The Tale of Benny Badger

by Arthur Scott Bailey

  Produced by Joe Longo, Emmy and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

  THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER

  _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_

  (Trademark Registered)

  BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

  AUTHOR OF _TUCK-ME-IN TALES_

  (Trademark Registered)

  THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR THE TALE OF FRISKY SQUIRREL THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX THE TALE OF FATTY COON THE TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK THE TALE OF JIMMY RABBIT THE TALE OF PETER MINK THE TALE OF SANDY CHIPMUNK THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER THE TALE OF PADDY MUSKRAT THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG THE TALE OF DICKIE DEER MOUSE THE TALE OF TIMOTHY TURTLE THE TALE OF MAJOR MONKEY THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER

  Benny doesn't like Mr. Coyote's singing.]

  _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_ (Trademark Registered)

  THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER

  BY

  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

  Author of "TUCK-ME-IN TALES" (Trademark Registered)

  ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH

  NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS Made in the United States of America

  COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I A GREAT DIGGER 1

  II HUNTING FOR SOMETHING 7

  III NO ONE AT HOME 12

  IV MR. COYOTE SINGS 17

  V SPEAKING OF GROUND SQUIRRELS 23

  VI STRANGE PARTNERS 28

  VII MR. COYOTE REMEMBERS 32

  VIII A WATCHER AND A WORKER 37

  IX A CARELESS HELPER 42

  X THE SORE PAW 47

  XI BIRDS' EGGS 51

  XII THE PRAIRIE CHICKEN 56

  XIII DON'T DO THAT 62

  XIV A QUEER DISCOVERY 67

  XV BENNY AND THE OWL 72

  XVI SPOILING A GAME 76

  XVII THE PRAIRIE DOG VILLAGE 81

  XVIII SAVING THE DAY 86

  XIX PLEASANT PRAISE 90

  XX THE RANCHER IS ANGRY 94

  XXI THE NEW HOME 99

  XXII A BREAKFAST INVITATION 105

  XXIII MR. DEER MOUSE IS TIMID 109

  THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER

  THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER

  I

  A GREAT DIGGER

  Of course, Benny Badger had the best of reasons for living on the high,dry plains. There he had for neighbors plenty of ground squirrels andprairie dogs. And it is likely that he enjoyed their company much morethan they did his.

  If anyone had asked them, those little wild people would no doubt haveconfessed that they wished Benny Badger was somewhere else. But theirwishes meant nothing to Benny--if he knew anything of them. Although hecouldn't help noticing that his small neighbors hurried into their homeswhenever they caught sight of him, Benny never took the hint and wentaway. On the contrary, when he spied a prairie dog or a ground squirreldisappearing into his burrow Benny was more than ready to go right inafter him.

  Now, the tunnels that led to the houses of those smaller folk were toosmall to admit anybody as bulky as Benny Badger. But that difficultynever hindered Benny. Digging was the easiest thing he did. He had apowerful body, short, stout legs, and big feet, which bore long, strongclaws. And when he started to dig his way into somebody else's home hecertainly did make the dirt fly.

  He was so fond of digging that he even dug countless holes of his own,just for the fun it gave him--so far as anybody could find out. And ifhe had only left other folk's holes alone some of his neighbors wouldnot have objected to his favorite sport. For more than one fox andcoyote had been known to make his home in a hole dug by Benny Badger.And, though they never took the trouble to thank him for saving themwork, they often chuckled about his odd way of having fun, and remarkedamong themselves that Benny must be a stupid fellow.

  If they really thought that, they made a great mistake. To be sure, atanything except digging he was slow and awkward. He was too heavy andsquat to be spry on his feet--to chase and catch his more nimbleneighbors. But no one that knew much about Benny Badger would have saidthat his wits were dull. They were sharp. And so, too, were his teeth,which he never hesitated to use in a fight.

  Left alone, Benny Badger--when he wasn't too hungry--was a peaceableperson. But if a dog ever tried to worry him Benny had a most unpleasantway of seizing his annoyer with his powerful jaws and holding the poorcreature as if he never intended to let him go.

  Cornered, Benny knew no such thing as fear. He had the heart of a lion,and jaws like a steel trap. And no wise dog ever let Benny get a good,firm grip on him.

  Usually no one saw Benny Badger except at night. He seldom left his denin the daytime except to sun himself. And even then not many noticedhim. Though he did not hide when anyone surprised him while taking asun-bath, he had a trick of lying flat in the grass without moving. Andit took a sharp eye to spy him when he lay low in that fashion.

  Curled up asleep, with his long fur on end, he looked too comfortable todisturb. At least, that was what the ground squirrels thought. And ifone of those busy little fellows ever paused to stare curiously at Bennywhen he was having a nap in the warm sunshine, Benny Badger had only toawake and turn his head toward the onlooker to make him scamper for homeas fast as he could go.

  It was not Benny's face, either, that frightened the ground squirrelsaway, though everybody had to admit that he had a queer one. A blackpatch spread over his eyes and ran like the point of a V down his nose.For the most part, however, he was of a grayish color, with still moreblack running in streaks across his back. Underneath he was a--yes! adirty white color. But then, one must remember that he was foreverdigging in the dirt; and there was very little water where he lived.Anyhow, he was particular enough about one thing: his long hair wasalways carefully parted in the middle from his head to his tail.

