The Hollow Tree Snowed-In Part 15

[Ill.u.s.tration: MR. c.o.o.n SCRATCHED HIS BACK AGAINST A LITTLE BUSH]

Then Mr. 'Possum said that from the sound of Mr. Bear's voice he seemed to be unhappy about something, and that it was too bad for them to just pa.s.s right by without asking what was the trouble, especially if Mr.

Bear, who had always been so friendly, should ever hear of it. So then they straightened their collars and ties and knocked the dust off a little, and Mr. 'c.o.o.n scratched his back against a little bush and Mr.

Crow cleared his throat, and they stepped out of the hazel patch and went up to Mr. Bear's door and pushed it open a little and called out:

"Oh, Mr. Bear, do you need any help?"

"Oh yes," groaned Mr. Bear, "come quick! I've been struck by an earthquake and nearly killed, and everything I've got must be ruined.

Bring a light and look at my pantry!

"So then Mr. 'c.o.o.n ran with a splinter from Mr. Bear's fire and lit the candle, and Mr. Bear got up, rubbing himself and taking on, and began looking at his pantry shelves, which made him better right away.

"Oh," he said, "how lucky the damage is so small! Only two pies and a partridge knocked down, and they are not much hurt. I thought everything was lost, and my nerves are all upset when I was getting ready for my winter sleep. How glad I am you happened to be pa.s.sing. Stay with me, and we will eat to quiet our nerves."

Then the Hollow Tree People said that the earthquake had made them nervous too, and that perhaps a little food would be good for all of them; so they flew around just as if they were at home, and brought Mr.

Bear's table right into the pantry, and some chairs, and set out the very best things and told Mr. Bear to sit right up to the table and help himself, and then all the others sat up, too, and they ate everything clear through, from meat-pie in mince-pie, just as if Mr. 'Possum's dream had really come true.

And Mr. Bear said he didn't understand how he could have such a good appet.i.te when he had such a big supper only two hours ago, and he said that there must have been two earthquakes, because a noise of some kind had roused him from a little nap he had been taking in his chair, but that the real earthquake hadn't happened until he got to the pantry door, where he stumbled a little, which seemed to touch it off. He said he hoped he'd never live to go through with a thing like that again.

Then the Hollow Tree People said they had heard both of the shocks, and that the last one was a good deal the worst, and that of course such a thing would sound a good deal louder in a cave anyway. And by-and-by, when they were all through eating, they went in by the fire and sat down and smoked, and Mr. Bear said he didn't feel as sleepy as he thought he should because he was still upset a good deal by the shock, but that he guessed he would just crawl into bed while they were there, as it seemed nice to have company.

So he did, and by-and-by he dropped off to sleep again, and the Hollow Tree People borrowed a few things, and went out softly and shut the door behind them. They stopped at Mr. Rabbit's house on the way home, and told him they had enjoyed a nice breakfast with Mr. Bear, and how Mr.

Bear had sent a partridge and a pie and a little pot of honey to Mr.

Rabbit because of his fondness for the family. Then Mr. Rabbit felt quite pleased, because it was too early for spring vegetables and hard to get good things for the table.

"And did Mr. Bear sleep all summer?" asks the Little Lady.

"No, he woke up again pretty soon, for he had finished his nap, and of course the next time when he looked around he found his fire out and the candle burned down and the clock stopped, so he got up and went outside, and saw it was spring and that he had slept a good deal longer than usual. But when he went to eat his spring breakfast he couldn't understand why he wasn't very hungry, and thought it must be because he'd eaten two such big suppers.

"But why didn't the Hollow Tree People tell him it was spring and not let him go to bed again?"

Well, I s'pose they thought it wouldn't be very polite to tell Mr. Bear how he'd been fooled, and, besides, he needed a nice nap again after the earthquake--anyhow, he thought it was an earthquake, and was a good deal upset.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MR. RABBIT THANKED HIM FROM ACROSS THE RIVER]

And it was a long time before he found out what _had really_ happened, and he never would have known, if Mr. Rabbit hadn't seen him fis.h.i.+ng one day and thanked him from across the river for the nice breakfast he had sent him by the Hollow Tree People.

