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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale of Jasper Jay, by Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tale of Jasper Jay
+       Tuck-Me-In Tales
+
+Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
+
+Release Date: June 15, 2007 [EBook #21836]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF JASPER JAY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Joe Longo and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Jasper, Like Frisky Squirrel, Was Fond of Nuts
+_Frontispiece_--(_Page 4_)]
+
+
+
+
+                   _TUCK-ME-IN TALES_
+
+                      THE TALE OF
+                      JASPER JAY
+
+                          BY
+                  ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
+
+                    [Illustration]
+
+
+                       NEW YORK
+                    GROSSET & DUNLAP
+                      PUBLISHERS
+
+          Made in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+                   Copyright, 1917, by
+                    GROSSET & DUNLAP
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ CHAPTER                         PAGE
+
+     I A NOISY ROGUE               1
+    II A BLOW FOR THE BULLY        6
+   III THE STRANGE CRY            12
+    IV JASPER'S BOAST             17
+     V THE SEARCH                 24
+    VI A JOKE ON JASPER JAY       29
+   VII SCARING THE HENS           34
+  VIII A BIT OF MISCHIEF          39
+    IX JASPER HAS TO HIDE         45
+     X THE NUTTING PARTY          51
+    XI A STROKE OF LUCK           57
+   XII SOLOMON OWL'S EYES         62
+  XIII TEASING A SINGER           68
+   XIV FINDING A WAY              73
+    XV THE INVITATION             78
+   XVI THE SINGING SOCIETY        83
+  XVII JASPER IS ASHAMED          88
+ XVIII ENEMIES                    94
+   XIX COLD FEET                  99
+    XX GETTING RID OF JASPER     104
+   XXI TWO RASCALS CAUGHT        109
+
+
+
+
+THE TALE OF JASPER JAY
+
+I
+
+A NOISY ROGUE
+
+
+Some of the feathered folk in Pleasant Valley said that old Mr. Crow was
+the noisiest person in the neighborhood. But they must have forgotten
+all about Mr. Crow's knavish cousin, Jasper Jay. And it was not only in
+summer, either, that Jasper's shrieks and laughter woke the echoes.
+Since it was his habit to spend his winters right there in Farmer
+Green's young pines, near the foot of Blue Mountain, on many a cold
+morning Jasper's ear-splitting "_Jay! jay!_" rang out on the frosty
+air.
+
+At that season Jasper often visited the farm buildings, in the hope of
+finding a few kernels of corn scattered about the door of the corn-crib.
+But it seemed to make little difference to him whether he found food
+there or not. If he caught the cat out of doors he had good sport
+teasing her. And he always enjoyed that.
+
+Jasper was a bold rowdy--but handsome. And Farmer Green liked to look
+out of the window early on a bleak morning and see him in his bright
+blue suit frisking in and out of the bare trees. Still, Farmer Green
+knew well enough that Jasper Jay was a rogue.
+
+"He reminds me of a bad boy," Johnnie Green's father said one day. "He's
+mischievous and destructive; and he's forever screeching and whistling.
+But there's something about him that I can't help liking.... Maybe it's
+because he always has such a good time."
+
+"He steals birds' eggs in summer," Johnnie Green remarked.
+
+"I've known boys to do that," his father answered. And Johnnie said
+nothing more just then. Perhaps he was too busy watching Jasper Jay, who
+had flown into the orchard and was already breakfasting on frozen
+apples, which hung here and there upon the trees.
+
+When warm weather came, the rogue Jasper fared better. Then there were
+insects and fruit for him. And though Jasper took his full share of
+Farmer Green's strawberries, currants and blackberries, he did him no
+small service by devouring moths that would have harmed the grapes.
+
+But in the fall Jasper scorned almost any food except nuts, which he
+liked more than anything else--that is, if their shells were not too
+thick. Beechnuts and chestnuts and acorns suited him well. And he was
+very skilful in opening them. He would grasp a nut firmly with his feet
+and split it with his strong bill. Johnnie Green could not crack a
+butternut with his father's hammer more quickly than Jasper could reach
+the inside of a sweet beechnut.
+
+Though Jasper hated to spend any of his time during the nutting season
+by doing much else except _eat_, he was so fond of nuts that he always
+hid away as many as he could in cracks and crevices, and buried them
+under the fallen leaves.
+
+You see, he was like Frisky Squirrel in that. He believed in storing
+nuts for the winter. But since he had no hollow tree in which to put
+them, it was only natural that he never succeeded in finding every one
+of his carefully hidden nuts. He left them in so many different places
+that he couldn't remember them all. Those that he lost in that fashion
+often took root and grew into trees. And so Jasper Jay helped Farmer
+Green in more ways than one.
+
+But no doubt Jasper would have shrieked with laughter had anybody
+suggested such an idea to him.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+A BLOW FOR THE BULLY
+
+
+JASPER JAY had some queer notions in his head. One of them was that a
+person couldn't be happy unless he was making a great deal of noise. And
+if there was anything that roused Jasper's wrath, it was the sight of
+some quiet, modest little neighbor who minded his own affairs and had
+little to say.
+
+There was one such chap who made his home in a wild grapevine that grew
+upon the stone wall in front of the farmhouse. His name was Mr. Chippy;
+and he was never known to do anybody the least bit of harm. On the
+contrary, he was quite helpful to Farmer Green's wife, for he went to
+the farmhouse almost every day and cleared the crumbs off the kitchen
+doorstep.
+
+But Jasper Jay complained that Mr. Chippy was altogether too humble.
+
+"He never says anything except '_Chip, chip, chip, chip_,'" Jasper often
+remarked. "And his voice is so high and thin that anybody would think he
+was a little old lady, to hear him. He's too quiet to get on in the
+world. And as for a good time, I don't believe he ever had one in all
+his life."
+
+Jasper said a good many other unpleasant things about mild Mr. Chippy.
+And one day when the saucy rascal had nothing better to do he flew over
+to the stone wall just to talk to Mr. Chippy and tell him what he
+thought of him.
+
+"Hi there, red-head!" Jasper Jay shouted. "Come out here on the wall! I
+want to see you."
+
+Mr. Chippy thrust his chestnut crowned head through the leaves of the
+wild grapevine. And one could hardly say that he looked pleased. Like
+most people, he was not overjoyed by Jasper Jay's visits. But he crept
+on top of the stone wall and _chipped_ a how-dy-do to his caller.
+
+"That's no way to greet anybody!" cried Jasper Jay, rudely. "If you want
+to make a person feel that he is welcome you ought to speak up good and
+loud--and slap him on the back. And you must look happy, too."
+
+Little Mr. Chippy smiled faintly.
+
+But Jasper Jay was not satisfied.
+
+"You don't look happy!" he scoffed. "You appear as if you had a pain
+somewhere.... Come, now! Let me hear you give a hearty laugh!"
+
+If Mr. Chippy had known that his caller was going to be so rude he would
+have stayed hidden in the wild grapevine. And now he wished that Jasper
+would go away and leave him in peace. As for laughing, he saw nothing at
+all to laugh at.
+
+"You'd better do as I tell you!" Jasper Jay warned him. And he raised
+his crest and stamped angrily upon the stone wall. "You're altogether
+too _quiet_. I want you to laugh _loud_.
+
+"You're going to be happy, if I have to break every bone in your body,"
+Jasper added.
+
+Naturally, that threat did not help little Mr. Chippy to laugh. Instead,
+he looked quite worried. He knew that Jasper Jay was a bully. And there
+was no telling what he might do to anyone so small as Mr. Chippy was. So
+he tried his best to please Jasper. But he was so upset that he could
+manage only a feeble "_Chip, chip, chip, chip!_"
+
+"That'll never do," Jasper told him.
+
+"Maybe this will, then," said Mr. Chippy, quietly. And darting at Jasper
+Jay, he knocked him off the stone wall before Jasper knew what was
+happening.
+
+Jasper Jay was furious. He scrambled quickly back upon the wall. But Mr.
+Chippy had vanished. He had dived under the cover of the grapevine and
+hid in a chink between the stones, where Jasper could not find him.
+
+"I declare--" said Jasper Jay at last--"I declare, he's got away from
+me!" And so Jasper went off, shaking his head. He had never supposed
+that mild Mr. Chippy would dare do anything so bold as to knock anybody
+off a stone wall.
+
+It is plain that Jasper Jay had never learned that one can be brave
+without boasting. And as he flew off across the road toward the river,
+Jasper thought he heard a peculiar noise from the depths of the wild
+grapevine.
+
+It was only Mr. Chippy, chuckling to himself. For Jasper had made him
+quite happy, after all--though not exactly in the way that the
+blue-coated bully had intended.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE STRANGE CRY
+
+
+AS you may already know, Jasper Jay was a vain fellow. And it was not
+only of his brilliant blue suit that he was proud. He was greatly
+pleased with his own voice, though many of the feathered folk thought it
+harsh and disagreeable. But, that, perhaps, was because they seldom or
+never heard Jasper's sweeter, flute-like notes, or the soft, low chatter
+which he kept for his most intimate friends.
+
+What most of his acquaintances knew and disliked was Jasper's noisy
+"_Jay! jay!_" But even that discordant cry suited Jasper very well. And
+he often boasted that there wasn't another bird in Pleasant Valley that
+could make a greater racket than he.
