Johnnie and Billie Bushytail

by Howard R. Garis

  “Where are the flies you promised me?” she asked.

  “Oh, we forgot all about them,” said Billie. “But what are you doing here?”

  “I am on my way to visit Miss Muffet,” answered the spider. “You know I have to go and sit down beside her, because I'm a spider while she's on her tuffet, little Miss Muffet, eating her curds and whey. It really is quite a trial to me, as much as it is to her, but I have to do it, you know, because it's in all the books.”

  “Don't say that, please,” croaked the frog, rubbing his cold nose. “You make me shiver,” and would you believe it, he began to shiver then and there. Pretty soon the spider went away, and Billie and Johnnie and Jennie finished their lunch. Then the ducks went in swimming again, and once more after that, because it was their picnic, and they could do as they pleased. Then came all sorts of games, in which the squirrels took part, but they could run so much faster than the ducks that they caught the ducks every time. Then the picnic was over and Johnnie and Billie and Jennie went home. To-morrow night you shall hear about playing soldier.

  XVII

  PLAYING A SOLDIER GAME

  “COME on,” cried Billie Bushytail to Johnnie Bushytail, his brother, one day. “I've got my bow and arrow; now let's play at being soldiers.”

  “All right,” agreed Johnnie. “Wait until I get a few more arrows and then we'll have a make-believe fight. Only I wish we had some of those sandwiches like we had at the ducks' picnic.”

  “What for?”

  “Well, soldiers have to eat, don't they? They carry things to eat on their backs, with the blankets they sleep in.”

  “Oh, we can pretend we have something to eat,” said Billie. “Come on.”

  “Where are you going, boys?” called out Grandma Lightfoot, looking from the window of the nest.

  “We are going to play soldier,” said Johnnie.

  “You must ask grandpa first,” went on the old lady squirrel. “I'm not sure he will let you.”

  So up the tree they scampered, their little feet going pitter-patter just like a little doggie's when he runs across the oil-cloth in the kitchen. Grandpa Lightfoot was shaving in the bathroom, and his face was all covered with lather. What's that? You didn't know squirrels shaved? Well, that's strange. I believe I did forget to mention it, but please excuse me, and I'll see that it does not happen again. Well, grandpa was shaving, and when the little squirrel boys hurried in to ask him if they could play soldier, he cried out:

  “Easy now, boys! You startled me so that I almost cut me with my razor. You must come in more quietly when I am shaving, for my paw trembles a little. What is it you want?”

  Then they told him, and he said: “Yes, you may play if you will be careful. But I wish you would take Jennie Chipmunk with you. She needs to have some fun.”

  “Aw, a girl can't be a soldier,” complained Johnnie. “She wouldn't know how to fight.”

  “She wouldn't need to fight,” went on Grandpa, carefully taking out a bit of lather that had gotten into his mouth. “She could be a Red Cross nurse, and look after wounded soldiers.”

  “Oh, that will be fine!” cried Billie. “Come on, Johnnie, we'll get Jennie. She can be a nurse, and when I am hurt she can carry me away on a stretcher.”

  “No, I'm going to be hurt, so she can carry me,” said Johnnie very quickly.

  “I chose that first,” cried his brother, and it really did look--mind you, I'm not saying for sure--but it did look as if there would be a quarrel. Then Jennie Chipmunk, smiling so she showed her pretty teeth, called out:

  “Never mind, boys, you can both be wounded, and I'll carry you both. Will that do?”

  “Oh, yes!” the squirrel brothers answered quickly, just like that--“Oh, yes!”

  So they got their bows and arrows and scrambled down the tree to the ground, and Grandpa Lightfoot was glad to see them go, for they made him nervous, and his paw shook so when he was putting lather on his face, that he got a lot more in his mouth, and it did not taste very nice, I do assure you.

  Johnnie and Billie took their bows and arrows, and Johnnie got behind one tree, while Billie hid back of another. Then Jennie got some soft bark and leaves to make a little cot bed, on which to carry away the make-believe wounded squirrels. Then they played.

