The Adventures of Bobby Coon

by Thornton W. Burgess

  But Bobby continued to threaten to fight whoever came near. You see,he couldn't understand what Farmer Brown's boy said, which was too bad,because it would have lifted a great load from his mind. So he didn'thave the least doubt that these were enemies and that they intendedto kill him. He didn't believe he had the least chance in the world toescape, but he bravely intended to fight the very best he could, justthe same. And this shows that Bobby possessed the right kind of aspirit. It shows that he wasn't a quitter. Furthermore, though no oneknew it but himself, Bobby had been badly hurt when that tree fell. Thefact is, one of Bobby's legs had been broken. Yet in spite of this, hemeant to fight. Yes, Sir, in spite of a broken leg, he had no intentionof giving up until he had to.

  Farmer Brown's boy swung his axe a few times and split the opening inthe hollow tree wider so that Bobby would have no trouble in gettingout. All the time Bobby snapped and snarled and gritted his teeth. ThenFarmer Brown's boy led Bowser the Hound off to one side and held him.Farmer Brown joined them, and then they waited. Bobby couldn't see them.It grew very still there in the Green Forest. Bobby didn't know justwhat to make of it. Could it be that he had frightened them away by hisfierceness? After awhile he began to think that this was so. He waitedjust as long as he could be patient and then poked his head out. No onewas to be seen, for Farmer Brown and his boy and Bowser the Hound werehidden by a little clump of hemlock-trees.

  Slowly and painfully Bobby climbed out That broken leg hurt dreadfully.It was one of his front legs, and of course he had to hold that paw up.That meant that he had to walk on three legs. This was bad enough, butwhen he started to climb a tree, he couldn't. With a broken leg, therewould be no more climbing for Bobby Coon. It was useless for him to lookfor another hollow tree. All he could do was to look for a hollow loginto which he could crawl.

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  Poor Bobby Coon! What should he do? What _could_ he do? For the firsttime his splendid courage deserted him. You see, he thought he was allalone there, and that no one saw him. So he just crouched right downthere at the foot of the tree he had started to climb, and whimpered. Hewas frightened and very, very miserable, was Bobby Coon, and he was ingreat pain.

  VII. BOBBY HAS A STRANGE JOURNEY

  Its funny how you'll often find That trouble's mostly in yourmind.

  |ITS a fact. More than three fourths of the troubles that worry peopleare not real troubles at all. They are all in the mind. They are thingsthat people are afraid are going to happen, and worry about until theyare sure they will happen,--and then they do not happen at all. Very,very often things that seem bad turn out to be blessings. All of us do agreat deal of worrying for nothing. I know I do. Bobby Coon did when hetook his strange journey which I am going to tell you about.

  Farmer Brown and Farmer Brown's boy and Bowser the Hound had watchedBobby crawl out of his ruined house and start off to seek a new home.Of course, they had seen right away that something was wrong with Bobby,for he walked on three legs and held the fourth one up.

  "The poor little chap," murmured Farmer Brown's boy pityingly. "Thatleg must have been hurt when the tree fell. I hope it isn't badly hurt.We'll wait a few minutes and see what he does."

  So they waited in their hiding-place and watched Bobby. They saw himgo to the foot of a tree as if to climb it. They saw him try and fail,because he couldn't climb with only three legs, and they saw him crouchdown then that Farmer Brown's boy was sure that Bobby's hurt was reallyserious.

  "We can't let that little fellow go to suffer and perhaps die," saidFarmer Brown's boy, and ran forward while Farmer Brown held Bowser.

  Bobby heard him coming and promptly faced about ready to fight bravely.When he got near enough, Farmer Brown's boy threw his coat over Bobbyand then, in spite of Bobby's frantic struggles, gathered him up andwrapped the coat about him so that he could neither bite nor scratch.Bobby was quite helpless.

  "I'm going to take him home, and when I've made him quite comfortable,I'll come back," cried Farmer Brown's boy.

  "All right," replied Farmer Brown, with a kindly twinkle in his eyes.