  And certainly that ought to show that he tried to keep himself lookingneat.

  II

  HUNTING FOR SOMETHING

  It was a pleasant summer's night. Anyone would have supposed that it wasjust the sort of weather that Benny Badger might have chosen for diggingholes. But he must have thought that he had dug enough holes for thetime being. He wandered about as if he had lost a hole somewhere andcouldn't find it. And whenever he spied a hole made by one of hissmaller neighbors he stopped and looked at it closely.

  But none of them seemed to be the one he was looking for. At least,Benny examined a good many holes, and then passed on again, before hecame to one at last that was different from all the rest. If you couldhave seen the look of pleasure on Benny's odd face when he caught sightof this particular hole you would have known at once that his search hadcome to an end.

  Now, as a matter of fact, Benny Badger had not lost a hole. His strangebehavior did not mean that. It meant that he was searching for a _fresh_hole, which some ground squirrel had dug so short a time before thatthere couldn't be much doubt that the small owner was then living in it.

  Mr. Ground Squirrel Escapes from Benny.]

  To be sure, Benny might have dug his way to the furthest end of eachhole that he found that night. And doubtless he would have enjoyed sucha
pastime. But as for finding a plump ground squirrel at the end ofevery tunnel--ah! that would have been a different matter. No suchpleasant sight would have greeted Benny's eyes. And on this evening hewanted to find some such reward when his digging came to an end.

  He knew as well as he knew anything in the world that newly scatteredearth never lay strewn about the doorway of an _old_ hole.

  And that was the reason he passed by so many holes with hardly more thana swift glance.

  But when at length he found what he had been looking for--a hole withfresh brown dirt scattered carelessly around it--Benny Badger showed byevery one of his actions that he didn't intend to move on until he hadburrowed to the very end of it.

  A broad smile lighted up his queerly marked face. At least, he openedhis mouth and showed a good many of his teeth. And a bright, eagerglint came into his eyes; whereas they had had a somewhat wistful lookbefore, as if their owner might have been hungry, and didn't exactlyknow where he was going to find a meal.

  Then Benny Badger looked all around, to see whether anybody might bewatching him. But there was no one in sight. And if there had been,Benny Badger would have done no more than tell him that he had betterrun along about his business, because it would do him no good towait--none at all.

  And if the onlooker had happened to come so near as to bother Benny inwhat he intended to do, that unfortunate person might have wished thathe had taken a bit of friendly advice in time, and made himself scarce.

  But, of course, Benny Badger was not so foolish as to give any suchwarning, for there was no one there to hear it.

  III

  NO ONE AT HOME

  Since there seemed to be nobody lurking in the shadows around him, andwatching him, Benny Badger turned to the ground squirrel's hole andbegan to dig. How he did make the dirt fly! He scooped it up with hisbig feet and flung it back in a shower, not caring in the least where itfell. For he was interested not in what lay behind, but before him.

  In almost less time than it takes to tell about it, Benny Badger hadmade the entrance of the tunnel so big that it swallowed his head andshoulders.

  Now, when some people do anything they are forever stopping to see howmuch they have finished, as if they hated to work and wished that theydidn't have to. But Benny Badger was not like them. He loved to dig. Andinstead of wishing that it wasn't far to the ground squirrel's chamberhe kept hoping that it was a good, long tunnel, so that he might haveplenty of fun digging his way to the end of it.

  _He_ didn't pause to look back at the pile of dirt he had thrown behindhim. In fact, he didn't stop for anything--not even to take a longbreath--until he noticed a sound that made him pause and listen for afew moments.

  It was a yapping, growling noise that caught Benny Badger's ear--a noisethat changed, while he listened, to a howl, and then suddenly ended asit had begun.

  That call, coming as it did out of the night, would have frightenedmany people. Not knowing just what it was, they might have thought itsounded like the cry of a wolf. But Benny Badger showed not the leastsign of fear. On the contrary, he seemed almost angry with himselfbecause he had stopped even for a few moments to listen.

  "Oh, fudge!" he said--or something a good deal like that. "It's nothingbut a Coyote."

  And then he went to digging faster than ever, to make up for lost time.

  He hadn't been working long after that when Mr. Coyote's call made himback out of the hole and listen once more.

  "Shucks!" said Benny Badger--or something like that, anyhow. "He'scoming this way."

  Anyone could have seen that Benny Badger was not pleased. But hecontinued his work just the same. And he made the dirt fly even morefuriously than before, because he wanted to reach the end of the groundsquirrel's tunnel before Mr. Coyote arrived on the scene.

  It happened that Mr. Coyote was stalking slowly across the country inthe moonlight, headed for no place in particular. So Benny Badger hadtime to burrow his way to the ground squirrel's bedroom without beinginterrupted.

  And then Benny met with a sad disappointment. The owner of the burrowwas not at home! Benny knew that he could not have been gone long,because the bed of dried grasses was still warm.

