Happy Jack written by Thornton Burgess
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HAPPY JACK
BY
THORNTON W. BURGESS
_With Illustrations by HARRISON CADY_
This book, while produced under wartime conditions, in full compliance
with government regulations for the conservation of paper and other
essential materials, is COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED.
_1918,_
TO
DR. WILLIAM T. HORNADAY
TO WHOM POSTERITY WILL OWE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE FOR HIS VALIANT FIGHT TO
PRESERVE AMERICAN WILD LIFE, WHO HAS BEEN A LIFELONG CHAMPION OF HAPPY
JACK SQUIRREL, AND TO WHOM THE AUTHOR IS DEEPLY INDEBTED FOR
ENCOURAGEMENT AND ASSISTANCE THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED
CONTENTS
I. HAPPY JACK DROPS A NUT
II. THE QUARREL
III. STRIPED CHIPMUNK Is KEPT VERY BUSY
IV. HAPPY JACK AND CHATTERER FEEL FOOLISH
V. HAPPY JACK SUSPECTS STRIPED CHIPMUNK
VI. HAPPY JACK SPIES ON STRIPED CHIPMUNK
VII. STRIPED CHIPMUNK HAS FUN WITH HAPPY JACK
VIII. HAPPY JACK TURNS BURGLAR
IX. HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL'S SAD MISTAKE
X. STRIPED CHIPMUNK'S HAPPY THOUGHT
XI. STRIPED CHIPMUNK'S THANKSGIVING DINNER
XII. HAPPY JACK DOES SOME THINKING
XIII. HAPPY JACK GETS A WARNING
XIV. HAPPY JACK'S RUN FOR LIFE
XV. WHO SAVED HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL?
XVI. HAPPY JACK MISSES FARMER BROWN'S BOY
XVII. TOMMY TIT BRINGS NEWS
XVIII. HAPPY JACK DECIDES TO MAKE A CALL
XIX. TOMMY TIT AND HAPPY JACK PAY A VISIT
XX. WHAT WAS THE MATTER WITH FARMER BROWN'S BOY?
XXI. HAPPY JACK SQUIRREL GROWS VERY BOLD
XXII. HAPPY JACK DARES TOMMY TIT
XXIII. SAMMY JAY IS QUITE UPSET
XXIV. A DREAM COMES TRUE
XXV. HAPPY JACK HAS A HAPPY THOUGHT
XXVI. FARMER BROWN'S BOY WAKES WITH A START
XXVII. HAPPY JACK IS AFRAID TO GO HOME
XXVIII. HAPPY JACK FINDS A NEW HOME
XXIX. FARMER BROWN'S BOY TAKES A PRISONER
XXX. A PRISONER WITHOUT FEAR
XXXI. WHAT FARMER BROWN'S BOY DID WITH SHADOW
XXXII. HAPPY JACK IS PERFECTLY HAPPY
XXXIII. SAMMY JAY UPSETS HAPPY JACK
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Peter Rabbit, who happened along just then, put his hands over his ears
Happy Jack tried every trick he knew to get away from Shadow the Weasel
"Did you find out anything?" asked Happy Jack eagerly
It wasn't long before Shadow began to receive many visitors
HAPPY JACK
CHAPTER I
HAPPY JACK DROPS A NUT
Save a little every day,
And for the future put away.
_Happy Jack._
Happy Jack Squirrel sat on the tip of one of the highest branches of a
big hickory tree. Happy Jack was up very early that morning. In fact,
jolly, round, red Mr. Sun was still in his bed behind the Purple Hills
when Happy Jack hopped briskly out of bed. He washed himself thoroughly
and was ready for business by the time Mr. Sun began his climb up in
the blue, blue sky.
You see, Happy Jack had found that big hickory tree just loaded with
nuts all ripe and ready to gather. He was quite sure that no one else
had found that special tree, and he wanted to get all the nuts before
any one else found out about them. So he was all ready and off he raced
to the big tree just as soon as it was light enough to see.
"The nuts that grow in the hickory tree--
They're all for me! They're all for me!"
