seeing thatToto was alone, bade him good-morning.
"I don't know about eggs, to-day, Toto!" said Dame Clucket. "I want toset soon, and I cannot be giving you eggs every day."
"Oh, but I haven't had any for two or three days!" cried Toto. "And I_must_ have some to-day. Good old Clucket, dear old Cluckety, give mesome, please!"
"Well, I never can refuse that boy, somehow!" said Dame Clucket, half toherself; and Mrs. Speckle agreed with her that it could not be done.
Indeed, it would have been hard to say "No!" to Toto at that moment, forhe certainly was very pleasant to look at. The dusty sunbeams cameslanting through the high windows, and fell on his curly head, hisruddy-brown cheeks, and honest gray eyes; and as the eyes danced, andthe curls danced, and the whole boy danced with the dancing sunbeams,why, what could two soft-hearted old hens do but meekly lead the way towhere their cherished eggs lay, warm and white, in their fragrant nestsof hay?
"And what is to be done with them?" asked Mrs. Speckle, as the last eggdisappeared into the basket.
"Why, don't you know?" cried the boy. "We are going to have a partyto-night,--a real party! Mr. Baldhead is coming, and Jim Crow, andGer-Falcon. And Granny and Bruin are making all sorts of goodthings,--I'll bring you out some, if I can, dear old Speckly,--and theseeggs are for a custard, don't you see?"
"I see!" said Mrs. Speckle, rather ruefully.
"And Coon and I are decorating the kitchen," continued he; "and Crackeris cracking the nuts and polishing the apples; and Pigeon Pretty andMiss Mary are dusting the ornaments,--so you see we are all very busyindeed. Ho! ho! what fun it will be! Good-by, Mrs. Speckle! good-by,Cluckety!" and off ran boy Toto, with his basket of eggs, leaving thetwo old hens to scratch about in the hay, clucking rather sadly over thememories of their own chickenhood, when they, too, went to parties,instead of laying eggs for other people's festivities.
In the cottage, what a bustle was going on! The grandmother was at herpastry-board, rolling out paste, measuring and filling and covering, asquickly and deftly as if she had had two pairs of eyes instead of noneat all. The bear, enveloped in a huge blue-checked apron, sat with alarge mortar between his knees, pounding away at something as if hislife depended on it. On the hearth sat the squirrel, cracking nuts andpiling them up in pretty blue china dishes; and the two birds werecarefully brushing and dusting, each with a pair of dusters which shealways carried about with her,--one pair gray, and the other soft brown.As for Toto and the raccoon, they were here, there, and everywhere, allin a moment.
"Now, then, where are those greens?" called the boy, when he hadcarefully deposited his basket of eggs in the pantry.
"Here they are!" replied Coon, appearing at the same moment from theshed, dragging a mass of ground-pine, fragrant fir-boughs, andalder-twigs with their bright coral-red berries. "We will stand thesebig boughs in the corners, Toto. The creeping stuff will go over thelooking-glass and round the windows. Eh, what do you think?"
"Yes, that will do very well," said Toto. "We shall need steps, though,to reach so high, and the step-ladder is broken."
"Never mind!" said Coon. "Bruin will be the step-ladder. Stand up here,Bruin, and make yourself useful."
The good bear meekly obeyed, and the raccoon, mounting nimbly upon hisshoulders, proceeded to arrange the trailing creepers with much graceand dexterity.
"This reminds me of some of our honey-hunts, old fellow!" he said,talking as he worked. "Do you remember the famous one we had in theautumn, a little while before we came here?"
"To be sure I do!" replied the bear. "That was, indeed, a famous hunt!It gave us our whole winter's supply of honey. And we might have gottwice as much more, if it hadn't been for the accident."
"Tell us about it," said Toto. "I wasn't with you, you know; and thencame the moving, and I forgot to ask you."