  So Farmer Brown's boy started for home, carrying Bobby as gently as hecould. Of course Bobby couldn't see where he was being taken, becausethat coat was over his head, and of course he hadn't understood a wordthat Farmer Brown's boy had said. But Bobby could imagine all sorts ofdreadful things, and he did. He was sure that when this journey endedthe very worst that could happen _would_ happen. He was quite hopeless,was Bobby Coon. He kept still because he had to. There was nothing elseto do.

  All the time he wondered where he was being taken. He was sure thatnever again would he see the Green Forest. His broken leg pained himdreadfully, but fear of what would happen when this strange journeyended made him almost forget the pain. It was the first time in all hislife that Bobby ever had journeyed anywhere save on his own four feet,and quite aside from his fear, it gave him a very queer feeling. He keptwishing it would end quickly, yet at the same time he didn't want it toend because of what he was sure would happen then.

  So through the Green Forest, then through the Old Orchard, and finallyacross the barnyard to the barn Bobby Coon was carried. It was thestrangest journey he ever had known and it was the most terrible, thoughit needn't have been if only he could have known the truth.

  VIII. FARMER BROWN'S BOY PLAYS DOCTOR

  No greater joy can one attain

  Than helping ease another's pain.

  |POOR Bobby Coon! His broken leg pained him a great deal, of course.Broken legs and arms always do pain. They hurt dreadfully when they arebroken, they hurt dreadfully after they are broken, and they hurt whilethey are mending. Among the little people of the Green Forest and theGreen Meadows, a broken leg or arm is a great deal worse than it is withus humans. We know how to fix the break so that Mother Nature may mendit and make the leg or arm as good as ever. But with the little peopleof the Green Forest and the Green Meadows, nothing of this sort ispossible, and very, very often a broken limb means an early death.You see, such a break will not mend properly, and the little suffererbecomes a cripple, and cripples cannot long escape their enemies.

  So, though he didn't know it at the time, it was a very lucky thingfor Bobby Coon that Farmer Brown's boy discovered that broken leg andwrapped him up in his coat and took him home. Bobby didn't think it waslucky. Oh, my, no! Bobby thought it was just the other way about. Yousee, he didn't know Farmer Brown's boy, except by sight. He didn't knowof his gentleness and tender heart. All he knew of men and boys was thatmost of them seemed to delight in hunting him, in frightening him andtrying to kill him. So all through that strange journey in the armsof armer Brown's boy, up to Farmer Brown's barn, Bobby was sure,absolutely sure, that he was being taken somewhere to be killed. Hedidn't have a doubt, not the least doubt, of it.

  When they reached the barn, Farmer Brown's boy put Bobby down verygently, but fastened him in the coat so that he couldn't get out. Thenhe went to the house and presently returned with some neat strips ofclean white cloth. Then he took out his knife and made very smooth twothin, flat sticks. When these suited him, he tied Bobby's hind legstogether so that he couldn't kick with them. Then he placed Bobby on hisside on a board and with a broad strip of cloth bound him to it in sucha way that Bobby couldn't move. All the time he talked to Bobby in thegentlest of voices and did his best not to hurt him.

  But Bobby couldn't understand, and to be wholly helpless, not to be ableto kick or scratch or bite, was the most dreadful feeling he ever hadknown. He was sure that something worse was about to happen. You see,he didn't know anything about doctors, and so of course he couldn't knowthat Farmer Brown's boy was playing doctor. Very, very gently FarmerBrown's boy felt of the broken leg. He brought the broken partstogether, and when he was sure that they just fitted, he bound them inplace on one of the thin, smooth, flat sticks with one of the stripsof clean white cloth. Then he put the other smooth flat stick above thebreak and wound the whole about with stri
ps of cloth so tightly thatthere was no chance for those two sticks to slip. That was so that thetwo parts of the broken bone in the leg would be held just where theybelonged until they could grow together. When it was done to suit him,he covered the outside with something very, very bitter and bad tasting.This was to keep Bobby from trying to tear off the cloth with his teeth.You see, he knew that if that leg was to become as good as ever it was,it must stay just as he had bound it until Old Mother Nature could healit.

  So Farmer Brown's boy played doctor, and a very gentle and kindly doctorhe was, for his heart was full of pity for poor Bobby Coon.

