CHAPTER 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.