The Tale of Benny Badger

by Arthur Scott Bailey

  "Birds' eggs!" Benny Badger repeated. "Have you found any?"

  Mr. Fox squirmed a bit. He did not like to answer questions.

  "Have you found any eggs?" Benny asked him again.

  "A few!" Mr. Fox replied.

  "Where?" Benny inquired.

  "Oh, in different places," said Mr. Fox. And he began to talk about theweather--how dry it was, and how much the country needed rain.

  But Benny Badger was not to be fooled so easily.

  "You haven't really answered my question," Benny reminded Mr. Foxbluntly. "I asked you where you've been finding birds' eggs. And I'llthank you to tell me, sir."

  Mr. Fox gave a slight start. Benny's tone was none too pleasant. And Mr.Fox certainly didn't want to quarrel with him.

  "If you wish to know anything about birds' eggs, why don't you ask aPrairie Chicken?" he inquired. "She would know a great deal more abouteggs than I do."

  To Benny, that suggestion seemed quite worth while. There was no doubtthat what Mr. Fox said was true. And Benny wondered why he hadn'tthought of the plan himself.

  "Your advice," he told Mr. Fox, "is so good that I'm going to startright now to look for a Prairie Chicken. It's almost dawn now. And theChickens will soon be getting up."

  So Benny said good-by. And Mr. Fox tried to say good-by, too; butsomehow he choked over the words, and began to cough so violently thatBenny Badger was quite alarmed.

  He waited anxiously until he saw that Mr. Fox was out of danger. Andthen he left him.

  If he had looked back he might have seen his sly friend capering aboutin the gray light as if something amused him hugely. And no doubt Bennywould have wondered what it could have been.

  "Prairie Chickens!" Mr. Fox was chuckling. "Much they'll tell _him_about eggs!"

  XII

  THE PRAIRIE CHICKEN

  After he left Mr. Fox, Benny Badger hurried here and there andeverywhere in search of a prairie chicken.

  He found one, after a time. But the lady wouldn't stop to talk with him.The moment she spied Benny she _whirred_ into the air and flew off,though she certainly must have heard him calling to her.

  But at last, just as red streaks began to shoot up in the eastern sky,Benny caught sight of a stately dame who was so busy catchinggrasshoppers for her breakfast that she hadn't noticed him.

  He did not dare go too near her, for fear of scaring her. So he calledto her in as gentle a tone as he could, saying, "Don't be alarmed,madam! I only want to ask you a question."

  The prairie chicken stretched her neck as high as she was able, andlooked all around.

  "Here I am!" Benny sang out from a grassy hummock.

  The startled lady saw that he was not near enough to be dangerous. Soshe asked him, with a proud air, what his question might be.

  "I'm interested in birds' eggs," Benny explained. "Have you any, madam?"

  The prairie chicken took a few steps towards him, in a very grandmanner.

  "Yes, indeed!" she answered. "I have a baker's dozen! They are the mostbeautiful eggs I've ever seen--though perhaps I shouldn't say so. . . .They're speckled with brownish specks," she continued.

  "How interesting!" Benny Badger exclaimed. "I must have a look at thoseeggs. Where is your nest, madam?"

  And just then the prairie chicken did a strange thing. Without a word ofwarning she sprang into the air and sailed away, leaving Benny Badger togaze after her, and wonder why she hadn't answered his question.

  He soon made up his mind that he would find her nest, anyhow.

  Now, since there wasn't a tree anywhere in the neighborhood, Benny feltquite sure that the lady's nest must be on the ground. And since he knewthat all prairie chickens slept at night, he waited until dark before hebegan his search, for he wanted to find Mrs. Prairie Chicken at homewhen he called on her.

  So when night came once more, Benny Badger left his den and went forthon his errand.

  He had gone only a short distance when he met his old friend Mr. Fox,who had told him a little--and very little, too--about eggs. "Are youhaving any luck to-night?" Benny Badger inquired.

  "What do you mean?" Mr. Fox asked him.

  "Have you found any eggs?" Benny questioned.