  IX. BOBBY IS MADE MUCH OF

  There's nothing like a stomach full

  To make the world seem brighter;

  To banish worry, drive out fear,

  And make the heart feel lighter.

  |WHILE Farmer Brown's boy was playing doctor and doing his best to fixBobby Coon's broken leg so that it would heal and be as good as ever,poor Bobby was wholly in despair, and nothing is more dreadful thanto be wholly in despair. There he was, perfectly helpless, for FarmerBrown's boy had bound him so that he couldn't move. You see, Bobbycouldn't understand what it all meant. If he could have understoodFarmer Brown's boy, it would have been very different. But he couldn't,and so his mind was all the time full of dreadful fear.

  When Farmer Brown's boy had bound that broken leg so that it would beheld firmly in place to heal, he made a comfortable bed in a deep boxout of which Bobby couldn't possibly climb with that broken leg. In thishe put Bobby very gently, after taking off the bands with which he hadbeen bound to the board while the broken leg was being fixed. Then hewent to the house and presently returned with more good things to eatthan Bobby had seen since cold weather began. These he put in the boxwith Bobby, and then left him alone.

  Now at first Bobby made up his mind that he wouldn't taste so much asa crumb. He would starve rather than live a prisoner, which was what hefelt himself to be. But his stomach was empty, the smell of those goodthings tickled his nose, and in spite of himself he began to nibble. Thefirst thing he knew he had filled his stomach, the first good meal hehad had for many weeks, because, you know, he had been asleep most ofthe winter.

  Right away Bobby felt sleepy. A full stomach, you know, almost alwaysmakes one feel sleepy. Then, too, Bobby was quite tired out with thefright and strange experience he had been through. So he curled up, andin no time at all he had forgotten all his troubles. And for days anddays Bobby slept most of the time. You see, he was finishing out thatlong winter sleep he was used to. And this, it happens, was the verybest thing in the world for Bobby. Being asleep, he wasn't tempted totry to pull off that bandage around the broken leg, and so the leg, hadjust the chance it needed to mend.

  Every day Farmer Brown's boy visited Bobby, just as a good doctor shouldvisit a patient, and looked carefully at the bandaged leg to make surethat it was as it should be. And whenever Farmer Brown's boy visitedBobby, he took some goody in his pocket to tempt Bobby's appetite, justas if it needed tempting! Bobby would wake up long enough to eat whathad been brought and then would go to sleep again, quite as if he wereall alone.

  As the weather grew warmer, Bobby grew more wakeful. Of course, he hadplenty of time in which to remember and to think. He remembered howdreadfully frightened he had been when Farmer Brown's boy had caught himand brought him to the barn, all because he had not really known FarmerBrown's boy. Now everything was different, so very, very different. Itwas a fact, an actual fact, that Bobby had learned to know the stepof Farmer Brown's boy, and when he heard it coming his way, he was astickled as once he would have been frightened. You see, Farmer Brown'sboy was very, very good to him and made so much of him that I am afraidhe was quite spoiling Bobby. Kindness had driven out fear from Bobby'smind, and in its place had come trust. It will do it every time, ifgiven a chance.

  X. BOBBY LONGS FOR THE GREEN FOREST

  |NOW though Bobby Coon was made a great deal of by Farmer Brown's boy,and was petted and stuffed with good things to eat until it was a wonderthat he wasn't made sick, he was really a prisoner. Excepting whenFarmer Brown's boy played with him in the house, he was fastened by along chain. You see, when at last the bandage was taken off, and the legwas found to have healed, Bobby was kept a prisoner that he might getthe full use of that leg once more before having to shift for himself.Day by day the strength came back to that leg until it was as good asever it had been, and still Bobby was kept a prisoner. The truth is,Farmer Brown's boy had grown so fond of Bobby that he couldn't bear tothink of parting with him.

  At first, Bobby hadn't minded in the least. It was fine to have all thegood things to eat he wanted without the trouble of hunting for them,things he never had had before and never could have in the Green Forest.It was fine to have a warm comfortable bed and not a thing in the worldto worry about. So for a time Bobby was quite content to be a prisoner.He didn't mind that chain at all, excepting when he wanted to poke hisinquisitive little nose into something he couldn't reach.

