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XVII SAMMY JAY'S SHARP EYES EVERYBODY knows that
Sammy Jay has
sharp eyes. In fact, there are very few of the little forest people
whose eyes
are as sharp as Sammy's. That is because he uses them so much. A long
time ago
he found out that the more he used his eyes, the sharper they became,
and so
there are very few minutes when Sammy is awake that he isn't trying to
see
something. He is always looking. That is the reason he always knows so
much
about what is going on in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows. Now of course Chatterer
the Red Squirrel
couldn't disappear without being missed, particularly by Sammy Jay. And
of
course Sammy couldn't miss Chatterer and not wonder what had become of
him. At
first, Sammy thought that Chatterer was hiding, but after peeking and
peering
and watching in the Old Orchard for a few days, he was forced to think
that
either Chatterer had once more moved or else that something had
happened to
him. "Perhaps Shadow the
Weasel has
caught him, after all," thought Sammy, and straightway flew to a
certain
place in the Green Forest where he might find Shadow the Weasel. Sure
enough,
Shadow was there. Now of course it wouldn't do to ask right out if
Shadow had
caught Chatterer, and Sammy was smart enough to know it. "Chatterer the Red
Squirrel
sends his respects and hopes you are enjoying your hunt for him,"
called
Sammy. Shadow looked up at
Sammy, and anger
blazed in his little, red eyes. "You tell Chatterer that I'll get him
yet!"
snarled Shadow. "You tell Chatterer that I'll get him yet!" snarled Shadow. Sammy's eyes sparkled
with mischief.
He had made Shadow angry, and he had found out what he wanted to know.
He was
sure that Shadow had not caught Chatterer. "But what can have become
of
him?" thought Sammy. "I've got no love for him, but just the same I
miss him. I really must find out. Yes, Sir, I really must." So every minute that he
could spare,
Sammy Jay spent trying to find Chatterer. He asked every one he met if
they had
seen Chatterer. He peeked and peered into every hollow and hiding place
he
could think of. But look as he would and ask as he would, he could find
no
trace of Chatterer. At last he happened to think of Farmer Brown's
corn-crib.
Could it be that Chatterer had moved over there or had come to some
dreadful
end there? Very early the next morning, Sammy flew over to the
corn-crib. He
looked it all over with his sharp eyes and listened for sounds of
Chatterer
inside. But not a sound could he hear. Then he remembered the hole
under the
edge of the roof through which Chatterer used to go in and out. Sammy
hurried
to look at it. It was closed by a stout board nailed across it. Then
Sammy knew
that Farmer Brown's boy had found it. "He's killed Chatterer,
that's
what he's done!" cried Sammy, and flew over to the Old Orchard filled
with
sad thoughts. He meant to wait until Farmer Brown's boy came out and
then tell
him what he thought of him. After that, he would fly through the Green
Forest
and over the Green Meadows to spread the sad news. After a while, the door of the farmhouse opened, and Farmer Brown's boy stepped out. Sammy had his mouth open to scream, when his sharp eyes saw something queer. Farmer Brown's boy had a queer looking box in his arms which he put on a shelf where the sun would shine on it. It looked to Sammy as if something moved inside that box. He forgot to scream and say the bad things he had planned to say. He waited until Farmer Brown's boy had gone to the barn. Then Sammy flew where he could look right into the queer box. There was Chatterer the Red Squirrel! |