+
+To be sure, there was Jasper's cousin, old Mr. Crow. His "_Caw, caw_"
+could be heard half a mile away, if the wind was right. But Jasper Jay
+always insisted that his own voice was much stronger than Mr. Crow's.
+And nobody troubled himself to dispute Jasper's claim.
+
+So Jasper Jay had little to worry about until at last something happened
+that made him feel quite uneasy. It was almost noon on a hot summer's
+day; and Jasper was resting amid the shade of a big beech tree on the
+edge of the woods, where he could look across the meadow and watch
+Farmer Green and his boy Johnnie and the hired-man at work in the
+hayfield. Jasper was just thinking how much pleasanter was his own
+carefree life than theirs when a long, loud call blared across the
+meadow. He had never heard that cry before; and he raised himself on
+tiptoe, listening intently as the sound echoed back and forth across the
+valley.
+
+Though Jasper stayed quite still for some time, waiting to hear the cry
+again, it was not repeated.
+
+"I'd like to know what sort of bird that was!" he said to himself at
+last. "If he stays in this neighborhood I'll have to drive him away, for
+his voice is certainly louder than mine. And I wouldn't let him come
+here and insult me like that."
+
+All the afternoon Jasper Jay flew up and down the length of Pleasant
+Valley and back and forth across it, hunting for the strange bird with
+the loud voice. But he met no newcomer at all.
+
+Jasper had almost decided that the stranger had merely been passing
+through the valley. He certainly hoped that such was the case, because
+he had no way of telling how big the unknown might be. If he were as
+large as his voice, driving him away might prove no joke for Jasper.
+
+By nightfall Jasper began to feel less anxious. To be sure, he dreamed
+that he met an enormous bird on the top of Blue Mountain, who chased him
+all the way around the world. And when he awoke just before daybreak he
+was still frightened, until he remembered that it was only a dream.
+
+"It must have been that fuzzy caterpillar that I ate just before I went
+to bed," he thought.
+
+Jasper was himself again all the morning. He had a good deal of fun
+teasing a kitten which had lost itself behind Farmer Green's barn. And
+he drove Jolly Robin's wife almost frantic by hiding in the orchard and
+whistling like a hawk. And then, at midday, his fun was spoiled. That
+strange scream smote his ears once more. And Jasper trembled both with
+rage and fear.
+
+He knew then that the stranger was still in the valley.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+JASPER'S BOAST
+
+
+JASPER JAY had said nothing to anyone concerning the horrid call, which
+had sounded twice--each time at midday. But now that he felt sure the
+strange bird whose cry he had heard must have come to live in Pleasant
+Valley, he could no longer keep from mentioning the matter.
+
+Chancing to meet his cousin, Mr. Crow, the next morning, Jasper stopped
+to talk with the old gentleman. You see, Mr. Crow was widely known as a
+gossip. He usually knew what was going on in the neighborhood. So Jasper
+thought it likely that Mr. Crow could tell him all about the unwelcome
+stranger. "Perhaps," he thought, "the old scamp has already seen him."
+
+Of course, Jasper never termed his cousin a scamp to his face. He always
+spoke to him very politely, greeting him as "Mr. Crow," in spite of
+their close relationship. And there was a reason why Jasper did that.
+Mr. Crow had once given him a severe beating because Jasper had called
+him something else. And Jasper Jay never forgot it.
+
+Now Jasper first inquired after his cousin's health. He did that to put
+old Mr. Crow in a good humor. But Jasper was sorry at once that he had
+started Mr. Crow to talking about his ills. It happened that the old
+gentleman was then suffering from gout, hay-fever and housemaid's knee.
+And he liked to talk about his ailments. Living all alone as he did, he
+had nobody to do his housework. And that, he complained, was the reason
+why his knee troubled him.
+
+Jasper Jay fidgeted about while Mr. Crow was telling him all that--and
+much more--concerning his troubles. Jasper really did not care to hear
+about them.
+
+"Yes! yes!" he exclaimed impatiently, for it seemed to him that old Mr.
+Crow never would stop talking about himself. "Now that we're having a
+good spell of weather you ought to begin to feel better. And what's the
+news, Mr. Crow? Have you heard of anything happening around here
+lately?"
+
+The old gentleman shook his head.
+
+"Things are quiet," he said.
+
+"Nobody left Pleasant Valley recently?" Jasper inquired.
+
+"Not that I've heard of," replied Mr. Crow.
+
+"_No strangers come here to live?_" Jasper asked him.
+
+"No one at all!" said Mr. Crow.
+
+"That's queer!" Jasper exclaimed. "I was sure I heard a new voice
+yesterday. And I heard it again to-day, too--at exactly the same time."
+
+"What did it sound like?" Mr. Crow wanted to know.
+
+So Jasper gave an imitation of the odd cry that had swept the valley.
+
+"It was quite loud and very unpleasant to hear," he remarked. "And
+whoever the stranger may be, if he's going to disturb me every noon like
+that when I'm having my midday rest I shall have to drive him out of the
+neighborhood."
+
+"It's almost noon now," said old Mr. Crow, cocking his eye at the sun.
+"Perhaps we'll hear the cry soon."
+
+The words were scarcely out of his bill when a far-reaching call caught
+the attention of the two cousins. It brought Jasper Jay to his tiptoes
+at once. And he craned his neck in an effort to catch a glimpse of the
+stranger who possessed such a powerful voice.
+
+"There it is!" Jasper cried. "There's the call again! Do you know what
+kind of bird makes that cry?"
+
+Something seemed to have stuck in Mr. Crow's throat. At least, he
+spluttered and choked and coughed. And he was quite unable to answer
+just then. But after the mountains had quit tossing the sound back and
+forth and all was quiet again he said:
+
+"No small bird could make a sound like that. And if you can drive him
+out of Pleasant Valley you're a better fighter than I ever supposed."
+
+Mr. Crow might have known that his remark would not please Jasper Jay.
+Jasper gave his cousin an angry glance; and he looked as if he would
+have liked to fight _him_. But he had suffered one beating by his
+elderly cousin. And he didn't care for another. So he only sneered
+openly. And then he screamed in a loud voice:
+
+"I'll find that noisy fellow and drive him out of Pleasant Valley, if it
+takes me all summer to do it!" And he raised his crest, and snapped his
+beak together, and stamped his feet, so that he looked very fierce
+indeed.
+
+But old Mr. Crow was not frightened in the least. He only smiled.
+
+"Let me know when you've driven the stranger away," he said.
+
+"Oh! you'll hear about it," Jasper Jay assured him. "It will be the most
+famous fight that will ever take place in this valley," he boasted. And
+then the two cousins parted. It did not put Jasper Jay in any better
+humor to hear Mr. Crow's hoarse _haw-haw_ echoing across the valley. Of
+course, Jasper did not know what he was laughing at. But that only
+served to make the blue-coated scamp all the more peevish.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE SEARCH
+
+
+AFTER telling Mr. Crow what he was going to do to the strange bird,
+which he had never seen, but only heard, Jasper Jay renewed his search
+for the unknown.
+
+There was not the slightest doubt in his mind that the stranger could
+out-scream him. And he knew he could never be happy so long as such a
+loud-voiced rival remained in the neighborhood.
+
+Jasper hoped, at least, that the newcomer was not too large.
+
+"He can't be very big, or I'd have found him before this," he reassured
+himself.
+
+Though he hunted far and wide, looking in hollow trees and in the tops
+of the tallest timber, as well as inside the densest thickets, Jasper
+could still find no trace of his enemy--for so he regarded the unknown
+bird.
+
+For several days he continued his unsuccessful search. And though that
+same strange cry enraged him each noon, he was quite at a loss to know
+where to look for its author. He asked a good many of the feathered folk
+if they had seen a stranger anywhere. But not one of them admitted that
+he had.... Jasper Jay thought it very odd.
+
+Meanwhile, he took special pains to dodge his cousin, old Mr. Crow,
+whenever he caught sight of him; for he remembered Mr. Crow's
+disagreeable remark. But the day finally came when Jasper met him face
+to face in the woods. And Mr. Crow called to him loudly to wait a
+moment.
+
+"I want to ask you," said the old gentleman, "whether you've found and
+driven away that stranger yet?" The old rogue's voice cracked as he
+spoke and he rocked back and forth as if he were much amused by
+something.
+
+"I haven't set eyes on him yet," Jasper replied somewhat coldly. "But
+I've heard him every noon. And I expect to find him pretty soon."
+
+"Have you looked for him around the farmhouse?" Mr. Crow inquired.
+
+"Why, no!" said Jasper. "I hadn't thought of his being there."
+
+"Then," said old Mr. Crow, "I'd go over there at once, if I were you.
+And I'd stay right there until noon. You won't have to wait more than
+three or four hours. And unless I'm much mistaken you'll find your
+search at an end...."
+
+"I hope--" he added--"I hope you won't get hurt when you fight the
+stranger."
+
+Now, it struck Jasper Jay that old Mr. Crow knew more about the strange
+bird with the loud voice than he was willing to tell. Anyhow, Mr. Crow
+looked very wise. And he croaked and smiled in a way that was most
+annoying. What he said about Jasper's not getting hurt made Jasper feel
+quite uneasy, too.