"Well, it was a funny time!" said the bear. "Ho! ho! it was a funnytime! Coon, you see, had discovered this hive in a big oak-tree, hollowfrom crotch to ground. He couldn't get at it alone, for the clever beeshad made it some way down inside the trunk, and he couldn't reach farenough down unless some one held him on the outside. So we wenttogether, and I stood on my hind tip-toes, and then he climbed up andstood on my head, and I held his feet while he reached down into thehole."
"Dear me!" said the grandmother, "that was very dangerous, Bruin. Iwonder you allowed it."
"Well, you see, dear Madam," replied the bear, apologetically, "it wasreally the only way. I couldn't stand on Coon's head and have him hold_my_ feet, you know; and we couldn't give up the honey, the finest cropof the season. So--"
"Oh, it was all right!" broke in the raccoon. "At least, it was atfirst. There was such a quantity of honey,--pots and pots of it!--andall of the very best quality. I took out comb after comb, laying them inthe crotch of the tree for safe-keeping till I was ready to go down."
"But where were the bees all the time?" asked Toto.
"Oh, they were there!" replied the raccoon, "buzzing about and making afine fuss. They tried to sting me, of course, but my fur was too muchfor them. The only part I feared for was my nose, and that I had coveredwith two or three thicknesses of mullein-leaves, tied on with stoutgrass. But as ill-luck would have it, they found out Bruin, and began tobuzz about him, too. One flew into his eye, and he let my feet go for aninstant,--just just for the very instant when I was leaning down as faras I could possibly stretch to reach a particularly fine comb. Up wentmy heels, of course, and down went I."
"Oh, oh!" cried the grandmother. "My _dear_ Coon! do you mean--"
"I mean _down_, dear Madam!" repeated the raccoon, gravely,--"the verydownest down there was, I assure you. I fell through that hollow tree asthe falling star darts through the ambient heavens. Luckily there was asoft bed of moss and rotten wood at the bottom, or I might not have hadthe happiness of being here at this moment. As it was--"
"As it was," interrupted the bear, "I dragged him out by the tailthrough the hole at the bottom. Ho! ho! I wish you could have seen him.He had brought the whole hive with him. Indeed, he looked like a hivehimself, covered from head to foot with wax and honey, and a cloud ofbees buzzing about him. But he had a huge piece of comb in each paw, andwas gobbling away, eating honey, wax, bees and all, as if nothing hadhappened."
"Naturally," said the raccoon, "I am of a saving disposition, as youknow, and cannot bear to see anything wasted. It is not generally knownthat bees add a slight pungent flavor to the honey, which is veryagreeable. Ve-ry agreeable!" he repeated, throwing his head back, andscrewing up one eye, to contemplate the arrangement he had justcompleted. "How is that, Toto; pretty, eh?"
"Very pretty!" said Toto. "But, see here, if you keep Bruin there allday, we shall never get through all we have to do. Jump down, that's agood fellow, and help me to polish these tankards."
When all was ready, as in due time it was, surely it would have beenhard to find a pleasanter looking place than that kitchen. The cleanwhite walls were hung with wreaths and garlands, while the greatfir-boughs in the corners filled the air with their warm, spicyfragrance. Every bit of metal--brass, copper, or steel--was polished sothat it shone resplendent, giving back the joyous blaze of the cracklingfire in a hundred tiny reflections. The kettle was especially glorious,and felt the importance of its position keenly.
"I trust you have no unpleasant feeling about this," it said to theblack soup-kettle. "Every one cannot be beautiful, you know. If you areuseful, you should be content with that."
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p; "Hubble! bubble! Bubble! hubble! Some have the fun, and some have the trouble!"
replied the soup-kettle. "My business is to make soup, and I make it.That is all I have to say."
The table was covered with a snowy cloth, and set with glisteningcrockery--white and blue--and clean shining pewter. The great tankardhad been brought out of its cupboard, and polished within an inch of itslife; while the three blue ginger-jars, filled with scarletalder-berries, looked down complacently from their station on themantelpiece. As for the floor, I cannot give you an idea of thecleanness of it. When everything else was ready and in place, the bearhad fastened a homemade scrubbing-brush to each of his four feet, andthen executed a sort of furious scrubbing-dance, which fairly made thehouse shake; and the result was a shining purity which vied with thatof the linen table-cloth, or the very kettle itself.