Happy Jack was humming that little song as he rested for a few minutes
'way up in the top of the tree and wondered if his storehouse would hold
all these big, fat nuts. Just then he heard a great scolding a little
way over in the Green Forest. Happy Jack stopped humming and listened.
He knew that voice. It was his cousin's voice--the voice of Chatterer
the Red Squirrel. Happy Jack frowned. "I hope he won't come over this
way," muttered Happy Jack. He does not love his cousin Chatterer anyway,
and then there was the big tree full of hickory nuts! He didn't want
Chatterer to find that.
I am afraid that Happy Jack was selfish. There were more nuts than he
could possibly eat in one winter, and yet he wasn't willing that his
cousin, Chatterer the Red Squirrel, should have a single one. Now
Chatterer is short-tempered and a great scold. Some one or something
had upset him this morning, and he was scolding as fast as his tongue
could go, as he came running right towards the tree in which Happy Jack
was sitting. Happy Jack sat perfectly still and watched. He didn't move
so much as the tip of his big gray tail. Would Chatterer go past and not
see that big tree full of nuts? It looked very much as if he would, for
he was so busy scolding that he wasn't paying much attention to other
things.
Happy Jack smiled as Chatterer came running under the tree without once
looking up. He was so tickled that he started to hug himself and didn't
remember that he was holding a big, fat nut in his hands. Of course he
dropped it. Where do you think it went? Well, Sir, it fell straight
down, from the top of that tall tree, and it landed right on the head of
Chatterer the Red Squirrel!
"My stars!" cried Chatterer, stopping his scolding and his running
together, and rubbing his head where the nut had hit him. Then he looked
up to see where it had come from. Of course, he looked straight up at
Happy Jack.
"You did that purposely!" screamed Chatterer, his short temper flaring
up.
"I didn't!" snapped Happy Jack.
"You did!"
"I didn't!"
Oh, dear, oh, dear, such a sight! two little Squirrels, one in a gray
suit and one in a red suit, contradicting each other and calling names!
It was such a sad, sad sight, for you know they were cousins.
CHAPTER II
THE QUARREL
It's up to you and up to me
To see how thrifty we can be.
To do our bit like soldiers true
It's up to me and up to you.
_Happy Jack._
Two angry little people were making a dreadful noise in the Green
Forest. It was a beautiful morning, a very beautiful fall morning, but
all the beauty of it was being spoiled by the dreadful noise these two
little people. You see they were quarreling. Yes, Sir, they were
quarreling, and it wasn't at all nice to see or nice to hear.
You know who they were. One was Happy Jack Squirrel, who wears a coat
of gray, and the other was Chatterer the Red Squirrel, who always wears
a red coat with vest of white. When Happy Jack had dropped that nut from
the tiptop of the tall hickory tree and it had landed right on top of
Chatterer's head it really had been an accident. All the time Happy Jack
had been sitting as still as still could be, hoping that his cousin
Chatterer would pass by without looking up and so seeing the big fat
nuts in the top of that tree. You see Happy Jack was greedy and wanted
all of them himself. Now Chatterer the Red Squirrel has a sharp temper,
and also he has sharp eyes. All the time he was scolding Happy Jack and
calling him names Chatterer's bright eyes were taking note of all those
big, fat hickory-nuts and his mouth began to water. Without wasting any
more time he started up the tree to get some.
Happy Jack grew very angry, very angry indeed. He hurried down to meet
Chatterer the Red Squirrel and to prevent him climbing the tree.
"You keep out of this tree; it's mine!" he shrieked.
"No such thing! You don't own the tree and I've got just as much right
here as you have!" screamed Chatterer, dodging around to the other side
of the tree.
"'Tis, too, mine! I found it first!" shouted Happy Jack. "You're a
thief, so there!"
"I'm not!"
"You are!"
"You're a pig, Happy Jack! You're just a great big pig!"
"I'm not a pig! I found these nuts first and I tell you they're mine!"
shrieked Happy Jack, so angry that every time he spoke he jerked his
tail. And all the time he was chasing round and round the trunk of the
tree trying to prevent Chatterer getting up.