+
+"Won't you come with me?" he asked Mr. Crow very politely. To tell the
+truth, Jasper was worried. Now that he was about to meet the strange
+bird he began to be frightened. He did not like the thought of facing
+him alone.
+
+"I can't come now," said Mr. Crow, "because I'm going to be busy. But
+I'll join you on the barnyard fence a little before midday. Maybe I'll
+bring a friend or two along with me."
+
+"Good!" cried Jasper Jay. "That will be fine."
+
+So they said good-by. And Mr. Crow hurried off into the woods, for--as
+he said--he was going to be busy.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+A JOKE ON JASPER JAY
+
+
+WITH a loud squall of glee, Jasper Jay made off in the direction of the
+farm buildings. Now that he was going to have company, later, he felt
+much better. And he resolved to keep well hidden in the top of the great
+oak near Farmer Green's house, until the time came for Mr. Crow to
+arrive--and his friends, too, if he brought them.
+
+Jasper waited in the big oak for a long time. He saw no strange bird.
+And he was glad--because he did not want to meet him until Mr. Crow
+came.
+
+For once in his life Jasper kept quite still. He could see a kitten
+playing in the dooryard; and he would have liked to tease it. And there
+were the hens, too. Jasper smiled as he thought of the way they would
+scurry for shelter if he should cry out like a hawk. But he made no
+noise, for he was afraid the strange bird might be lurking about
+somewhere, ready to pounce upon him before Jasper knew what was
+happening.
+
+At last Jasper left his hiding place and flew beyond the barn, where he
+alighted on the fence, to meet Mr. Crow. And very promptly the old
+gentleman arrived. He brought ten of his relations with him, too--all
+noisy and unmannerly fellows. They were not the least bit timid, because
+they knew that Farmer Green and his son Johnnie and the hired-man were
+working in the hayfield, beyond the pasture.
+
+"Here we are!" cried Mr. Crow. "We've come to see you whip the person
+with the loud voice and drive him out of the valley." And all ten of his
+relations joined Mr. Crow in a loud, cackling laugh.
+
+"What's the joke?" asked Jasper Jay.
+
+"Oh, there's no joke at all--yet," said Mr. Crow. And he and his
+companions all laughed again. "Come around to the other side of the
+barn," Mr. Crow continued. "It's time for the stranger to screech, for
+it'll be noon before you know it."
+
+So they all moved to another part of the fence, from which they could
+see the farmhouse. And no sooner had they settled themselves comfortably
+than Farmer Green's wife came to the doorway and held a horn to her
+lips.
+
+Then came the loud blast that Jasper knew so well. He was so startled
+that he almost fell off the fence. But he was not frightened.
+
+He was very angry, however. For Mr. Crow and his friends began to jeer
+at him.
+
+"Fly at her!" cried Mr. Crow. "She's the bird that you're going to drive
+out of Pleasant Valley. And we all want to see you do it."
+
+It was very uncomfortable for Jasper Jay. He had mistaken the sound of
+the dinner-horn for the call of a strange bird. And he felt uncommonly
+foolish.
+
+Since he dared not attack Mr. Crow, especially when his ten relations
+were with him, there was nothing Jasper could do except give a loud,
+helpless scream of rage and hurry away toward the woods.
+
+"See those crows chasing that blue jay!" Farmer Green said to Johnnie,
+as they walked toward home. "Probably he's played some trick on them."
+
+But for once it was not Jasper who was guilty. It was old Mr. Crow
+himself who had played the trick. He had known from the first that Mrs.
+Green had bought a new dinner-horn, because the men were always late for
+dinner. Though how he discovered that fact is a mystery.
+
+Somehow, old Mr. Crow knew about everything that happened in Pleasant
+Valley. And now Jasper Jay had learned something more, too.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+SCARING THE HENS
+
+
+THERE was one sport of which Jasper Jay was over-fond. He loved to
+imitate the calls of other birds; and Jasper was such a good mimic that
+he often deceived his neighbors by his tricks.
+
+It was not pleasant for a sober, elderly bird-gentleman to come home at
+night from a hard day's work and have his wife accuse him of idling away
+his time.
+
+"You can't deny it--for I could hear you laughing in the woods!" she
+might say.
+
+And it was not always an easy task to convince her that what she had
+heard was nobody but that noisy rascal, Jasper Jay, playing a trick on
+her.
+
+Nor did Jasper limit his droll teasing to his own neighbors. Sometimes
+he hid in a tree near the farm buildings and frightened the hens by
+making a sound exactly like a certain red-shouldered hawk, who lived in
+the low woods along Black Creek, where frogs were plentiful. A fierce
+scream of "_Kee-you! kee-you!_" was quite enough to alarm an old hen
+with a big family of young chickens. Though she might know well enough
+that the red-shouldered hawk seldom made a meal of poultry, preferring
+frogs and field-mice above all other food, it was only natural that she
+shouldn't care to take any chances. The haste with which a nervous
+mother-hen called her family into the chicken house when she heard that
+cry of "_Kee-you! kee-you!_" always amused Jasper Jay, for he never
+tired of the game.
+
+Surprising as it may seem, now and then Jasper's hawk-call deceived even
+Farmer Green himself. And sometimes he would step into the kitchen and
+take his old gun off the hooks on the wall above the wide fireplace and
+hurry outside again in the hope of getting a shot at Mr. Hawk. It
+happened at last that in some way Mr. Red-shouldered Hawk heard of this
+trick of Jasper's. And that old gossip, Mr. Crow, warned Jasper Jay that
+he had better be careful.
+
+"Mr. Hawk says that you are giving him a bad name with Farmer Green,"
+Mr. Crow told Jasper one day. "Farmer Green calls him 'that old
+hen-hawk,' and, of course, it's not very pleasant for Mr. Hawk to have
+somebody looking for him with a gun. I know what the feeling is like,
+myself," said old Mr. Crow. "Believe me, it's enough to make one most
+uncomfortable!"
+
+But Jasper Jay only shrieked with laughter.
+
+"You'll sing a different song if Mr. Hawk catches you," Mr. Crow
+snapped.
+
+And that made Jasper Jay scream all the louder. Then he stopped laughing
+and said "_Caw! caw!_" in a husky voice so like Mr. Crow's own that the
+old gentleman spluttered and fumed and all but chased Jasper out of the
+woods where they were sitting at the time.
+
+They never did get along well together--old Mr. Crow and Jasper Jay.
+They were cousins, you know. But that fact did not help matters at all.
+Perhaps they knew too much about each other.
+
+"Don't worry about me!" said Jasper Jay at last.
+
+"Very well!" Mr. Crow replied stiffly. "But remember--I've warned you!"
+he croaked. And then he flew away to his nest in a tall elm, overlooking
+the cornfield.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+A BIT OF MISCHIEF
+
+
+JASPER JAY did not heed Mr. Crow's warning. When he learned that Mr.
+Red-shouldered Hawk was angry with him because he had imitated Mr.
+Hawk's fierce cry, "_Kee-you! kee-you!_" Jasper was more pleased with
+himself than ever. Scaring Farmer Green's hens with that piercing scream
+had been a good deal of fun. But making Mr. Hawk angry was still more.
+
+So Jasper Jay began to visit the farmyard even oftener than before. If
+the mother-hens, with their chicks, did not happen to be scratching in
+the barnyard, there was always sport of some sort to be had.
+
+One day when Jasper was on his way to Farmer Green's place, he happened
+to meet a blue jay friend of his known as Noisy Jake, because he was not
+very quiet. In fact, one could almost always hear his voice ringing
+through the woods.
+
+"You seem to be in a hurry," Noisy Jake bawled. "Where are you going?"
+
+"S-sh!" said Jasper. "I'm going to the farmyard to have some fun scaring
+the hens. But I don't want everybody to know it. Do you want to come
+along?"
+
+Noisy Jake promptly said he did. So the two rascals hurried across the
+pasture and over the meadow toward the farm buildings.
+
+"Now----" said Jasper Jay, when they had reached the farmyard--"now I'll
+hide in this oak here and you can hide in that one there." He pointed
+to a tree a little further from the chicken house than the one where he
+intended to perch. Naturally, it was not like Jasper Jay to give the
+best seat to anybody else.
+
+"What'll we do then?" Noisy Jake asked.
+
+"You see those hens," said Jasper. "I'm going to scream like Mr.
+Red-shouldered Hawk. And you'll laugh when the hens hurry their chicks
+out of the way.... If you want to, you may scream too--but not till
+after I have."
+
+Noisy Jake agreed to Jasper's plan. And he quickly disappeared among the
+branches of the oak to which Jasper had sent him.
+
+Then Jasper just had to stop and laugh to himself over the fright he was
+going to give the old hens. He was about to open his mouth to imitate
+the cry of Mr. Hawk when something happened that made him terrible
+angry.
+
+"_Kee-you! kee-you!_" The fierce scream rang out over the farmyard. And
+immediately the mother-hens called to their children, with frantic
+_clucks_, to run for their lives into the chicken house.
+
+Jasper Jay did not laugh at all over the way the chicks scurried out of
+sight.