And you should have seen the good bear, when his toilet was completed!The scrubbing-brushes had been applied to his own shaggy coat as well asto the floor, and it shone, in its own way, with as much lustre asanything else; and in his left ear was stuck a red rose, from themonthly rose-bush which stood in the sunniest window and blossomed allwinter long. It is extremely uncomfortable to have a rose stuck in one'sear,--you may try it yourself, and see how you like it; but Toto hadstuck it there, and nothing would have induced Bruin to remove it. Andyou should have seen our Toto himself, carrying his own roses on hischeeks, and enough sunshine in his eyes to make a thunder-cloud laugh!And you should have seen the great Coon, glorious in scarletneck-ribbon, and behind his ear (_not_ in it! Coon was not Bruin) ascarlet feather, the gift of Miss Mary, and very precious. And youshould have seen the little squirrel, attired in his own bushy tail,and rightly thinking that he needed no other adornment; and the parrotand the wood-pigeon, both trim and elegant, with their plumage arrangedto the last point of perfection. Last of all, you should have seen thedear old grandmother, the beloved Madam, with her snowy curls and capand kerchief; and the ebony stick which generally lived in a drawer andsilver paper, and only came out on great occasions. How proud Toto wasof his Granny! and how the others all stood around her, gazing withwondering admiration at her gold-bowed spectacles (for those she usuallywore were of horn) and the large breastpin, with a weeping-willowdisplayed upon it, which fastened her kerchief.
"Made out of your grandfather's tail, did you say, Toto?" said the bear,in an undertone. "Astonishing!"
"No, no, Bruin!" cried the boy, half pettishly. "Made out of his _hair_!Surely you might know by this time that we have no tails."
"True! true!" murmured the bear, apologetically. "I beg your pardon,Toto, boy. You are not really vexed with old Bruin?"
Toto rubbed his curly head affectionately against the shaggy black one,in token of amity, and the bear continued:--
"When Madam was a young grandmother, was she as beautiful as she isnow?"
"Why, yes, I fancy so," replied Toto. "Only she wasn't a grandmotherthen, you know."
"How so?" inquired Bruin. "What else could she be? You never wereanything but a boy, were you?"
"Oh, no, of course not!" said Toto. "But that is different. When Grannywas young, she was a girl, you see."
"I don't believe it!" said the bear, stoutly. "I--do--_not_--believe it!I saw a girl once--many years ago; it squinted, and its hair was frowzy,and it wore a hideous basket of flowers on its head,--a dreadfulcreature! Madam never can have looked like _that_!"
At this moment a knock was heard at the door. Toto flew to open it, andwith a beaming face ushered in the old hermit, who entered leaning onhis stick, with his crow perched on one shoulder and the hawk on theother.
Then, what greetings followed! What introductions! What bows andcourtesies, and whisking of tails and flapping of wings! The hermit'sbow in greeting to the old lady was so stately that Master Coon wasconsumed with a desire to imitate it; and in so doing, he stepped backagainst the nose of the tea-kettle and burned himself, which caused himto retire suddenly under the table with a smothered shriek. (But thekettle was glad.) And the hawk and the pigeon, the raccoon and the crow,the hermit and the bear, all shook paws and claws, and vowed that theywere delighted to see each other; and what is more, they really _were_delighted, which is not always the case when such vows are made.
Now, when all had become well acquainted, and every heart was preparedto be merry, they sat down to supper; and the supper was not one whichwas likely to make them less cheerful. For there was chicken and ham,and, oh, such a mutton-pie! You never saw such a pie; the standing crustwas six inches high, and solid as a castle wall; and on that lay theupper-crust, as lightly as a butterfly resting on a leaf; while insidewas store of good mutton, and moreover golden eggballs and tender littleonions, and gravy as rich as all the kings of the earth put together.Ay! and besides all that there was white bread like snow, and brownbread as sweet as clover-blossoms, and jam and gingerbread, and applesand nuts, and pitchers of cream and jugs of buttermilk. Truly, it doesone's heart good to think of such a supper, and I only wish that you andI had been there to help eat it. However, there was no lack of hungrymouths, with right good-will to keep their jaws at work, and for a timethere was little conversation around the table, but much joy and comfortin the good victuals.