That set Mr. Bear to thinking, and he asked Mr. Rabbit a few questions about things in general and earthquakes in particular, and the more he found out and thought about it the more he began to guess just how it was, and by-and-by when he did find out all about it, he didn't care any more, and really thought it quite a good joke on himself for falling asleep in his chair and sleeping there all winter long.

MR. CROW'S GARDEN

MR. CROW'S GARDEN

THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO RAISE FINE VEGETABLES

One morning, right after breakfast in the Hollow Tree, Mr. Crow said he'd been thinking of something ever since he woke up, and if the 'c.o.o.n and the 'Possum thought it was a good plan he believed he'd do it. He said of course they knew how good Mr. Rabbit's garden always was, and how he nearly lived out of it during the summer, Mr. Rabbit being a good deal of a vegetarian; by which he meant that he liked vegetables better than anything, while the Hollow Tree People, Mr. Crow said, were a little different in their tastes, though he didn't know just what the name for them was. He said he thought they might be humanitarians, because they liked the things that Mr. Man and other human beings liked, but that he wasn't sure whether that was the right name or not.

Then Mr. 'Possum said for him to never mind about the word, but to go on and talk about his plan if it had anything to do with something to eat, for he was getting pretty tired of living on little picked-up things such as they had been having this hard spring, and Mr. 'c.o.o.n said so too. So then Mr. Crow said:

"Well, I've been planning to have a garden this spring like Mr.

Rabbit's."

"Humph!" said Mr. 'Possum, "I thought you were going to start a chicken farm."

But Mr. Crow said "No," that the Big Deep Woods didn't seem a healthy place for chickens, and that they could pick up a chicken here and there by-and-by, and then if they had nice green pease to go with it, or some green corn, or even a tender salad, it would help out, especially when they had company like Mr. Robin, or Mr. Squirrel, or Mr. Rabbit, who cared for such things.

So then the 'c.o.o.n and the 'Possum both said that to have green pease and corn was a very good idea, especially when such things were mixed with young chickens with plenty of dressing and gravy, and that as this was a pleasant morning they might walk over and call on Jack Rabbit so that the Old Black Crow could find out about planting things. Mr. 'Possum said that his uncle Silas Lovejoy always had a garden, and he had worked it a good deal when he was young, but that he had forgotten just how things should be planted, though he knew the moon had something to do with it, and if you didn't get the time right the things that ought to grow up would grow down and the down things would all grow up, so that you'd have to dig your pease and pick your potatoes when the other way was the fas.h.i.+on and thought to be better in this climate.

So then the Hollow Tree People put on their things and went out into the nice April suns.h.i.+ne and walked over to Jack Rabbit's house, saying how pleasant it was to take a little walk this way when everything was getting green, and they pa.s.sed by where Mr. and Mrs. Robin were building a new nest, and they looked in on a cozy little hollow tree where Mr.

Squirrel, who had just brought home a young wife from over by the Big West Hills, had set up housekeeping with everything new except the old-fas.h.i.+oned feather-bed and home-made spread which Miss Squirrel had been given by her folks. They looked through Mr. Squirrel's house and said how snug it was, and that perhaps it would be better not to try to furnish it too much at once, as it was nice just to get things as one was able, instead of doing everything at the start.

When they got to Mr. Rabbit's house he was weaving a rag carpet for his front room, and they all stood behind him and watched him weave, and by-and-by Mr. 'c.o.o.n wanted to try it, but he didn't know how to run the treadle exactly, and got some of the strands too loose and some too tight, so he gave it up, and they all went out to look at Mr. Rabbit's garden.

Well, Mr. Rabbit did have a nice garden. It was all laid out in rows, and was straight and trim, and there wasn't a weed anywhere. He had things up, too--pease and lettuce and radishes--and he had some tomato-plants growing in a box in the house, because it was too early to put them out.