+
+"Noisy Jake has played a mean trick on me!" he said to himself. "He went
+and screamed before it was his turn!"
+
+Since he didn't want to miss _all_ the fun, Jasper let out a
+blood-curdling "_Kee-you! kee-you!_" himself, just to hurry the last hen
+under cover. But, somehow, he had to confess to himself--though he
+wouldn't have admitted it to anybody else--he had to confess that Noisy
+Jake's cry sounded far more like Mr. Hawk's than did his own.
+
+Of course, that did not make Jasper feel any pleasanter. He wished he
+had not told Noisy Jake where he was going.
+
+"I'll punish him for his meddling!" Jasper exclaimed. And he flew
+straight for the tree where Noisy Jake had hidden.
+
+But Jasper did not reach the tree.
+
+"_Kee-you! kee-you!_" The cry came from above his head. And looking up,
+Jasper Jay saw Mr. Red-shouldered Hawk himself, dropping down like
+lightning out of the sky.
+
+Mr. Hawk paid not the slightest attention to the frightened hens and
+their chicks. He seemed to have eyes only for Jasper Jay. And on his
+proud, cruel face there was a look of anger that made Jasper wish he had
+never, never imitated Mr. Hawk's cry.
+
+He was sorry now, that he had not heeded Mr. Crow's warning. But his
+cousin, old Mr. Crow, was always looking solemn and croaking loudly
+about "trouble." It was no wonder that people paid little attention to
+what he said.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+JASPER HAS TO HIDE
+
+
+WHEN Jasper Jay looked up and saw Mr. Red-shouldered Hawk darting down
+upon him from above, he dodged to one side and screamed loudly for help.
+
+His friend Noisy Jake was known as a great fighter. And Jasper hoped
+that together they might be able to drive Mr. Hawk away.
+
+But he was disappointed. Noisy Jake did not appear. And there was a good
+reason why he did not. At that very moment he was flying off across the
+meadow as fast as his beautiful wings could carry him. He had seen Mr.
+Hawk circling above the barnyard. And he had lost no time in making his
+escape.
+
+But Jasper Jay knew nothing of all that. And when he found that there
+was no one to help him he was just as frightened as the hens had been.
+He knew that he was no match for Mr. Hawk. And he had no wish to make a
+meal for him. Jasper was quite willing to leave that pleasure to the
+frogs that splashed their time away along the banks of Black Creek.
+
+For a few moments Jasper ducked first one way and then another. He had
+several narrow escapes. And there's no telling what might have happened
+if he hadn't suddenly decided that he would follow the hens' example.
+
+So without even stopping to knock on the door he dashed into the chicken
+house and alighted on a roost in the darkest corner he could find.
+
+For two excellent reasons Mr. Red-shouldered Hawk did not follow him.
+First, he had always made it a rule never to go inside one of Farmer
+Green's buildings. And second, he happened to catch a glimpse of Farmer
+Green running into the house through the kitchen door.
+
+Mr. Hawk knew what that meant. Farmer Green was going for his gun! And
+so he winged his way swiftly toward Black Creek, hoping--as he
+went--that he had taught Jasper Jay a lesson.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile, there was a great uproar in the chicken house. But Farmer
+Green paid no attention to that--supposing, of course, that it was
+merely because of the fright the hawk had given the hens.
+
+For once there was more noise than even Jasper Jay liked. It appeared
+that there was a bold young rooster in the chicken house. And he
+objected to Jasper Jay's presence.
+
+"What do you mean by coming in here where you're not wanted?" he
+screamed. "Where are your manners?"
+
+Actually, Jasper Jay wondered what the rooster was talking about. Never
+having had any manners, Jasper didn't know the meaning of the word. And
+since he could not answer, he said nothing.
+
+"Stick your spurs into him and maybe he'll speak!" screeched a pert
+young hen.
+
+Jasper looked at the rooster then; and he saw that the brazen fellow
+wore long, sharp spurs upon his legs. They looked almost as wicked as
+Mr. Hawk's cruel talons.
+
+"Please," said Jasper, "I've come in to get out of the way of Mr. Hawk."
+
+"Ha!" cried the rooster. "Unless I'm mistaken you're the rogue that's
+always frightening the ladies by screaming like Mr. Hawk. So I don't
+see why you should object to his society."
+
+"I was only fooling," Jasper Jay whined. "I meant no harm, you know. Let
+me stay here a while and I promise you I won't bother the hens again."
+
+"I accept your apology, as well as your promise," the rooster replied
+with great dignity. And then he began crowing in a manner that was most
+annoying to Jasper Jay. It was the same as saying, "This rascal's afraid
+of me!"
+
+That was true, too. And that was what made the crowing sound so
+unpleasant in Jasper's ears.
+
+He left as soon as he dared show himself out of doors. And he sometimes
+remarked afterward that a chicken house wouldn't be a bad place to live
+in, after all, if it weren't for the roosters.
+
+"They boast too much," said Jasper Jay. "Nothing could induce me to
+listen to their silly crowing. And to tell the truth, I don't see how
+the hens manage to stand it."
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE NUTTING PARTY
+
+
+FOR a long time Jasper Jay had been waiting for something. It was fall;
+and he impatiently watched the tree-tops on the side of Blue Mountain
+change from their quiet summer green to hues of flaming gold and red.
+Though they were beautiful, to tell the truth Jasper did not in the
+least care what color a tree was. So long as it bore nuts, he was
+satisfied. And to him the turning leaves meant only that the autumn was
+lengthening--and the nuts were growing ripe.
+
+That was what Jasper Jay was waiting for. And as soon as the frosts came
+and burst open the prickly pods that covered the beechnuts he intended
+to lead the first nutting party of the season to the place where the
+beeches grew.
+
+Now, going a-nutting with a crowd is much more fun than gathering nuts
+alone. And Jasper usually preferred a nutting party of a dozen blue
+jays. Then he always had twelve times as much fun as he could have just
+by himself--because there was twelve times the noise.
+
+So on the very first day that the nuts were ready to be eaten Jasper Jay
+asked eleven friends to join him. As it happened, Jasper found a company
+of twelve waiting for him at the appointed time on the edge of the
+woods. Somehow, Noisy Jake (whom Jasper hadn't invited) had heard of the
+party. And he invited himself.
+
+Jasper was not at all pleased when he found that Noisy Jake intended to
+go a-nutting too. He had not yet forgiven that boisterous rowdy for not
+having warned him, when Mr. Red-shouldered Hawk was sailing about over
+Farmer Green's barnyard, and Jasper had to seek safety in the chicken
+house.
+
+Jasper gave Jake a cool nod and turned his back on him. But it would
+have taken a great deal more than that to hurt Noisy Jake's feelings.
+Indeed, he was so impudent that he immediately imitated Mr. Hawk's cry,
+"_Kee-you! kee-you!_"
+
+It gave Jasper a great start to hear that screech behind his back. He
+jumped into the air and alighted with his face toward Noisy Jake, having
+turned around while his feet were off the ground.
+
+Jake was laughing loudly at his own joke, while all the rest--except
+Jasper--squalled with delight.
+
+Jasper Jay thought for a moment that he would have to fight Jake on the
+spot. But he was in such a hurry to get to the place where the beeches
+grew that he decided to pay no more attention to the rude fellow.
+
+"Come on!" Jasper cried. "Follow me!" And he made for the beech grove at
+top speed, with the nutting party following close behind him.
+
+There was a great squawking and screaming and whistling as the nutting
+party flew into the tops of the beech trees and the nuts began rattling
+down upon the ground.
+
+But their fun did not last long. Another nutting party, led by Johnnie
+Green, arrived at the grove soon after them; and, of course, that put an
+end to their sport. They knew that boys not only whistled but threw
+stones as well.
+
+It was most disappointing. And Jasper and his friends were feeling quite
+peevish when Noisy Jake suddenly cried:
+
+"Let's go over to the oak woods! There are plenty of acorns there; and
+we can have lots of fun!"
+
+All the crowd--except Jasper Jay--shouted something that sounded like
+"Hurrah!" And before Jasper knew what was happening everybody had
+started for the oak woods. This time it was Noisy Jake that led the
+nutting party. And all Jasper could do was to follow with the others.
+
+He was no longer the leader. And he was very, very angry. It had been
+his party, in the first place. And there was Noisy Jake, whom he had not
+even invited to it, acting as if he were the one who should say what
+should--or shouldn't--be done.
+
+Jasper could see Jake talking with some of the others. And he couldn't
+help feeling that they were talking about _him_. Jake laughed loudly now
+and then; and although he was flying fast, he looked around
+occasionally, to make sure that the party was following him. Seeing that
+Jasper was the last of the procession, Jake shouted to him that he had
+better hurry, if he didn't want to be left behind.
+
+And that made Jasper Jay more indignant than ever.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+A STROKE OF LUCK
+
+
+JASPER'S fun would have been spoiled if he hadn't had a stroke of good
+fortune. Since he was no longer leading the nutting party he wanted to
+prevent his friends from following Noisy Jake to the place where the oak
+trees grew, to have an acorn hunt.
+
+It was no more than anybody could expect that Jasper should feel sulky.
