The Tale of Billy Woodchuck Part 8

As soon as Mrs. Woodchuck had finished her meal of plantain leaves, Billy reminded her that she had promised to look at his play-house.

She followed him through the front door that he had made, walked to the end of the tunnel, and into the tiny chamber.

Once inside that room Mrs. Woodchuck took one quick look all around. And then she turned and ran out as fast as her short legs would carry her, calling all the time to Billy to hurry. When she reached the open air Mrs. Woodchuck had to sit down and fan herself, she was so excited.

"Why did you come out so soon--and so fast?" Billy asked her.

"That's nothing but a trap," his mother said. "You haven't built any back door. And if a weasel or a mink or a snake should come in after you, there you'd be, with no way to escape.... I haven't had such a fright for years."

Billy Woodchuck looked foolish. He had never once thought about a back door. But after that he never forgot to build one. He saw that a back door was something that every house ought to have.

XVII

BILLY BRINGS THE DOCTOR

Billy Woodchuck was alarmed. His mother had come home very ill. At least, that was what Billy thought. It was a warm summer's day; but Mrs. Woodchuck seemed to be freezing with cold. Her teeth chattered so hard that the sound filled the whole house. And when Billy asked her what was the matter with her she did not say a word.

Then he was sure she was ill. For she was a great talker. This was the first time he had ever seen her when she could not speak.

Now, Mr. Woodchuck was not at home. And none of the children knew what to do. So Billy left the house and hurried over to find Aunt Polly Woodchuck--an old lady who was a famous herb doctor.

Woodchucks for miles around came to see her when they were not feeling well. And she would give them a peppermint leaf to chew, or some tansy, or maybe a drink of catnip tea. And everybody said that her medicines never did anyone a bit of harm.

Luckily, Billy found Aunt Polly at home. And he quickly told her about his mother.

"You say her teeth chatter?" the old lady asked.

"Yes, Aunt Polly!"

"Do they make a clattering noise?"

"Yes, Aunt Polly!"

Aunt Polly Woodchuck nodded her head wisely.

"I thought so," she said. "It sounds to me like chills-and-fever.

I'll go right back with you and see what I can do to help her."

So Aunt Polly and Billy started off together. Though he carried her basket of herbs, they could not go very fast, for the dear old lady was half blind.

But at last they reached Billy's home. And there they found his mother, sweeping the floor as spryly as if she had never known a sick day in her whole life.

"I see you're feeling better," said Aunt Polly. "Your son told me you were ill and I came right over."

Mrs. Woodchuck thanked her. And then she sent all the children out to play. As soon as they had left the room she said to Aunt Polly:

"I wasn't ill at all. I am ashamed to say that I was just angry.

And since you are a near relation of ours, I'll tell you the reason. I'll tell you what happened.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Billy Carried Her Basket of Herbs]

"Yesterday Johnnie Green dropped a big stone through our front door. It almost filled the end of my hall, so I could hardly squeeze past it. And this morning I asked Mr. Woodchuck to help me dig around the stone. But he said his rheumatism was so bad that he couldn't do a bit of work. And then he went off and stayed away all the rest of the day.

"After I had done the work myself I went out to get a little fresh air and a bite to eat. And over in the meadow, what do you suppose I saw? There was a baseball game going on. And Mr. Woodchuck was playing so hard that he never noticed me at all.... Do you wonder I was angry?"

Old Aunt Polly said it was a shame. And she found a bit of celery in her basket, which she gave to Billy's mother.

"Just eat that!" Aunt Polly said. "It's good for the nerves."

Mrs. Woodchuck thanked her again.

"I wish you could give my husband something that would make him work," she said.

But for once old Aunt Polly Woodchuck didn't have the right sort of medicine.

"Laziness," she said, "is terribly hard to cure."

XVIII

A WONDERFUL STICK

Now, Billy Woodchuck knew that he must beware of boys like Johnnie Green. And more than that, he had learned that boys with sticks are even worse than boys without them. Still, if he did not let Johnnie come too near him, there was not much danger.

So he was not at all frightened when he happened to catch sight of Johnnie Green crossing the pasture with a long stick over his shoulder. He was so far away that Billy Woodchuck sat up on a little hummock and watched him.

Pretty soon the boy saw Billy. And the moment he spied him he stopped and pointed the long stick at the plump young chuck.

That made Billy Woodchuck smile. He was not the least bit afraid.

For if Johnnie Green should come nearer he intended to pop inside his mother's door.

The next moment Billy Woodchuck heard a sound just above his head--a sound like the sighing of the wind in the top of a pine tree. He thought that was very queer, for there was no wind at all that morning. And there was not a tree near him.

Then it thundered. And yet the sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

But as he looked once more at Johnnie Green he was astonished to see a small cloud float from the end of that long stick and lose itself in the air.

All at once Billy Woodchuck was frightened. He was afraid of Johnnie Green, for he saw that it was Johnnie who made the wind blow, and turned loose the thunder and the clouds. He noticed that Johnnie was doing something to that strange stick; and he expected that in another minute it would begin to rain. But he didn't wait to see. He felt that he would be far safer indoors. So he scampered straight home.

"What are you shaking for?" Mrs. Woodchuck asked, as Billy burst in upon her.

"I'm frightened," her son told her. "I've just seen Johnnie Green making thunder and wind and clouds."