  First, Johnnie shot an arrow, then Billie sent one from his bow, but the boy squirrels didn't hurt each other, because, you see, they were behind the trees. Oh, what lots of fun they had! They called out orders, made believe they were firing guns, and shouted “bang-bang” and “bung-bung,” just like a gun goes off, you know; and one was a general- squirrel and the other a captain, and they made believe they had cannon, and they had to call out pretty loud when they fired the cannon, louder than when they shot the make-believe guns. Next they shot more arrows, and jumped up and down, and sideways and pretended to be dead; and oh, I don't know what they didn't do!

  Then, all at once, Johnnie shot an arrow, and Billie didn't happen to be behind the tree, and the arrow hit him on the nose. My goodness me and a bag of peanuts! But how it did hurt, and how he cried! Just like a new baby.

  “You did that on purpose!” he shouted to Johnnie, and Johnnie said he didn't at all. Then, before Billie knew what he was doing he shot an arrow at his brother, who wasn't behind the tree, and Johnnie was hit on the leg. It hurt, too, let me tell you. Then Johnnie cried, and Billie cried, and they had a very dreadful time indeed, until, all at once, Jennie Chipmunk began to laugh; and when they wanted to know why she was laughing, she said: “Why, you are both wounded, and don't have to make believe at all, and I will have to carry you both away on the stretcher. I wonder if I can?”

  And Jennie Chipmunk laughed again. Then Billie's nose felt better all at once, and so did Johnnie's leg, and they ran and got on the cot bed, but they were so heavy that Jennie could not carry them, and they had to walk. Then they played soldier once more, but they were careful not to shoot one another. An arrow did happen to hit Jennie by mistake, but it did not hurt her much, and she only laughed. Then they all went home. If the weather is fair to-morrow night, would you like to hear how Johnnie's and Billie's papa and mama came home from the boy's cage?

  XVIII

  PAPA AND MAMMA GET BACK HOME

  YOU remember I told you some nights ago how it was that Johnnie and Billie Bushytail had to live with their grandpa and grandma and Jennie Chipmunk. It was because Papa and Mamma Bushytail had been captured by a boy, and put into a cage with a wheel that went around faster than the fastest merry-go-round you ever saw. Well, now I am going to tell you how the squirrels escaped from the cage.

  The boy who had them was very kind to them, and gave them nice nuts to eat, but still they wished they could be free, to run about in the woods, and even the wheel that went around did not make them forget their little squirrel children.

  So one day, after the boy had fed his pets, and cleaned the cage, what do you think happened? Why, he forgot to fasten the door. Yes, sir, that's just what he did, I'm not fooling a bit. He went out of the room, and left the cage door open, and Papa Bushytail saw that it was swinging to and fro.

  “Come on, quick!” he called to Mamma Bushytail. “This is the very chance we have been looking for. We will run out and go back to our dear children and Grandpa and Grandma Lightfoot and Jennie Chipmunk.”

  “But how are we going to get out of this big house? asked Mamma Bushytail, and she felt so badly that a tear came in each eye, and fell into the drinking water.

  ``Oh, we'll find a way,” replied her husband. “Come on, now. Run!”

  So out they ran, faster than an elephant running after a peanut and a lump of sugar. They scrambled out of the cage on to the table, down to the floor, and, my, what good luck they did have! If there wasn't a window open in the room. They jumped right out of the window on a porch, and from there they could easily reach a tree. Oh, how glad they were to be in a tree again! They had thought they never again would run up and down the branches, and hide under the leav
es.

  “Which way is home?”asked Mamma Bushytail.

  “Leave that to me,” answered Papa Bushytail. “I can find it.”

  “I hope you can,” said his wife, “for I am so anxious to see my dear children again.”

  Then Papa Bushytail ran to the very top of the tree, until he could see the Orange Mountains, where he used to live. He caught a glimpse of them, a long way off, and then he and his wife hurried toward them as fast as they could go. And, oh, how very glad they were when they reached the place where they used to live.

  “Now, we will go right to father's house, and see Johnnie and Billie,” declared Mamma Bushytail, for, you see, Grandpa Lightfoot was her papa when she was a little girl, and, of course, he kept on being her papa after she got married, which is perfectly natural, you know.