+It had been his party in the first place. So, of course, he didn't enjoy
+seeing somebody else take the lead away from him. Most unhappy he was,
+as he hurried along the mountain-side, when he happened, all at once,
+to catch sight of a huge, grayish-brown figure, half hidden among some
+hemlock boughs. Jasper Jay knew right away that it was Mr. Solomon Owl.
+
+"Stop! stop!" Jasper cried to his friends. "Wait a bit! Here's some
+fun!"
+
+So the nutting party checked their flight and returned, while Jasper
+pointed out Solomon Owl's motionless form to them.
+
+They forgot all about the acorn hunt, for the time being, because there
+was nothing they liked better than teasing Solomon Owl--when there were
+enough of them. In case any of the blue-coated rascals met Mr. Owl
+alone, he was most polite to him, for Solomon was not only big and
+strong but he had sharp talons and a hooked beak.
+
+Those thirteen blue jays, however, knew that they had little to fear
+from the solemn old chap, so long as they kept out of reach of his
+claws.
+
+They began jeering at Solomon Owl. And some of them even tried to mock
+his queer cry, "_Whoo-whoo-too-whoo-too-o-o!_" The woods echoed with
+their hoots. And Noisy Jake shouted:
+
+"This is luck! Aren't you all glad I found him?"
+
+Now, of course, Jake had not found Solomon Owl. If it hadn't been for
+Jasper Jay no one would have known he was there. And Jasper was just
+about to remind Jake of his mistake when he happened to think of
+something that made him change his mind. It occurred to Jasper that if
+Noisy Jake wanted to think he was still the leader of the party perhaps
+it was just as well to let him. Jake always talked so much, in such a
+loud tone, that Solomon Owl would be sure to know him.
+
+And Jasper thought he could have plenty of fun himself, teasing Solomon
+and not saying a word. Then--so Jasper believed--then Solomon Owl
+wouldn't know that Jasper was in the party at all.
+
+You see, Johnnie Green was not the only person who held that Solomon Owl
+couldn't see in the daytime. Everybody knew that his big, round eyes
+were keen enough in the dark. But in the daylight he usually sat quite
+still in a tree and stared as if he saw nothing at all.
+
+Well, that was just what Solomon Owl was doing then. He said never a
+word. And he scarcely moved, except to turn his head helplessly now and
+then, and blink, while his tormentors flew as close to him as they dared
+and hooted loudly at him.
+
+Jasper and his friends made enough noise to scare even a bigger bird
+than Solomon Owl. And they said a good many rude things to him, too.
+
+"How are Farmer Green's chickens this fall?" Noisy Jake asked him in a
+loud voice, while Jasper Jay quietly amused himself by dropping hemlock
+seeds upon Solomon's head.
+
+Still Solomon Owl made no remarks at all. But he was thinking deeply.
+And though some people claimed that he was not nearly so wise as he
+looked, there were some things that he knew just as well as anyone else.
+
+But Jasper Jay was not aware of that.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+SOLOMON OWL'S EYES
+
+
+AFTER a while Jasper Jay saw that his friends were growing tired of
+teasing Solomon Owl. So he said to them suddenly, in what was for him a
+low voice, "Let's go hunt acorns now!" And he flew off with a pleased
+grin upon his face, for he hoped that he had made trouble for Noisy
+Jake. His friends all followed him, too, while Noisy Jake hurried on
+behind them, trying to overtake and pass Jasper Jay.
+
+But he never headed Jasper all the way to the oak woods. And Jasper had
+a good time there, making all the noise he pleased and eating so many
+acorns that he made himself almost ill.... If that isn't having a good
+time, then somebody must be mistaken.
+
+Now, it was quite natural for Jasper Jay to think that he had nothing to
+fear from Solomon Owl. To be sure, he had flown back and forth in front
+of Solomon's round, staring eyes; and he had dropped hemlock seeds upon
+Solomon's head. But he felt quite safe, because he was _sure_ Solomon
+Owl couldn't see him in the daylight. Furthermore, he had said hardly a
+word, so Solomon shouldn't know, from his voice, that Jasper was teasing
+him.
+
+When he met Solomon, therefore, right after sunset that same day, as
+Jasper was hurrying home from the oak woods to get his night's sleep and
+Solomon Owl was just starting out on his nightly wanderings, Jasper
+spoke boldly to the big, bulky fellow.
+
+"Good-evening, Mr. Owl!" said he. "I hope you're well, and that you had
+a good rest to-day."
+
+Solomon Owl turned his head in Jasper's direction and stared at him for
+a moment. And then he hooted long and loud.
+
+"I'm glad to know it," said Jasper--though he had no idea what Solomon
+Owl was saying.
+
+In spite of himself, Jasper began to feel a bit uneasy. There was
+something terrifying in Solomon's odd cry, especially when the dark was
+falling fast and Jasper Jay was still some distance from home.
+
+"Wait a moment, young fellow!" said Solomon Owl in a deep, hollow voice.
+"I've something to say to you. Weren't you roaming through the woods
+with a crowd of rowdies this afternoon?"
+
+Jasper Jay couldn't deny it. But he didn't want to admit it, either. So
+he said:
+
+"I believe Noisy Jake led a nutting party this way."
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Solomon Owl. "They didn't pick any hemlock seeds, I
+suppose?"
+
+"I'll ask them," Jasper Jay murmured. "And I'll let you know to-morrow."
+He turned away, because he didn't care to talk any longer. His voice was
+too faint. And his legs felt strangely weak. For Jasper Jay was
+thoroughly frightened.
+
+"Don't be in a hurry!" Solomon Owl's queer voice boomed. "Some people
+think I can't see in the daytime. But they're very much mistaken. And
+nobody ever dropped hemlock seeds on my head yet without my knowing it."
+
+Jasper Jay did not wait to hear anything more. He sprang into the air
+and tore off through the forest, just before Solomon Owl jumped.
+
+For a heavy gentleman who was big around the waist, Solomon Owl was
+surprisingly quick. But Jasper Jay was even quicker. And it was lucky
+for him that he left when he did, for Solomon felt very, very hungry. He
+had had nothing to eat since dawn.
+
+But he made his rush in vain. Missing Jasper Jay by a few inches, he
+crashed head foremost into a tree before he could stop. And the pain in
+the top of his head made him hoot at the top of his voice. Perhaps he
+was angry, too.
+
+Anyhow, to Jasper Jay the horrid cry sounded as if it were just behind
+him. He never knew before that he could fly so fast. And some of his
+friends, who saw a blue streak in the twilight, did not even recognize
+him.
+
+For several days afterward, Noisy Jake, whom Jasper passed in his
+headlong flight, talked about the blue lightning he had seen when he was
+going home from the nutting party. And since nobody could prove that he
+was mistaken, no one was so foolish as to dispute him.
+
+And that was the way that Jasper Jay learned something about Solomon
+Owl's eyes--and something about manners, too.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+TEASING A SINGER
+
+
+THOUGH there were many feathered folk in Pleasant Valley, Jasper Jay did
+not care to have much to do with any except his own family. Unless he
+had other business that was more urgent he was always ready to join a
+troop of noisy blue jays bent on some mischief. But if there were none
+of his own kind about, Jasper usually preferred to be alone.
+
+Strangely enough, Jasper did not even like to hear other birds singing.
+He claimed that their voices were altogether too sweet.
+
+"It's sickening to hear their songs," he used to say. "Somebody ought
+to put a stop to these concerts that we have to listen to all summer
+long." And he was always telling people that what he liked was a good,
+loud, jarring call, that you could hear without any trouble. "These
+soft, musical notes are all nonsense!" he declared.
+
+Jasper held it to be his duty, whenever he chanced to come across one of
+those forest concerts, to seat himself in a nearby tree and make as much
+noise as he could, in order to interrupt the singing.
+
+Of course, such actions on the part of Jasper Jay did not make the
+songsters of Pleasant Valley like him any better. But Jasper never
+minded that.
+
+"I shall keep right on interrupting these singing societies," he said,
+"until I've put an end to such nuisances."
+
+Naturally, that was only his way of looking at such matters. As for the
+other birds, they thought that the real nuisance was Jasper Jay.
+
+Now, one of the finest singers in the whole neighborhood was Buddy
+Brown-Thrasher. Though he belonged to the Pleasant Valley Singing
+Society, he sang so well that he usually preferred to sing by himself,
+instead of attending a singing party. Each morning and each evening he
+would seat himself in the topmost branches of a tree near the thicket
+where he lived; and there he would sing his favorite song over and over
+again.
+
+Often other birds some distance away would cease their own music just to
+enjoy his, for it was very beautiful. If a wooden Indian had roamed
+through the woods where Buddy Brown-Thrasher was singing, he would have
+stopped to listen. Nobody could have helped doing that.
+
+At least, nobody could have helped listening except Jasper Jay. In his
+opinion, Buddy Brown-Thrasher was the most annoying of all the feathered
+songsters. He often went out of his way to interrupt Buddy's
+evening-song. (In the morning Jasper was in too great a hurry for his
+breakfast to trouble himself in any such fashion.)
+
+Well, it is not surprising that Buddy Brown-Thrasher should be upset by
+Jasper Jay's provoking visits. It is scarcely pleasant, when you are
+singing your best notes in a tree-top, to have them suddenly spoiled by
+a harsh _jay, jay_, and to be mocked with boisterous laughter. The time
+came at last when Buddy Brown-Thrasher said he couldn't stand it any
+longer.