  But as sweet Mistress Spring awakened those who had slept the longwinter away--the trees and flowers and insects, and Old Mr. Toad andJohnny Chuck and Striped Chipmunk and all the rest--and as one afteranother the birds arrived from the sunny Southland, and Bobby heard themsinging and twittering, and watched them flying about, a great longingfor the Green Forest crept into his heart.

  At first he didn't really know what it was that he wanted. It simplymade him uneasy. He couldn't keep still. He walked back and forth, backand forth, at the length of his chain. He began to lose his appetite.Then one day Farmer Brown's boy brought him a fish for his dinner, andall in a flash Bobby knew what it was he wanted. He wanted to go back tothe Green Forest. He wanted to fish for himself in the Laughing Brook.He wanted to climb trees. He wanted to visit his old neighbors and seewhat they were doing. He wanted to hunt for bugs under old logs andaround old stumps. He wanted to hunt for nests being built, so thatlater he might steal the eggs from them. Yes, he did just this, I amsorry to say. Bobby is very fond of eggs, and he considers that he hasa perfect right to them if he is smart enough to find them. He wantedto be _free_--free to do what he pleased when he pleased and how hepleased. He wanted to go back home to the Green Forest.

  "Farmer Brown's boy has been very good to me, and I believe he would letme go if only I could tell him what I want," thought Bobby, "but I can'tmake him understand what I say any more than I can understand what hesays. What a great pity it is that we don't all speak the same language.Then we would all understand each other, and I don't believe we littlefolks of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows would be hunted so muchby these men creatures. There's nothing like common speech to make folksunderstand one another. I know Farmer Brown's boy would let me go if heonly knew; I _know_ he would."

  Bobby sat down where he could look over towards the Green Forest andsighed and sighed, and all the longing of his heart crept into his eyes.

  XI. THE HAPPIEST COON EVER

  As jolly Mr. Sun smiles down

  And makes the land all bright and fair

  So happiness within the heart

  Spreads joy and gladness everywhere.

  |NOW though Bobby Coon couldn't speak the language of Farmer Brown'sboy and so tell him how he longed to be free and go back to the GreenForest, he could and he did tell him in another way just what was inhis heart. He told him with his eyes, though he didn't know it. You knoweyes are sometimes called the windows of the soul. This means simplythat as you look out through your eyes and see all that is going onabout you, so others may sometimes look right in your eyes and see whatis going on within your mind. Eyes are very wonderful things, and agreat deal may be learned from them. Eyes will tell the truth when atongue is busy telling a wrong story. I guess you know how hard it iswhen you have done wrong to look mother straight in the face-and try tomake her believe that you haven't done
wrong. That is because your eyesare truthful.

  Looking straight into the eyes of fierce wild animals often will fillthem with fear. Trainers of lions and other dangerous animals know thisand do it a great deal. Fear will show in the eyes when it shows nowhereelse. It is the same with happiness and contentment. So it is withsorrow and worry. Just as a thermometer shows just how warm it is or howcold it is, so the eyes show our feelings. So when Bobby Coon sat downand gazed towards the Green Forest and wished that he could tell FarmerBrown's boy how he wanted to go back there, a look of longing grew andgrew in Bobby's eyes, and Farmer Brown's boy saw it. What is more, heunderstood it. His own eyes grew soft.

  "You poor little rascal," said he, "I believe you think you are aprisoner and that you want to go back home. Well, I guess there is noreason why you shouldn't now. I'm very fond of you, Bobby. Yes, I am.I'm so fond of you that I hate to have you go, and I guess that I'vekept you longer than was necessary. That leg of yours looks to me tobe as good as ever, so I really haven't an excuse for keeping you anylonger. I think we'll take a walk this afternoon."

  If Bobby could have understood what Farmer Brown's boy was saying, itwould have made him feel a great deal better. But he didn't understand,and so he continued to stare towards the Green Forest and grow more andmore homesick. After dinner, Farmer Brown's boy came out and took offthe collar and chain, and picked Bobby up in his arms. This time Bobbydidn't have his eyes covered as he did when he had been brought from theGreen Forest. Fear no longer made him want to bite and scratch. Throughthe Old Orchard straight to the Green Forest they went, and Bobby beganto grow excited. What was going to happen? What did it mean?