  Mr. Fox said something that might have been either "Yes" or "No." Bennywas not quite sure which it was. But since Mr. Fox shook his head, hedecided that it must be "No."

  "I think we're too late," Mr. Fox remarked. "The eggs must have allhatched by this time."

  Benny Badger hastened to set Mr. Fox right.

  "That can't be possible," he replied. "I met Mrs. Prairie Chicken thismorning and she told me she had a baker's dozen of eggs in her nest."

  "You must be mistaken about that," Mr. Fox assured him. "Where did yousay her nest is?"

  "I didn't say," Benny answered.

  "No, of course not!" Mr. Fox corrected himself. "What I meant was, wheredid Mrs. Prairie Chicken say it is?"

  "She didn't say," replied Benny Badger.

  "That's unfortunate," Mr. Fox told him. "It would have saved us a gooddeal of trouble if she had explained where she lives."

  Then he told Benny Badger to go home, and not to trouble himself anymore. "_I_ will hunt for the old lady's nest," Mr. Fox declared.

  Benny Badger couldn't help thinking that Mr. Fox was a very kind person.And he went away feeling that it was very fine to have a friend likehim.

  But after a while he began to wonder if he wasn't mistaken; for hehappened to remember that Mr. Fox hadn't said a single word aboutletting him know when he had found the nest with the thirteen eggs init.

  XIII

  DON'T DO THAT!

  Benny Badger turned in his tracks and went straight back to the placewhere he had left Mr. Fox.

  But Mr. Fox was nowhere to be seen.

  So Benny began asking everybody he met if he had caught a glimpse of Mr.Fox that night. First he asked a white-footed deer mouse, who pointedbehind him and said that he had just seen Mr. Fox "over there." ThenBenny put his question to a frightened prairie dog, who claimed that hehad noticed Mr. Fox "over there," as he pointed in a direction exactlyopposite. And still another reported that he had noticed Mr. Fox in anentirely different place.

  "That's odd!" Benny Badger said to himself. "How can he be in threeplaces at once?" And since he could not answer that question, he decidedto look in none of those three directions, but to try a fourth, becausehe felt sure that none of the three could be the right one. And besides,if Mr. Fox had really been where he was said to have been seen, he wassuch a roving fellow that he would have moved on.

  Well, where he looked next, Benny found Mr. Fox.

  "What luck?" Benny asked that wily gentleman once more.

  Mr. Fox replied somewhat stiffly that he had nothing to say.

  "What's that on your mouth?" Benny Badger demanded suddenly.

  Mr. Fox hastily rubbed his paw across his mouth.

  "It can't be egg," he blurted.

  "_Egg!_" Benny Badger shouted. "I hadn't mentioned _egg_! But now that_you_ mention _egg_, perhaps that's it."

  Mr. Fox looked most ill at ease. But he made no reply.

  "What's that clinging to your shoulder?" asked Benny Badger abruptly.

  "It can't be a feather," said Mr. Fox, nervously brushing off hisshoulder as he spoke.

  "A feather!" Benny Badger exclaimed. "I've said nothing about a_feather_! But now that you speak of it, Mr. Fox, perhaps that's it."

  Mr. Fox looked very, very uncomfortable. And he murmured something about"having to be on his way."

  "Wait a moment!" said Benny, as Mr. Fox turned aside. "What's that onthe back of your neck?"

  Mr. Fox tried in vain to look at the back of his own neck.

  "It can't be----" he began.

  But before he could finish, Benny Badger interrupted him.

  "Yes, it is!" he cried. "It's my teeth!"

  And so saying, he seized Mr. Fox on the back of his neck and began todrag him over the grass.

  It became clear,
at once, that Mr. Fox did not enjoy the sport.

  "Don't do that, friend!" he begged. "What are you trying to do, anyhow?"

  "I'm trying to rub the egg off your mouth," Benny Badger explained.

  "Please don't trouble yourself," said Mr. Fox.

  Then Benny began to shake him.

  "Don't do that, friend!" said Mr. Fox again. "What are you trying todo?"

  "I'm only trying to shake the feather off you," Benny told him.

  "Don't trouble yourself," said Mr. Fox. "If you'll take those teeth offmy neck, that's all I'll ask of you."