+
+"Something will have to be done!" he declared. So he put on his
+thinking-cap at once. Being a gentlemanly sort of person, he never once
+thought of _fighting_ Jasper Jay. But he felt sure that there must be
+some way to teach Jasper better manners. He knew, however, that there
+was no use of trying to reason with the rude fellow. If he had merely
+talked with Jasper, and asked him if he wouldn't please do differently,
+Buddy Brown-Thrasher would have received no more than a jeering shout in
+reply.
+
+Naturally, he hoped for something more satisfactory than that.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+FINDING A WAY
+
+
+"WHAT can you do?" the other feathered folk asked Buddy Brown-Thrasher,
+when he complained about Jasper Jay's rudeness in interrupting his
+singing. "You don't intend to _fight_ Jasper, do you?"
+
+"I think--" replied Buddy--"I think I can find a better way than that."
+And that was all he would say.
+
+As usual, Jasper came to Buddy Brown-Thrasher's thicket that evening and
+screamed his loudest, when Buddy began to sing. Again Buddy's
+evening-song was spoiled. And even before the noisy Jasper had left,
+Buddy Brown-Thrasher began to lay his plans for putting a stop to
+Jasper's unpleasant trick. By the time he fell asleep Buddy knew exactly
+what he was going to do the next day.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following morning Buddy Brown-Thrasher was up bright and early--even
+earlier than was his habit. And for once in his life he did not pause to
+sing his morning-song from his favorite perch in the tree-top. He did
+not even wait to have his breakfast, but flew straight to the clump of
+young pines where--as he knew--Jasper Jay made his home.
+
+It was so early in the morning that a gray light half veiled the
+mountains; and a white mist hung over the river. The Jay family was just
+beginning to awaken. And soon Buddy heard Jasper's harsh voice calling
+to some friend who lived a little distance away.
+
+Jasper was still somewhat sleepy. Though Buddy Brown-Thrasher could not
+see him, he could hear Jasper talking to his wife in a low tone, which
+was quite different from the noisy squawk that people at once thought of
+at the mere mention of Jasper Jay's name. And soon a few sweet,
+flute-like notes came floating out from Jasper's tree and fell upon the
+ears of Buddy Brown-Thrasher, where he lay snugly hidden among the
+boughs of a young pine.
+
+Buddy was delighted. You see, he was a real music-lover; and seldom had
+he heard any sound so beautiful as those rare notes of Jasper Jay's.
+
+"Bravo!" Buddy cried, without thinking what he was doing. And in the
+next instant Jasper Jay thrust a towsled head through the pine-needles
+that screened his sleeping-place.
+
+"Who's there?" he shouted in a hoarse and angry voice.
+
+Buddy Brown-Thrasher did not answer. He kept still as a mouse. And
+waited for some time--hoping to hear Jasper's sweet notes again--but he
+waited in vain.
+
+But Buddy had heard them once. And since it was for that very purpose
+that he had gone without both his breakfast and his morning-song, he was
+satisfied. He went home a little later, feeling well pleased, so far,
+with his plan for putting an end to Jasper Jay's rudeness.
+
+The first thing that Buddy Brown-Thrasher did then was to seek his
+favorite perch in the very top of his own special tree and sing a
+morning-song that was more joyous than ever. That was because he was
+happier than he had been for a long time--ever since Jasper Jay had been
+annoying him.
+
+When he had sung his song fourteen times, Buddy ate a hearty breakfast.
+Feeling as sprightly as he did, he found his appetite unusually keen.
+And when at last he had finished his meal he went straight off to make
+calls upon his friends.
+
+Now, it was no accident that all those upon whom Buddy Brown-Thrasher
+called that morning belonged to the Pleasant Valley Singing Society. You
+see, Buddy needed help in order to teach Jasper Jay a lesson. And as
+soon as his friends heard his plan, they all told him that it was a good
+one and that they would be glad to do what they could to teach Jasper
+Jay better manners.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+THE INVITATION
+
+
+THE morning was not gone before Jasper Jay had four callers. There was
+Bobbie Bobolink, Jolly Robin, Miss Kitty Catbird and Buddy
+Brown-Thrasher.
+
+Jasper Jay was surprised to see them, because it was seldom that anybody
+but his relations called on him. Of course, if one makes himself
+disagreeable--as Jasper generally did--people do not go out of their way
+to see him. But it was different with Jasper Jay's relations. Some of
+them were just as unmannerly and ill-bred as he was. When they came to
+see Jasper they were usually looking for a quarrel. And they always
+found what they were looking for at the house of their cousin, Jasper
+Jay.
+
+Naturally, he did not like to disappoint his own cousins. He had even
+been known to quarrel with his great-grandfather--which is something
+most people refuse flatly to do.
+
+"Are you hunting for trouble?" Jasper inquired, as he raised his crest
+and snapped his bill together, looking as fierce as he could.
+
+Such conduct was enough to frighten any lady. And it was no wonder that
+Jasper's actions--as well as his words--sent Miss Kitty Catbird into a
+flutter of alarm. Her companions, however, told her there was no danger.
+And Jolly Robin, who was a bold fellow, hopped forward to do the talking
+for the callers.
+
+"We're a committee," said he, "chosen to call on you and invite you to
+join the Pleasant Valley Singing Society."
+
+When he heard Jolly Robin's explanation, Jasper Jay laughed in his
+callers' faces.
+
+"I'm not musical," he said. "And people who get up early in the morning
+to sing before breakfast always amuse me. They're silly--that's what
+they are!" he cried.
+
+"Well, the Society wants you, all the same," Jolly insisted.
+
+Jasper Jay said nothing for a few moments. He was thinking. And it
+occurred to him, as he thought, that he could have a good deal of sport
+by joining the Society and spoiling its concerts. So he said at last:
+
+"I'll become a member of your Society on one condition."
+
+"What's that?" Jolly Robin inquired.
+
+"You must let me sing all I want to."
+
+Jolly Robin looked at his companions. And seeing that they all nodded
+their heads, he asked Jasper if he would promise to sing his best.
+
+Jasper Jay said promptly that he would. So Jolly told him that it was a
+bargain. "You shall come to our next meeting and make all the music you
+want to," he promised.
+
+So that was the way Jasper Jay became a member of the Pleasant Valley
+Singing Society.
+
+"When's your next meeting?" Jasper asked.
+
+"To-night, just before sunset!" Jolly replied. "We'll gather in the
+maple grove, near the sugar-house. And we'll look for you."
+
+"I'll be there without fail," Jasper Jay assured him.
+
+The committee left him then. And Jasper's unpleasant laughter rang in
+their ears for a long time afterward.
+
+But when he stopped laughing, Jasper decided to keep very still for the
+rest of the day. He wanted to save his voice for the concert at sunset.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+THE SINGING SOCIETY
+
+
+WHEN the members of the Pleasant Valley Singing Society gathered just
+before sunset in the maple grove, near the sugar-house (where Cuffy Bear
+first saw a man), they were glad to find that Jasper Jay was already
+there, waiting for them.
+
+Now, a smallish, cinnamon-colored young gentleman named Valentine Veery,
+who was a distant cousin of Jolly Robin's, was the singing leader. He
+had been chosen on account of his being able to sing both alto and
+soprano at the same time. And as soon as everybody had found a
+comfortable seat for himself, Valentine Veery said:
+
+"I'm glad to see we have a new member with us this evening; and I hope
+he will enjoy himself and sing his very best."
+
+Everybody looked at Jasper Jay. And you might think he would have felt
+the least bit uncomfortable. But he only laughed loudly and replied that
+if he didn't have a good time it wouldn't be _his_ fault.
+
+Then Valentine Veery bowed politely--which was more than Jasper Jay had
+done--and announced that "Good-night, Ladies!" would be the first song.
+
+So all the company began to sing, including Jasper Jay. Although he knew
+neither the words nor the music, he shrieked at the top of his voice.
+But they hadn't sung more than a few lines before the leader made them
+stop.
+
+"There's something wrong somewhere," said Valentine Veery. "Has anybody
+a cold in his head?"
+
+But everyone, including Jasper Jay, declared that he never was in better
+health in his life.
+
+"We'll try again, then," the leader told them.
+
+So they started once more. And once more Valentine Veery stopped them.
+
+"This is terrible!" he said with a shudder. "Who is it, please, that is
+off the key?"
+
+Nobody answered. But everybody looked at Jasper Jay again. And you would
+think that this time he certainly would have felt most uncomfortable.
+But he only grinned as if he were enjoying himself hugely.
+
+"We'll try the song just once more," little Mr. Veery told them. But it
+was no use. He stopped the singing quickly. "We can't go on like this,"
+he declared. "The only thing to be done is to let each member sing the
+song alone. And in that way we shall find out who's out of tune. We'll
+let our oldest member sing first, and the newest one last," he directed.
+
+So old Mr. Mockingbird, who was the first member of the Pleasant Valley
+Singing Society--and about the only one of his family in the
+neighborhood--sang the song in his best manner. And after him the others
+had their turn, until everybody had sung "Good-night, Ladies!" except
+the newest member of all.