Now Happy Jack is ever so much bigger than his cousin Chatterer but he
isn't as spry. So in spite of him Chatterer got past, and like a little
red flash was up in the top of the tree where the big, fat nuts were.
But he didn't have time to pick even one, for after him came Happy Jack
so angry that Chatterer knew that he would fare badly if Happy Jack
should catch him. Round and round, over and across, this way and that
way, in the top of the tall hickory tree raced Chatterer the Red
Squirrel with his cousin, Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel, right at his
heels, and calling him everything bad to be thought of. Yes, indeed it
was truly dreadful, and Peter Rabbit, who happened along just then, put
his hands over his ears so as not to hear such a dreadful quarrel.
[Illustration: PETER RABBIT, WHO HAPPENED ALONG JUST THEN, PUT HIS HANDS
OVER HIS EARS.]
CHAPTER III
STRIPED CHIPMUNK IS KEPT VERY BUSY
I prefer big acorns but I never refuse little ones.
They fit in between.
_Happy Jack._
Striped Chipmunk was sitting just inside a hollow log, studying about
how he could fill up his new storehouse for the winter. Striped Chipmunk
is very thrifty. He likes to play, and he is one of the merriest of all
the little people who live on the Green Meadows or in the Green Forest.
He lives right on the edge of both and knows everybody, and everybody
knows him. Almost every morning the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother
West Wind hurry over to have a frolic with him the very first thing. But
though he dearly loves to play, he never lets play interfere with work.
Whatever he does, be it play or work, he does with all his might.
"I love the sun; I love the rain;
I love to work; I love to play.
Whatever it may bring to me
I love each minute of each day."
So said Striped Chipmunk, as he sat in the hollow log and studied how he
could fill that splendid big new storehouse. Pretty soon he pricked up
his funny little ears. What was all that noise over in the Green
Forest? Striped Chipmunk peeped out of the hollow log. Over in the top
of a tall hickory tree a terrible fuss was going on. Striped Chipmunk
listened. He heard angry voices, such angry voices! They were the voices
of his big cousins, Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel and Chatterer the Red
Squirrel.
"Dear me! Dear me! How those two do quarrel! I must go over and see what
it is all about," thought Striped Chipmunk.
So, with a flirt of his funny, little tail, he scampered out of the
hollow log and over to the tall hickory tree. He knew all about that
tree. Many, many times he had looked up at the big fat nuts in the top
of it, watching them grow bigger and fatter, and hoping that when they
grew ripe, Old Mother West Wind would find time to shake them down to
him. You know Striped Chipmunk is not much of a climber, and so he
cannot go up and pick the nuts as do his big cousins, Happy Jack and
Chatterer.
When he reached the tall hickory tree, what do you think was happening?
Why, those big, fat nuts were rattling down to the ground on every side,
just as if Old Mother West Wind was shaking the tree as hard as she
could. But Old Mother West Wind wasn't there at all. No, Sir, there
wasn't even one of the Merry Little Breezes up in the tree-tops. The
big fat nuts were rattling down just on account of the dreadful quarrel
of Striped Chipmunk's two foolish cousins, Happy Jack and Chatterer.
It was all because Happy Jack was greedy. Chatterer had climbed the
tree, and now Happy Jack, who is bigger but not so spry, was chasing
Chatterer round and round and over the tree-top, and both were so angry
that they didn't once notice that they were knocking down the very nuts
over which they were quarreling.
Striped Chipmunk didn't stop to listen to the quarrel. No, Sir-ee! He
stuffed a big fat nut in each pocket in his cheeks and scampered back
to his splendid new storehouse as fast as his little legs would take
him. Back and forth, back and forth, scampered Striped Chipmunk, and all
the time he was laughing inside and hoping his big cousins would keep
right on quarreling.
CHAPTER IV
HAPPY JACK AND CHATTERER FEEL FOOLISH
If you get and spend a penny,
Then of course you haven't any.
Be like me--a Happy Jack--
And put it where you'll get it back.