  Now it happened that on the very day Papa and Mamma Bushytail escaped, Johnnie and Billie had gone to play in the woods. They had their bows and arrows, but they did not shoot at each other, for they had become tired of playing soldier, and were pretending they were hunting bears. Well, all at once, just as Billie was aiming at a big stump (which was a make-believe bear, you know), what should happen but that two squirrels ran up to him. One of them hugged him from in front, and the other hugged him from in back. And then both of the big squirrels cried out:

  “Oh, it's Billie! It's our little Billie! Where is Johnnie?”

  Billie was so surprised he hardly knew what to do, but just then out ran Johnnie from behind a tree, and the two big squirrels hurried over to him, and hugged him with their paws until he could hardly breathe. And they exclaimed:

  “Oh, it's our dear little boy, Johnnie! How he has grown,” cried Papa Bushytail. “And so has Billie!” declared Mamma Bushytail. Then the two little squirrel boys knew their papa and mamma had come back to them.

  “Oh, mamma,” cried Johnnie. “We can jump! Grandpa Lightfoot taught us!”

  “And we found some Christmas nuts!” added Billie.

  “And we were shipwrecked!” went on Johnnie.

  “And I went up in a balloon,” continued Billie.

  “And we were lost and an owl hollered at us!” cried the two boys at once. “Oh, mamma and papa, how glad we are that you are home.”

  “Bless your dear little hearts, we are glad to get home,” said Papa Bushytail.

  “Now we'll go see grandpa and grandma and Jennie, and have a cup of oak-leaf tea, for we never had a bit in the cage.” Then the papa and mamma squirrels hugged their little boys again, as hard as ever they could, and they all hurried to the nest. So I shall have some more to tell you about what happened after that, if you are good, and I think to-morrow night the bedtime story will be about how Billie and Johnnie found a little sister.

  XIX

  BILLIE AND JOHNNIE'S SISTER

  WELL, you all happened to be good children to-day, or I couldn't tell you, now, how Billie and Johnnie Bushytail found a little sister, after their papa and mamma came back to them, escaping from the cage where the boy had them.

  It was this way: Grandpa and Grandma Lightfoot were so glad to see Mr. and Mrs. Bushytail back, that they hardly knew what to do. You can also imagine how delighted the two little boy squirrels were, to say nothing of Jennie Chipmunk, who smiled so-- well, I'm really afraid to tell you how much she smiled and laughed, she was so happy.

  “Now,” said Papa Bushytail, “we must get a nest of our own, for you boys have visited your grandparents long enough.”

  “Yes,” said Mamma Bushytail, “I shall be glad to go to housekeeping again. Boarding in that cage, with the wheel that went around so fast, did not please me at all. We must find a nest at once.”

  So, though Grandma and Grandpa Lightfoot would have been glad to keep the Bushytail family longer, it was decided that it would be best to live in separate nests, but not far away from each other. Papa Bushytail managed to find a nice home for his family in a hollow tree, lined with soft leaves and grass, which a squirrel had given up to go South for the winter. There Johnnie and Billie went to live, and the very first morning they awakened in their new home something very strange happened.

  Billie was the first to get up, but Johnnie was not far behind him, and as they looked out of the hole in the tree they heard a funny little noise on the ground. They looked down, but they couldn't see anything.

  “What was that?” asked Billie, and he sniffed the air and wiggled his little whiskers to see if he could discover any danger.

  “I don't know, unless it's Bully, the frog,” answered his brother.

  “Bully doesn't squeak that way,” said Billie. “I'm going down to see.”

  “Maybe it's an owl,” spoke Johnnie, “Better call grandpa--Oh, no, I mean papa,” he said quickly. You see he forgot for a moment that he was in his new home.

  “No, he's asleep yet; don't wake him up,” went on Billie. “Let's go down and see what it is,” and all the while the funny little squeaking noise kept up.

  So the two little squirrel boys scampered down the tree to the ground, and the noise kept getting louder and louder, until they could hear it quite plainly, and then they could tell that it came from a little bunch of leaves at the foot of the tree.