+
+"Now--" said Valentine Veery--"now everyone must keep very still while
+we have the pleasure of listening to Jasper Jay."
+
+Of course, after hearing the song repeated so many times, Jasper
+couldn't help learning a little of it. He began to bellow "Good-night,
+Ladies!" in the harshest, most ear-splitting tones he knew. Some of his
+listeners hurriedly tucked their heads under their wings, to shut out
+the horrid sound. And as for Miss Kitty Catbird, she actually left the
+meeting and flew straight home, because she felt that she must scream if
+she stayed there any longer. Having a sensitive ear, she could not
+endure Jasper's rasping voice. In her opinion, it sounded more like a
+buzz saw than anything else.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+JASPER IS ASHAMED
+
+
+THE leader of the Singing Society stopped Jasper Jay's song as soon as
+he was able to. But Jolly Robin's cousin, Valentine Veery, found it no
+easy matter to silence Jasper Jay. Though he called to him several
+times, Jasper paid no attention to him, but continued to make all the
+noise he could. His notes had never sounded so loud and harsh
+before--but you must remember that Jasper had been saving his voice all
+day for this very occasion.
+
+At last Valentine Veery launched his small, cinnamon-colored body
+straight at Jasper Jay and gave him a sharp nudge with his wing. And at
+that Jasper stopped singing.
+
+"What's the matter?" he asked in an angry voice.
+
+"Matter?" said Valentine Veery. "Why, you're all wrong. You're not only
+twisting the words of the song, but you don't know the air at all. It's
+plain to see that it was you that made our concert sound so queerly."
+
+Jasper Jay jeered openly at the little leader.
+
+"The trouble--" said Jasper--"the real trouble is that you and your
+friends don't know this song. I'm the only one that can sing it
+correctly."
+
+Everybody exclaimed that Jasper was a ridiculous fellow.
+
+"The committee that invited me to come here told me that I might sing as
+much as I wanted to. And here you've gone and stopped me!" Jasper Jay
+complained.
+
+Then Buddy Brown-Thrasher cried out in a clear voice that Jasper wasn't
+trying his best, as he had promised the committee he would.
+
+"In fact," said Buddy, "I'm quite sure he's trying his _worst_."
+
+Jasper Jay looked quite fierce when he heard that remark.
+
+"It's not so--and you can't prove it!" he screamed.
+
+The little leader turned to Buddy Brown-Thrasher and said:
+
+"What have you to say to that?"
+
+This was what Buddy Brown-Thrasher had been waiting for.
+
+"I'd like to state," he announced, "that Jasper Jay can sing very
+well--when he wants to. He has always pretended that singing was silly.
+And you know what a nuisance he makes of himself spoiling a good song
+whenever he happens to hear one. Why, I've heard him sing beautifully!"
+
+"You never!" howled Jasper Jay.
+
+"Yes, I have--this very morning!" Buddy Brown-Thrasher retorted. "I was
+in the young pine woods where he lives and I heard Jasper sing to his
+wife--lovely, flute-like notes they were. But I can see that he's
+ashamed to admit it."
+
+Jasper Jay was so surprised that he opened and closed his bill several
+times without saying anything at all. It was not often that he was at a
+loss for words. And some of those present couldn't help smiling.
+
+Jasper noticed their amusement.
+
+"This is just a trick!" he squawked. "You invited me to your Singing
+Society to tease me!"
+
+As a matter of fact, his words were not far from the truth.
+
+"Let us hear your best notes, Jasper!" somebody called. And others
+cried, "Yes!" and "Please!" and "We're waiting!"
+
+But Jasper Jay would do nothing but stamp his feet and hop up and down
+and snap his bill together and scold. He made such a funny sight that
+the whole Singing Society began to laugh at him, until he flew away with
+one last frantic scream of rage.
+
+Then the Pleasant Valley Singing Society had one of the most enjoyable
+meetings it had ever held. And though Jasper Jay showed a very sulky
+face to everybody for several days, it was a long time before he spoiled
+any songs that he happened to hear. And he never annoyed Buddy
+Brown-Thrasher again.
+
+Morning and evening Buddy went to his favorite perch and sang to his
+heart's content.
+
+For Jasper Jay had learned a lesson at last.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+ENEMIES
+
+
+JASPER JAY was not the only bird that liked beechnuts. Reddy Woodpecker
+was fond of them, too. And when he saw that the beechnut crop was going
+to be a big one he decided that he would stay in Pleasant Valley all
+winter.
+
+Jasper and Reddy were not unlike in some other respects, too. Both were
+noisy, quarrelsome ruffians, who did not hesitate to steal and devour
+the eggs and young of other birds. Furthermore, both of them were
+gay-colored--but in a very different way. Jasper Jay always wore a
+brilliant blue suit, while Reddy Woodpecker made himself easily seen by
+donning a bright red cap, which came down to his shoulders and gave him
+an odd look. Being so much alike (as far as manners were concerned), the
+two quarreled whenever they met. And when Jasper Jay heard that Reddy
+had made up his mind to spend the winter in the North he was furious.
+
+"It's an outrage!" he declared to Jimmy Rabbit, who had told him about
+Reddy Woodpecker's plan. "He needn't think he can stay in this
+neighborhood and eat most of the nuts--for I know him and I know what he
+expects to do."
+
+Jimmy Rabbit saw at once that there was going to be some fun--for him.
+And he didn't want to miss any of it.
+
+"I suppose----" he said to Jasper--"I suppose you'd like to drive Reddy
+Woodpecker away from Pleasant Valley?"
+
+Jasper laughed hoarsely.
+
+"I'd not only _like_ to--I'm _going_ to!" he said.
+
+"How do you intend to do it?" Jimmy asked him.
+
+"I'll have to think a while before I decide," Jasper Jay replied.
+
+"You'll find it pretty difficult," Jimmy Rabbit said. "Let me arrange
+the matter for you! I'll promise you to put Reddy Woodpecker where he
+can't eat any beechnuts. And so long as I do that for you, I suppose you
+don't care what happens."
+
+"Certainly not!" said Jasper Jay. "Though, of course, if you could
+arrange things so I didn't have to _see_ Reddy I'd like that. His red
+cap is hideous. It's enough to make anybody ill, just to see it."
+
+"I think I can please you," said Jimmy Rabbit. "But you'll have to do
+exactly as I say, or my plan won't work."
+
+Now, Jasper Jay was really not at all eager to fight Reddy Woodpecker.
+Reddy had a very sharp bill, which was even longer than Jasper's, and
+just as strong. And Reddy could strike a powerful blow with his bill. So
+Jasper Jay was glad enough to accept help from a person like Jimmy
+Rabbit, who was always thinking of new schemes.
+
+"I'll leave everything to you," said Jasper.
+
+"Good!" cried Jimmy Rabbit. "And now you must wait right where I tell
+you to, while I go to find Reddy Woodpecker. Follow me!" he ordered.
+
+And Jasper Jay followed him, while Jimmy skipped briskly through the
+woods. He appeared to be looking for something. And at last he seemed to
+have found it, in a swampy hollow where water stood here and there in
+pools. Anyhow, he stopped beside a cedar tree and said to Jasper Jay:
+
+"You must stand beside this tree; and you mustn't stir out of your
+tracks."
+
+Jimmy Rabbit pointed out the exact spot where he wanted Jasper Jay to
+station himself. And since it happened that there was a puddle of water
+there, it was only to be expected that Jasper Jay should begin to
+grumble.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+COLD FEET
+
+
+YES! Jasper Jay looked sulky when Jimmy Rabbit told him to stand in the
+puddle of water, close beside the cedar tree.
+
+"How long do you want me to stay here?" Jasper growled. "I can tell you
+that it's not very pleasant to stand in a pool of water a great
+while--on a cold day like this."
+
+Now, all this happened quite late in the fall. And it was true that the
+day was a cold one. In fact, the weather seemed to be growing colder
+every minute.
+
+"I won't ask you to wait any longer than is necessary," said Jimmy
+Rabbit. "And if you want me to put Reddy Woodpecker where he can't eat
+any nuts, and you don't have to _see_ him, you must follow my
+directions.... When you're ill and go to Aunt Polly Woodchuck, the herb
+doctor, you always take her advice, don't you?"
+
+Jasper admitted that he did.
+
+"Well, then, you must do just as I say. You know, it always makes you
+ill to look at Reddy Woodpecker. And I'm going to cure you, if you'll
+only give me a chance."
+
+So Jasper Jay went and stood in the puddle. He screamed a good deal as
+he stepped into the cold water.
+
+"This is terrible!" he groaned. "Do hurry with your scheme, or I shall
+have a chill."
+
+"Remember! You're to keep absolutely still!" Jimmy Rabbit warned him.
+"You mustn't move and you mustn't talk. If you should, my plan would be
+spoiled; and then you would have to fight Reddy Woodpecker after all."
+
+"I pr-pr-promise!" said Jasper Jay. His bill was chattering so fast that
+he could hardly talk. And he was so cold that he looked uncommonly
+blue--even for a blue jay.
+
+So Jimmy Rabbit hopped away, feeling quite pleased with himself and his
+plan. If Jasper Jay could have seen him stop, as soon as he was out of
+sight, and roll over and over upon the ground and hold his shaking sides
+he might have wondered what Jimmy was laughing at. Certainly Jasper Jay
+could see no joke in standing still in a cold puddle on a frosty fall
+day.