_Happy Jack._
Happy Jack and Chatterer were out of breath. Happy Jack was puffing and
blowing, for he is big and fat, and it is not so easy for him to race
about in the tree-tops as it is for his smaller, slim, nimble cousin,
Chatterer. So Happy Jack was the first to stop. He sat on a branch 'way
up in the top of the tall hickory tree and glared across at Chatterer,
who sat on a branch on the other side of the tall tree.
"Couldn't catch me, could you, smarty?" taunted Chatterer.
"You just wait until I do! I'll make you sorry you ever came near my
hickory tree," snapped Happy Jack.
"I'm waiting. Besides, it isn't your tree any more than it's mine,"
replied Chatterer, and made a face at Happy Jack.
Happy Jack hopped up as if he meant to begin the chase again, but he had
a pain in his side from running so hard and so long, and so he sat down
again. Right down in his heart Happy Jack knew that Chatterer was
right, that the tree didn't belong to him any more than to his cousin.
But when he thought of all those big, fat nuts with which the tall
hickory tree had been loaded, greedy thoughts chased out all thoughts of
right and he said to himself again, as he had said when he first saw his
cousin, that Chatterer shouldn't have _one_ of them. He stopped scolding
long enough to steal a look at them, and then--what do you think Happy
Jack did? Why, he gave such a jump of surprise that he nearly lost his
balance. Not a nut was to be seen! Happy Jack blinked. Then, he rubbed
his eyes and looked again. He couldn't see a nut anywhere!
There were the husks in which the nuts had grown big and fat until they
were ripe, but now every husk was empty. Chatterer saw the queer look on
Happy Jack's face, and he looked too. Now Chatterer the Red Squirrel had
very quick wits, and he guessed right away what had happened. He knew
that while they had been quarreling and racing over the top of the tall
hickory tree, they must have knocked down all the nuts, which were just
ready to fall anyway. Like a little red flash, Chatterer started down
the tree. Then Happy Jack guessed too, and down he started as fast as he
could go, crying, "Stop, thief!" all the way.
When he reached the ground, there was Chatterer scurrying around and
poking under the fallen leaves, but he hadn't found a single nut. Happy
Jack couldn't stop to quarrel any more, because you see he was afraid
that Chatterer would find the biggest and fattest nuts, so he began to
scurry around and hunt too. It was queer, very queer, how those nuts
could have hidden so! They hunted and hunted, but no nuts were to be
found. Then they stopped and stared up at the top of the tall hickory
tree. Not a nut could they see. Then they stared at each other, and
gradually a foolish, a very foolish look crept over each face.
"Where--where do you suppose they have gone?" asked Happy Jack in a
queer-sounding voice.
Just then they heard some one laughing fit to kill himself. It was Peter
Rabbit.
"Did you take our hickory nuts?" they both shouted angrily.
"No," replied Peter, "no, I didn't take them, though they were not
yours, anyway!" And then he went off into another fit of laughter, for
Peter had seen Striped Chipmunk very hard at work taking away those very
nuts while his two big cousins had been quarreling in the tree-top.
CHAPTER V
HAPPY JACK SUSPECTS STRIPED CHIPMUNK
Thrift is one test of true loyalty to your country.
_Happy Jack._
Happy Jack didn't look happy a bit. Indeed, Happy Jack looked very
unhappy. You see, he looked just as he felt. He had set his heart on
having all the big, fat nuts that he had found in the top of that tall
hickory tree, and now, instead of having all of them, he hadn't any of
them. Worse still, he knew right down in his heart that it was his own
fault. He had been too greedy. But what _had_ become of those nuts?
Happy Jack was studying about this as he sat with his back against a
big chestnut tree. He remembered how hard Peter Rabbit had laughed when
Happy Jack and his cousin, Chatterer the Red Squirrel, had been so
surprised because they could not find the nuts they had knocked down.
Peter hadn't taken them, for Peter has no use for them, but he must know
what had become of them, for he was still laughing as he had gone off
down the Lone Little Path. While he was thinking of all this, Happy
Jack's bright eyes had been wide open, as they usually are, so that no
danger should come near. Suddenly they saw something moving among the
brown-and-yellow leaves on the ground. Happy Jack looked sharply, and
then a sudden thought popped into his head.