  “Who's there?” asked Billie, as bold as bold could be.

  “It's me,” answered the little squeaky voice, and what should come out of that bunch of leaves but the cunningest, nicest, darlingest little squirrel you ever say. Oh, it was just as nice as it could be! But, Oh! so little and shivery and trembling, and it was crying! Wasn't that too bad?

  “Who are you?” asked Johnnie, and he spoke very softly to the baby squirrel, for he didn't want to frighten it.

  “I am Sister Sallie,” replied the baby squirrel, and she stopped crying at once, because Johnnie's voice was so gentle, which shows that you should always be gentle to those smaller than you are.

  “How do you know your name is Sister Sallie?” asked Billie. “You are so little I shouldn't think you would know.”

  “Oh, yes, I know,” the baby squirrel said. “I was named that by a little girl when I was quite a baby. She was going through the woods, where I used to live, and eating peanuts, and she sang a little song that went: Hippity-hop to the barber shop To buy a lolly-pop-lally; One for me and one for thee And one for Sister Sallie.

  “And just then she dropped a peanut for me, and so I knew my name was Sister Sallie,” went on the little squirrel, drying her eyes. “My name's been that ever since.”

  “That isn't the way I learned that verse,” said Johnnie. “Besides, it was all an accident, anyway. The girl didn't mean you.”

  “Hush!” exclaimed Billie, who didn't want to hurt Sister Sallie's feelings. “Tell us how you came to be here all alone and why you are crying,” he went on.

  So the little squirrel told how her papa and mamma had become ill and died, and how she had no one to look after her, so she became an orphan just like Jennie Chipmunk. Then Billie and Johnnie felt very sorry for Sister Sallie. They ran right up to the nest and cried:

  “Mamma! Papa! We have found a little sister!”

  Wasn't that good of them? At first Mr. and Mrs. Bushytail were much surprised, but they took in little Sister Sallie, and gave her some nice, warm breakfast of nut pudding, and said she could always live with them, and be a sister to Johnnie and Billie. So that is how they found a little sister, and to- morrow night, if I do not have the toothache. you shall hear about Sister Sallie's doll.

  XX

  SISTER SALLIE'S DOLL

  I SUPPOSE some of you think I made a mistake about that verse Sister Sallie recited last night. Well, maybe I did, but you see it's very hard to get something to rhyme with Sallie and I think the baby squirrel did pretty well to remember lolly-pop-lally. You just try it yourself and see how hard it is. Except, maybe, alley, but you see there aren't any alleys in the woods, so that wouldn't do.

  That verse bothered Johnnie Bushytail a little bit, too, for he knew Sallie hadn't said the verse right, but the
n the little baby squirrel was such a darling that he didn't want to find fault with her.

  You can imagine how proud Johnnie and Billie were to have a little sister. Oh, how they loved her! and they used to steal in to look at her when she was asleep, and they made up their minds that they would never let anything hurt her, just as you boys do to your own real sister. Isn't it nice to have one? Nicer than anything else in the world, I think, except, maybe, to have a little brother, or maybe a big brother, for that matter, or a papa and a mamma and a grandpa and a grandma, and some uncles, aunts and cousins.

  “Now, boys,” said Mamma Bushytail to Johnnie and Billie one day, “I want you to take Sister Sallie out for a walk. Show her all around the woods, take her over to grandma's house and teach her how to jump and leap about.”

  “Come on, Sister Sallie!” cried Johnnie, and he and Billie each took hold of one of her cute little paws, and led her along.

  They had lots of fun in the woods, playing under the leaves, and, pretty soon, they came to grandma's house, where Jennie Chipmunk had just finished doing the dishes, and was singing away as hard as she could sing.

  “Well, well, whom have we here?” cried grandma, for she had heard about Sister Sallie, but had not seen her.

  So Johnnie told how they had found their little sister, and grandma gave them some slices of hot acorn bread with wild cherry jam on it, and oh! I just wish I had a piece now, it was so good.

  “Haven't you got a doll to play with?” asked Jennie Chipmunk, after a while.