  "Not yet!" Benny Badger replied grimly. "You're a robber. And I'm goingto teach you a lesson. . . . You _will_ rob birds' nests, will you?"

  To his great surprise, Mr. Fox began to laugh.

  "Why, you'd rob them yourself if you weren't so clumsy!" he cried."You're really no better than I am."

  Benny Badger hadn't thought of that. And the idea surprised him so muchthat his mouth fell open. And of course Mr. Fox at once leaped aside andran off.

  XIV

  A QUEER DISCOVERY

  No one would ever have called Benny Badger a great traveller. He wasaltogether too heavy to roam far from home upon his short legs. So itoften happened that he did not know all that went on in theneighborhood.

  Of course, his watchful eyes took in almost everything that was in sightof his den. But as for what was taking place just beyond the next rise,that was an entirely different matter. Unless somebody chanced to stopand gossip with Benny, sometimes several days would pass before he knewwhat his neighbors were doing.

  Luckily, Benny Badger kept his ears open, when he was awake.

  And often he kept them half-open when he lay half-asleep, stretched outin the grass not too far from his den, enjoying a sun-bath.

  One day when he was sunning himself the sound of voices snatched him outof his drowsiness. And he kept quite still, to see what he could see,and hear what he could hear.

  Soon three coyotes came sneaking through the grass, talking in hushedvoices--a thing they seldom did. Benny could hardly believe his ownears, because he had supposed that if the coyote family spoke at all,they always howled.

  But if the quietness of the coyotes surprised Benny, what they saidastonished him a great deal more. For Benny Badger learned that thethree cronies were headed for a prairie dog village just beyond thenext rise.

  That was most amazing news. Benny Badger hadn't known that there was aprairie dog village so near his den. And for a moment he was tempted tocall to the coyotes and ask them if what they said was really true or ifthey were only fooling.

  But he didn't think the three prowlers had seen him. So there seemed tobe no reason for their saying what wasn't so.

  Well, the moment they disappeared, Benny Badger jumped up and hurriedinto his den. He would have followed the coyotes, but he decided itwould be better to wait. The prairie dogs would be too wary, with thosecoyotes in their village.

  But later, after the coyotes had left--ah! then he would pay a visit tothe village himself.

  Towards evening Benny Badger crept out of his den and followed the trailof the three coyotes. And sure enough! when he reached the top of therise he saw the mounds of the prairie dogs spread out before him.

  Though he saw no prairie dogs, he noticed an owl sitting upon a heap ofearth that had been tossed out around a hole.

  Benny Badger strolled up to the owl.

  "It's a fine evening!" said Benny.

  The owl merely stared at him, round-eyed, and made no reply.

  "I say, it's a fine evening!" Benny repeated in a louder tone.

  "Very well!" the owl replied. "You may say it as often as you wish. I'msure I have no objection. . . . But you don't need to come any nearer,"he added.

  Benny Badger stopped and squatted in the grass. He was glad to rest, forhe was--as has been said--no great traveller.

  "Is anybody at home?" he asked presently.

  "Somebody is," said the owl.

  "Then I'll dig right in as soon as I get my breath," said Benny Badger,glancing at the hole.

  "Do you want to see somebody?" the owl asked. "For if you do, there's noneed of your doing any digging here."

  "Why not?" Benny inquired.

  "I'm somebody," the owl informed him. "I live here; and I'll bedisgusted if you go to tearing my house to pieces."

  XV

  BENNY AND THE OWL

  Benny Badger smiled at the owl. He thought he must be fooling.

  "You're a joker, aren't you?" said Benny. "But I never should havethought it--you look so glum."

  The owl seemed somewhat displeased.

  "I've never made a joke yet," he declared, "though I've no doubt Icould, if I should ever want to."

  Benny Badger glanced from the owl to the hole, and then back again atthe strange fellow.

  "You don't mean to say you live here, in this hole?" Benny exclaimed.

  Benny Seized Mr. Coyote's Paw.]

  "Certainly; I do," the owl replied sharply.

  Benny Badger couldn't understand how that could be.