"Hi, there, Cousin Chipmunk!" he shouted.
"Hi, there, your own self!" replied Striped Chipmunk, for it was he.
"What are you doing down there?" asked Happy Jack.
"Looking for hickory nuts," replied Striped Chipmunk, and his eyes
twinkled as he said it, for there wasn't a hickory tree near.
Happy Jack looked hard at Striped Chipmunk, for that sudden thought
which had popped into his head when he first saw Striped Chipmunk was
growing into a strong, a very strong, suspicion that Striped Chipmunk
knew something about those lost hickory nuts. But Striped Chipmunk
looked back at him so innocently that Happy Jack didn't know just what
to think.
"Have you begun to fill your storehouse for winter yet?" inquired Happy
Jack.
"Of course I have. I don't mean to let Jack Frost catch me with an empty
storehouse," replied Striped Chipmunk.
"When leaves turn yellow, brown, and red,
And nuts come pitter, patter down;
When days are short and swiftly sped,
And Autumn wears her colored gown,
I'm up before old Mr. Sun
His nightcap has a chance to doff,
And have my day's work well begun
When others kick their bedclothes off."
"What are you filling your storehouse with?" asked Happy Jack, trying
not to show too much interest.
"Corn, nice ripe yellow corn, and seeds and acorns and chestnuts,"
answered Striped Chipmunk. "And now I'm looking for some big, fat
hickory nuts," he added, and his bright eyes twinkled. "Have you seen
any, Happy Jack?"
Happy Jack said that he hadn't seen any, and Striped Chipmunk remarked
that he couldn't waste any more time talking, and scurried away. Happy
Jack watched him go, a puzzled little frown puckering up his brows.
"I believe he knows something about those nuts. I think I'll follow him
and have a peep into his storehouse," he muttered.
CHAPTER VI
HAPPY JACK SPIES ON STRIPED CHIPMUNK
It's more important to mind your own affairs than to know what your
neighbors are doing, but not nearly so interesting.
_Happy Jack._
Striped Chipmunk was whisking about among the brown-and-yellow leaves
that covered the ground on the edge of the Green Forest. He is such a
little fellow that he looked almost like a brown leaf himself, and when
one of Old Mother West Wind's Merry Little Breezes whirled the brown
leaves in a mad little dance around him, it was the hardest work in the
world to see Striped Chipmunk at all. Anyway, Happy Jack Squirrel found
it so.
You see, Happy Jack was spying on Striped Chipmunk. Yes, Sir, Happy Jack
was spying. Spying, you know, is secretly watching other people and
trying to find out what they are doing. It isn't a nice thing to do, not
a bit nice. Happy Jack knew it, and all the time he was doing it, he was
feeling very much ashamed of himself. But he said to himself that he
just _had_ to know where Striped Chipmunk's storehouse was, because he
just _had_ to peep inside and find out if it held any of the big, fat
hickory nuts that had disappeared from under the tall hickory tree
while he was quarreling up in the top of it with his cousin, Chatterer
the Red Squirrel.
But spying on Striped Chipmunk isn't the easiest thing in the world.
Happy Jack was finding it the hardest work he had ever undertaken.
Striped Chipmunk is so spry, and whisks about so, that you need eyes all
around your head to keep track of him. Happy Jack found that his two
eyes, bright and quick as they are, couldn't keep that little elf of a
cousin of his always in sight. Every few minutes he would disappear and
then bob up again in the most unexpected place and most provoking way.
"Now I'm here, and now I'm there!
Now I am not anywhere!
Watch me now, for here I go
Out of sight! I told you so!"
With the last words, Striped Chipmunk was nowhere to be seen. It seemed
as if the earth must have opened and swallowed him. But it hadn't, for
two minutes later Happy Jack saw him flirting his funny little tail in
the sauciest way as he scampered along an old log.