  It was plain that Mr. Ground Squirrel had awakened and heard the soundof Benny Badger's digging. And there was no doubt that he had sprung upin a hurry and rushed out of his back door, while Benny made his waythrough the front one.

  Benny Badger tried to console himself with the thought that anyhow hehad had the fun of digging. But he was very hungry. And there was nosupper in sight anywhere.

  He was just about to renew his search for fresh ground squirrels' holes,when who should appear but Mr. Coyote himself, with a knowing smile uponhis narrow face.

  IV

  MR. COYOTE SINGS

  Benny Badger was not at all glad to see Mr. Coyote. And after Benny'sill luck, the smile upon Mr. Coyote's face made the disappointed diggerfeel almost peevish.

  "What a beautiful evening it is!" said Mr. Coyote. "And what a finenight for digging!"

  Benny Badger glared at the newcomer, making no attempt to hide hisdispleasure at seeing him.

  "I don't notice _you_ doing any digging," he remarked with a sneer. Hehad no use for Mr. Coyote, and he did not mind letting that trickyfellow know it, either.

  But Mr. Coyote was not one to take a hint. If he knew he wasn't wantedanywhere, it never made the slightest difference to him. And when Bennyas much as told him that he was _too lazy_ to dig a hole, Mr. Coyote didnot lose his temper even for a moment.

  "No--I seldom dig," he replied. "I don't want to spoil your fun. If Iwent to work and dug and dug anywhere and everywhere there'd soon benothing but holes, no matter where you went. You'd have no place to diga hole yourself. And then you'd be pretty unhappy."

  Benny Badger hadn't thought of that. And he didn't know just what tosay, because if Mr. Coyote meant what he said, Benny wanted to saysomething _pleasant_; and if Mr. Coyote was only joking, Benny wantedto say something disagreeable. But before Benny had made up his mind howto reply to Mr. Coyote's remark, his noisy friend began talking again.

  "Besides," Mr. Coyote added, "I haven't time for digging, because I haveto practice singing. . . . If you don't mind, I'll practice a song rightnow."

  And without waiting to find out whether Benny Badger did mind or not,Mr. Coyote began singing in the harshest of voices:

  THE COYOTE'S SONG

  When Mr. Sun has gone to bed to seek his needed rest, And Mr. Moon has climbed the skies to flood the plains with light, And Mrs. Wind blows softly from the foothills in the west, I love to sing my _yip-ky, oodle-doodle_ in the night.

  When morning comes I hurry home, to take my daily nap; But when the spooky shadows fall and all the world is dark, Oh! then's the time I'm wide awake and ready with a _yap_, A happy, yappy _yip-ky, oodle-doodle_, and a bark.

  And none that hears my lovely voice, when startled from a dream, Will soon forget how I begin my chorus with a growl; Nor how I quickly run the scale, to end it with a scream, A happy, yappy _yip-ky, oodle-doodle_, and a howl.

  Let them that do not know my ways cry fearfully for help, And shake and shiver when they hear my loud and lusty call; While I will merely jeer at them with something like a yelp, A happy, yappy _yip-ky, oodle-doodle_, and a squall.

  And now I will explain to you--perhaps you've guessed before The lesson that I always strive with might and main to teach-- If you would frighten timid folk, alarm them with a roar, A happy, yappy, _yip-ky, oodle-doodle_, and a screech.

  "How do you like that?" Mr. Coyote asked with a grin, when he hadfinished.

  "Not very well!" said Benny Badger.

  Mr. Coyote looked just the least bit crestfallen.

  "Perhaps I haven't practiced the song as much as I should," he remarked.And thereupon he started to sing it again.

  But Benny Badger stopped him quickly.

  "Don't!" he cried. And he held his paws, d
irty as they were, over hisears, as if he couldn't bear to hear that song another time.

  Mr. Coyote smiled agreeably.

  "I see," he said easily. "You don't enjoy music as I do. But I believewe have one taste in common."

  "What's that?" Benny Badger asked him; for in spite of his paws beingover his ears, he heard what Mr. Coyote said. "What's that?"

  "Ground Squirrels!" Mr. Coyote replied, licking his chops as he spoke.

  V

  SPEAKING OF GROUND SQUIRRELS

  Benny Badger stared none too pleasantly at Mr. Coyote. He didn't likehis visitor. And he wished Mr. Coyote would go away.

  But Mr. Coyote seemed to be in no hurry to leave. On the contrary, heappeared to have plenty of time to spare. And if he noticed the frown onBenny Badger's face, he certainly acted as if it were the most agreeableof smiles.

  "We were speaking of Ground Squirrels----" he began with a smirk.

  Benny Badger interrupted him quickly.

  "We were not!" he snapped. "I haven't _mentioned_ Ground Squirrels," hegrowled.

  Mr. Coyote fell back a few steps.

  "Well, I know you're _interested_ in them, anyhow," he continued, tryingto act as if he were quite unruffled by Benny's rudeness. "You can'tdeny that, for unless I'm mistaken, you've just caught one here." Andhis bright eyes twinkled, for he thought he "had" Benny Badger there,and it would be of no use for Benny to deny it.

  "You are mistaken," Benny Badger grunted.