Mr. Rabbit said that a good many people bought their plants, but that he always liked to raise his own from seed, because then he knew just what they were and what to expect. He told them how to plant the different things and about the moon, and said there was an old adage in his family that if you remembered it you'd always plant at the right time. The adage, he said, was:

"Pease and beans in the light of the moon-- Both in the pot before it's June."

And of course you only had to change "light" to "dark" and use it for turnips and potatoes and such things, though really it was sometimes later than June, but June was near enough, and rhymed with "moon" better than July and August. He said he would give Mr. Crow all the seeds he wanted, and that when he was ready to put out tomatoes he would let him have plenty of plants too.

Then Mr. 'c.o.o.n said it would be nice to have a few flower seeds, and they all looked at Mr. 'c.o.o.n because they knew he had once been in love, and they thought by his wanting flowers that he might be going to get that way again.

But Mr. Rabbit said he was fond of flowers, too, especially the old-fas.h.i.+oned kind, and he picked out some for Mr. 'c.o.o.n; and then he went to weaving again, and the Hollow Tree People watched him awhile, and he pointed out pieces of different clothes he had had that he was weaving into his carpet, and they all thought how nice it was to use up one's old things that way.

Then by-and-by the Hollow Tree People went back home, and they began their garden right away. It was just the kind of a day to make garden and they all felt like it, so they spaded and hoed and raked, and didn't find it very easy because the place had never been used for a garden before, and there were some roots and stones; and pretty soon Mr.

'Possum said that Mr. Crow and Mr. 'c.o.o.n might go on with the digging and he would plant the seeds, as he had been used to such work when he lived with his uncle Silas as a boy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY]

So then he took the seeds, but he couldn't remember Mr. Rabbit's adages which told whether beets and carrots and such things as grow below the ground had to be planted in the dark of the moon or the light of the moon, and it was the same about beans and pease and the things that grow above the ground; and when he spoke to Mr. Crow and Mr. 'c.o.o.n about it, one said it was one way and the other the other way, and then Mr.

'Possum said he wasn't planting the things in the moon anyhow, and he thought Mr. Rabbit had made the adages to suit the day he was going to plant and that they would work either way.

So then Mr. 'Possum planted everything there was, and showed Mr. 'c.o.o.n how to plant his flower seeds; and when they were all done they stood off and admired their nice garden, and said it was just about as nice as Jack Rabbit's, and maybe nicer in some ways, because it had trees around it and was a pleasant place to work.

Well, after that they got up every morning and went out to look at their garden, to see if any of the things were coming up; and pretty soon they found a good _many_ things coming up, but they were not in hills and rows, and Mr. 'Possum said they were weeds, because he remembered that Uncle Silas's weeds had always looked like those, and how he and his little cousins had had to hoe them. So then they got their hoes and hoed every morning, and by-and-by they had to hoe some during the day too, to keep up with the weeds, and the sun was pretty hot, and Mr. 'Possum did most of his hoeing over by the trees where it wasn't so sunny, and said that hereafter he thought it would be a good plan to plant all their garden in the shade.

And every day they kept looking for the seeds to come up, and by-and-by a few did come up, and then they were quite proud, and went over and told Jack Rabbit about it, and Mr. Rabbit came over to give them some advice, and said he thought their garden looked pretty well for being its first year and put in late, though it looked to him, he said, as if some of it had been planted the wrong time of the moon, and he didn't think so much shade was very good for most things.

But Mr. 'Possum said he'd rather have more shade and less things, and he thought next year he'd let his part of the garden out on shares.

Well, it got hotter and hotter, and the weeds grew more and more, and the Hollow Tree People had to work and hoe and pull nearly all day in the sun to keep up with them, and they would have given it up pretty soon, only they wanted to show Jack Rabbit that they could have a garden too, and by-and-by, when their things got big enough to eat, they were so proud that they invited Mr. Rabbit to come over for dinner, and they sent word to Mr. Turtle, too, because he likes good things and lives alone, not being a family man like Mr. Robin and Mr. Squirrel.