Happy Jack began to suspect that Striped Chipmunk was just having fun
with him. What else could he mean by saying such things? And yet Happy
Jack was sure that Striped Chipmunk hadn't seen him, for, all the time
he was watching, Happy Jack had taken the greatest care to keep hidden
himself. No, it couldn't be, it just couldn't be that Striped Chipmunk
knew that he was anywhere about. He would just be patient a little
longer, and he would surely see that smart little cousin of his go to
his storehouse. So Happy Jack waited and watched.
CHAPTER VII
STRIPED CHIPMUNK HAS FUN WITH HAPPY JACK
Thrift is the meat in the nut of success.
_Happy Jack._
Striped Chipmunk would shout in his shrillest voice:
"Hipperty, hopperty, one, two, three!
What do you think becomes of me?"
Then he would vanish from sight all in the wink of an eye. You couldn't
tell where he went to. At least Happy Jack couldn't, and his eyes are
sharper than yours or mine. Happy Jack was spying, you remember. He was
watching Striped Chipmunk without letting Striped Chipmunk know it. At
least he thought he was. But really he wasn't. Those sharp twinkling
eyes of Striped Chipmunk see everything. You know, he is such a very
little fellow that he has to be very wide-awake to keep out of danger.
And he _is_ wide-awake. Oh, my, yes, indeed! When he is awake, and that
is every minute of the daytime, he is the most wide-awake little fellow
you ever did see. He had seen Happy Jack the very first thing, and he
had guessed right away that Happy Jack was spying on him so as to find
out if he had any of the big, fat hickory nuts. Now Striped Chipmunk had
_all_ of those fat hickory nuts safely hidden in his splendid new
storehouse, but he didn't intend to let Happy Jack know it. So he just
pretended not to see Happy Jack, or to know that he was anywhere near,
but acted as if he was just going about his own business. Really he was
just having the best time ever fooling Happy Jack.
"The corn is ripe; the nuts do fall;
Acorns are sweet and plump.
I soon will have my storehouse full
Inside the hollow stump."
Striped Chipmunk sang this just as if no one was anywhere near, and he
was singing just for joy. Of course Happy Jack heard it and he grinned.
"So your storehouse is in a hollow stump, my smart little cousin!" said
Happy Jack to himself. "If that's the case, I'll soon find it."
Striped Chipmunk scurried along, and now he took pains to always keep in
sight. Happy Jack followed, hiding behind the trees. Pretty soon Striped
Chipmunk picked up a plump acorn and put it in the pocket of his right
cheek. Then he picked up another and put that in the pocket in his left
cheek. Then he crowded another into each; and his face was swelled so
that you would hardly have guessed that it was Striped Chipmunk if you
had chanced to meet him. My, my, he was a funny sight! Happy Jack
grinned again as he watched, partly because Striped Chipmunk looked so
funny, and partly because he knew that if Striped Chipmunk was going to
eat the acorns right away, he wouldn't stuff them into the pockets in
his cheeks. But he had done this very thing, and so he must be going to
take them to his storehouse.
Off scampered Striped Chipmunk, and after him stole Happy Jack, his eyes
shining with excitement. Pretty soon he saw an old stump which looked as
if it must be hollow. Happy Jack grinned more than ever as he carefully
hid himself and watched. Striped Chipmunk scrambled up on the old stump,
looked this way and that way, as if to be sure that no one was watching
him, then with a flirt of his funny little tail he darted into a little
round doorway. He was gone a long time, but by and by out he popped,
looked this way and that way, and then scampered off in the direction
from which he had come. Happy Jack didn't try to follow him. He waited
until he was sure that Striped Chipmunk was out of sight and hearing,
and then he walked over to the old stump.
"It's his storehouse fast enough," said Happy Jack.
CHAPTER VIII
HAPPY JACK TURNS BURGLAR
As trees from little acorns, so
Great sums from little pennies grow.
_Happy Jack._
Happy Jack Squirrel stood in front of the old stump into which he had
seen Striped Chipmunk go with the pockets in his cheeks full of acorns,
and out of which he had come with the pockets of his cheeks quite empty.
"It certainly is his storehouse, and now I'll find out if he is the one
who got all those big, fat hickory nuts," muttered Happy Jack.