The good grandmother ate little herself, though she listened withpleasure to the stirring sound of knives and forks, which told her thather guests were well and pleasantly employed. Presently the hermitaddressed her, and said:--
"Honored Madam, you will be glad to know that there has been a greatchange in the weather during the past week. Truly, I think the spring isat hand; for the snow is fast melting away, the sun shines with morethan winter's heat, and the air to-day is mild and soft."
At these words there was a subdued but evident excitement among thecompany. The raccoon and the squirrel exchanged swift and significantglances; the birds, as if by one unconscious impulse, ruffled theirfeathers and plumed themselves a little. But boy Toto's face fell, andhe looked at the bear, who, for his part, scratched his nose and lookedintently at the pattern on his plate.
"It has been a long, an unusually long, season," continued the hermit,"though doubtless it has seemed much shorter to you in your coseycottage than to me in my lonely cavern. But I have lived theforest-life long enough to know that some of you, my friends," and heturned with a smile to the forest-friends, "must be already longing tohear the first murmur of the greenwood spring, and to note in tree andshrub the first signs of awakening life."
There was a moment of silence, during which the raccoon shifted uneasilyon his seat, and looked about him with restless, gleaming eyes. Suddenlythe silence was broken by a singular noise, which made every one start.It was a long-drawn sound, something between a snort, a squeal, and asnore; and it came from--where _did_ it come from?
"Was it you?" said one.
"No! was it you?"
"It seemed to come," said the hawk, who sat facing the fire, "from thewall near the fireplace."
At this moment the sound was heard again, louder and more distinct, andthis time it certainly _did_ come from the wall,--or rather from thecupboard in the wall, near the fireplace.
"Yaw-haw! yaw-ah-hee!" Then came a muffled, scuffling sound, and finallya shrill peevish voice cried, "Let me out! let me out, I say! Coon, Iknow your tricks; let me out, or I'll tell Bruin this minute!"
The bear burst into a volcanic roar of laughter, which made the hermitstart and turn pale in spite of himself, and going to the cupboard hedrew out the unhappy woodchuck, hopelessly entangled in his worstedcovering, from which he had been vainly struggling to free himself.
Oh, how they all laughed! It seemed as they would never have donelaughing; while every moment the woodchuck grew more furious,--squeakingand barking, and even trying to bite the mighty paw which held him. Butthe wood-pigeon had pity on him, and with a few sharp pulls broke theworsted net, and begged Bruin to set him down on the table. This beingdone, Master Chucky found his nose within precisely half an inch of amost excell
ent piece of dried beef, upon which he fell without more ado,and stayed not to draw breath till the plate was polished clean anddry.
That made every one laugh again, and altogether they were very merry,and fell to playing games and telling stories, leaving the woodchuck totry the keen edge of his appetite upon every dish on the table.By-and-by, however, this gentleman could eat no more; so he wiped hispaws and whiskers, brushed his coat a little, and then joined in thesport with right good-will.
It was a pleasant sight to see the great bear blindfolded, chasing Totoand Coon from one corner to another, in a grand game of blindman's buff;it was pleasant to see them playing leap-frog, and spin-the-platter, andmany a good old-fashioned game besides. Then, when these sat down torest and recover their breath, what a treat it was to see the four birdsdance a quadrille, to the music of Toto's fiddle! How they fluttered andsidled, and hopped and bridled! How gracefully Miss Mary courtesied tothe stately hawk; and how jealous the crow was of this rival, who stoodon one leg with such a perfect grace!
Ah! altogether that was a party worth going to. And when late in theevening it broke up, and the visitors started on their homeward walk,all declared it was the merriest time they had yet had together, and allwished that they might have many more such times. And yet each one knewin his heart,--and grieved to know,--that it was the last, and that theend was come.
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