+
+Well, after a time Jimmy Rabbit stopped rolling upon the ground and
+hurried straight to the place where the beeches grew. And there--as he
+had hoped to--he found Reddy Woodpecker, busily eating beechnuts.
+
+"How are the nuts this fall?" Jimmy Rabbit asked.
+
+"They couldn't be better!" said Reddy, stuffing his mouth as he spoke.
+
+"They say there's a big crop this year," Jimmy Rabbit observed.
+
+"Yes!" replied Reddy. "But it's none too big. In fact, there are too
+many people in this neighborhood that come here for nuts. I hope," he
+said, "that's not what you're looking for."
+
+Jimmy Rabbit laughed.
+
+"Certainly not!" he said. "I'm satisfied to leave the nuts for you and
+Jasper Jay to eat. I want none of them."
+
+"Jasper Jay!" screamed Reddy Woodpecker. "Don't mention that rowdy's
+name to me, please! He's the greediest of all! And he's so vain--so
+proud of that sky-blue suit of his--that I can't bear the sight of him.
+I wish I could put him where he couldn't eat any more of these
+beechnuts, and where I wouldn't have to look at him, either!"
+
+Of course, that was not at all an agreeable remark for him to make.
+
+But it seemed to please Jimmy Rabbit greatly.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+GETTING RID OF JASPER
+
+
+"HAVE you finished your meal?" Jimmy Rabbit asked Reddy Woodpecker, as
+they faced each other among the beech trees.
+
+"Well, no--I can't say I have," replied Reddy. "When I begin to eat
+beechnuts I never want to stop. It's something I can't help. And I've
+been told that Johnnie Green is just like that when he gets a taste of
+peanuts. You might say that I'll have only one meal all winter long. It
+started as soon as the beechnuts began to ripen; and it won't be ended
+until the last nut is gone."
+
+Jimmy Rabbit couldn't help smiling.
+
+"Anyhow, you can't be really hungry," he said. "And if you'll come with
+me and do just as I tell you, you'll find that Jasper Jay won't trouble
+you for a good, long time."
+
+"Wait a little while!" Reddy Woodpecker begged him. "I want to eat just
+a few more beechnuts; and then I'll come with you."
+
+"Hurry, then!" said Jimmy Rabbit. And he watched anxiously while Reddy
+Woodpecker broke open more beechnuts with his strong bill and greedily
+ate the sweet meats.
+
+"Come! come!" Jimmy Rabbit urged him.
+
+"Just one more!" Reddy pleaded.
+
+That happened several times, until at last Jimmy Rabbit said that he
+couldn't wait any longer, and that he was sorry, because he knew he
+could have helped Reddy in a way that would have pleased him.
+
+He started off then. And at that Reddy Woodpecker hurried after him.
+
+"I think I've eaten enough so I can manage to stay away from the
+beechnuts a short time," he said with a sigh. "But I hope you won't keep
+me long."
+
+"Everything depends on the weather," Jimmy Rabbit answered.
+
+But Reddy Woodpecker did not even hear him. His mind was too busy
+thinking of beechnuts to pay much attention to anything else.
+
+They travelled through the woods for some time, until they reached a
+low, swampy place. And as soon as they came to it Jimmy Rabbit whispered
+to Reddy Woodpecker that he must be very still.
+
+"Do exactly as I tell you," he ordered. "And don't even whisper to me,
+please! I'm going to show you where you must stand. Though the place
+may not be as dry as you might prefer, you'll have to follow my
+directions and say nothing--if you want to get rid of Jasper Jay."
+
+"I promise--" said Reddy Woodpecker--"but I wish I had brought along a
+few beechnuts in my pocket. Just wait a moment!" he added. "Let me see
+if I haven't some nuts somewhere that I've forgotten."
+
+So Jimmy Rabbit waited while Reddy hunted in all his pockets. He turned
+every one of them inside out. And since he had fifteen pockets, and he
+had to turn them all back again, and replace their contents, the
+proceeding consumed a good deal of time.
+
+Jimmy Rabbit grew very impatient. He kept urging Reddy Woodpecker to
+make haste. But Reddy told him that if he hurried too much he might
+overlook a beechnut. So he took his own time.
+
+But the search was all in vain. Not a single nut did he find.
+
+Then Jimmy Rabbit led him silently to a great cedar tree and bade him
+stand behind it and keep perfectly still.
+
+Reddy made a wry face when he saw that he must put his feet in a deep
+puddle of water. But he obeyed, all the same.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+TWO RASCALS CAUGHT
+
+
+THE moment Reddy Woodpecker stepped into the cold water he wanted to say
+"Ouch!" But Jimmy Rabbit put a finger on his mouth--meaning that Reddy
+must be still as a mouse.
+
+So the red-capped scamp managed to keep quiet, though it was such hard
+work that he began to feel terribly hungry. Jimmy Rabbit watched him for
+a short time, smiling and nodding his head, as if to say:
+
+"That's right! Just do as I say and all will be well." And then he waved
+a sort of farewell, before he disappeared.
+
+Though Reddy did not know it, Jimmy Rabbit stopped as soon as he was out
+of sight and crept behind a bush, from which hiding-place he could watch
+the cedar tree, without being seen by the two beechnut lovers who stood
+so still beside it--for there was Jasper Jay, standing in a puddle on
+one side of the big tree, and there was Reddy Woodpecker, standing in
+another puddle on the opposite side of the tree!
+
+And neither of them knew that the other was anywhere around!
+
+But there was one thing that they knew quite well: the water was almost
+colder than they could bear, at first. If their feet hadn't grown numb,
+after a time, so that there was no feeling in them at all, they wouldn't
+have been able to stand there so still and so long.
+
+They both wondered where Jimmy Rabbit was, and what he was doing, and
+why he didn't come back.
+
+But Jimmy Rabbit was waiting for something. As he had told Reddy
+Woodpecker, everything depended on the weather. Though the air was
+becoming sharper every minute, it was not yet cold enough to suit Jimmy
+Rabbit. What he wanted was _freezing_ weather. And at last he was
+satisfied. When the sun hid itself behind a bank of clouds the ground
+began to stiffen with frost, which covered all the puddles and pools
+with a coating of ice.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was almost dark when Jimmy Rabbit left the shelter of his bush and
+danced up and down to get warm. Soon he came with a hop, skip and a jump
+to the big cedar tree.
+
+"How are you?" he called.
+
+And two very sulky voices answered:
+
+"I'm cold--that's how I am!"
+
+"Well, why don't you dance around and get warm?" Jimmy asked.
+
+But both Reddy Woodpecker and Jasper Jay were caught fast by their feet
+in the frozen puddles. And as soon as they tried to move they began to
+squall loudly--because they were so frightened. They could no more have
+danced than the old cedar tree could have pulled up its roots and
+capered about in the forest. So far as they could see, they might as
+well have stepped into any of the traps that Johnnie Green set for Peter
+Mink.
+
+It was no wonder that they were alarmed--no wonder that they struggled
+to free themselves.
+
+"You seem to like to stay by that tree," said Jimmy Rabbit.
+
+Now, since Jasper and Reddy had wanted exactly the same things to
+happen, and since they were now in the same fix, Jimmy Rabbit could
+talk to them both at the same time. What he said to one fitted the other
+just as well.
+
+Of course, that made it very easy for Jimmy Rabbit.
+
+But it was rather hard on Reddy Woodpecker and Jasper Jay.
+
+"_Jay! jay!_" screamed Jasper in a rasping voice, like a saw biting into
+a log. "_Ker-r-ruck! ker-r-ruck!_" sounded Reddy's rolling call. And
+they began to scold Jimmy Rabbit, until he put his paws over his ears
+and ran away.
+
+If it hadn't been for Reddy Woodpecker's strong bill they might have
+stayed in the cedar swamp all winter. But he set to work and soon
+chopped himself free. Then he helped Jasper Jay. And before it was dark
+they flew away together and went straight to the beechnut grove, where
+they ate a huge meal of beechnuts, without having a single dispute about
+anything.
+
+On the contrary, they agreed perfectly in every way. Especially they
+agreed that Jimmy Rabbit was a busybody and that somebody ought to teach
+him better manners.
+
+"I'd be glad to help you do that," said Jasper Jay.
+
+It was actually funny that two such rowdies should talk of another's bad
+manners. But no doubt such an idea never entered their heads.
+
+THE END
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The HONEY BUNCH BOOKS
+
+_by_ HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE
+
+_For Little Girls From 4 to 8 Years Old_
+
+"Honey Bunch" is a dainty, thoughtful little girl who keeps you
+wondering just what she is going to do next. Little girls everywhere
+will want to discover what interesting experiences she is having
+wherever she goes.
+
+_Delightfully Illustrated_
+
+  HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST AUTO TOUR
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP ON THE OCEAN
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP WEST
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST SUMMER ON AN ISLAND
+  HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST TRIP IN AN AIRPLANE
+
+GROSSET & DUNLAP -:- _Publishers_ -:- NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Jasper Jay, by Arthur Scott Bailey
+
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