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.