  "But this is a prairie dog house," he protested. . . . "Where's thechap that built it? He must be around here somewhere."

  "I don't know where he is, and I don't care where he is," the owlanswered. "I drove him out of this house because I wanted to live heremyself. And I didn't trouble myself to see where he went."

  Benny Badger could hardly believe what the owl told him. But he noticedthat the fellow had a sharp beak, and sharp claws too.

  "I should think you played a joke on the prairie dog," he remarked atlast.

  "Should you?" said the owl. "If it _was_ a joke, it wasn't nearly asbig a one as I'll play on anybody that tries to drive _me_ away fromhere. . . . I drove a snake away yesterday," he added. And he lookedvery thoughtfully at Benny Badger, as if he were picking out a softplace in which to sink his cruel beak.

  "You needn't be so touchy," said Benny. "I'm not going to disturb you.I'm sure I shouldn't care to live in your house."

  The owl was a peppery fellow. He grew angry at once.

  "Why not?" he demanded. "What's the matter with my house?"

  "I'll tell you," Benny replied. "It's a second-hand one. And that's badenough. But it would be still worse if I took it away from you, becausethen it would be third-hand."

  The owl looked daggers at him.

  "You've insulted me!" he cried loudly, swelling himself up--or so itseemed.

  "Have I?" Benny Badger inquired. "Don't mention it! I'm sure you'requite welcome." To tell the truth, he had not the least idea what theowl meant.

  Naturally, Benny's words only made the owl angrier than ever. And hebecame actually rude.

  "If I were you," he spluttered, "until I learned better manners I woulddig a hole somewhere, crawl inside it, and pull it in after me."

  Now, that was a new idea--for Benny Badger. And he liked it.

  "What fun that would be!" he exclaimed. "Then when I wanted to go outI'd have to dig my way again!"

  The owl gave a queer cry. And looking quite discouraged, he flew off andleft Benny Badger sitting there in the grass.

  XVI

  SPOILING A GAME

  Though the owl left him in such a rude fashion, Benny Badger wasted notime in thinking about what had just happened. There was something farmore worth while that claimed his thoughts. For the prairie dog villagestill remained where it had been. And as Benny looked at it he found ithighly interesting.

  Even as he glanced at the doorway of the nearest house he caught sightof a small head with bulging eyes, which stared at him without blinking.

  Benny moved nearer. And the head promptly vanished.

  Then Benny Badger smiled all over his face.

  "Ah!" he exclaimed. "Here's somebody else at home!" And he looked allaround at a number of other doorways. To his great delight he saw othereyes peeping at him.

  "There's a lot of 'em at home!" Benny cried with great glee.

  He never fel
t happier in all his life. Everything was exactly as hewould have wished it. And he was just taking off his coat, and trying todecide where he would begin to dig, when something happened that madehim look very peevish. And he slipped his coat on again, and lay flat inthe grass.

  A coyote had come bounding up at exactly the wrong time! And every oneof the prairie dogs promptly pulled his head out of sight.

  If he noticed Benny at all, the coyote must have thought him no morethan a heap of dirt. Anyhow, he paid no heed to Benny, but went stalkingthrough the village with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, lookingsharply out of the corners of his eyes at the houses he passed.

  There is no denying that Benny Badger was displeased. He wanted nosneaking coyote at hand to spoil his plans. And he was all ready togrowl, when something made him change his mind and close his mouth.

  The coyote walked through the village and disappeared in the distance.And here and there heads soon began to appear in doorways.

  But when Benny Badger stood up and drew nearer to them, they droppeddown again.

  The next moment a very angry lady rushed up and began scolding BennyBadger at the top of her voice. It was Mrs. Coyote. "Go away from thisvillage!" she shrieked. "You're spoiling our hunting!"

  "Whose hunting?" Benny Badger asked her.

  "Mine and my husband's!" she snapped. "That was my husband that passedby here a few minutes ago. Of course we know the Prairie Dogs will allhide when they see him. But they're so silly that they're sure to bob upand stare at him after he has gone along. And then"--she said--"then'sthe time I dash up and grab them."