The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton W. Burgess
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Thornton W. Burgess >> The Adventures of Prickly Porky
At first he hardly noticed the strange noise, but when he stopped
singing for a bit of a rest, he heard it very plainly, and it sounded
so very queer that he flew up the hill towards the place from which it
seemed to come, and there his bright eyes soon discovered Prickly
Porky. Right away he saw that Prickly Porky was in some kind of
trouble, and that it was he who was making the queer noise. Prickly
Porky was on the ground at the foot of a tree, and he was rolling over
and kicking and clawing at his mouth, from which a little piece of
bark was hanging. It was such a strange performance that Redeye simply
stared for a minute. Then in a flash it came to him what it meant.
Prickly Porky was choking, and if something wasn't done to help him,
he might choke to death!
Now there was nothing that Redeye himself could do to help, for he was
too small. He must get help somewhere else, and he must do it quickly.
Anxiously he looked this way and that way, but there was no one in
sight. Then he remembered that Unc' Billy Possum's hollow tree was not
far away. Perhaps Unc' Billy could help. He hoped that Unc' Billy was
at home, and he wasted no time in finding out. Unc' Billy was at home,
and when he heard that his old friend Prickly Porky was in trouble, he
hurried up the hill as fast as ever he could. He saw right away what
was the trouble.
"Yo' keep still just a minute, Brer Porky!" he commanded, for he did
not dare go very near while Prickly Porky was rolling and kicking
around so, for fear that he would get against some of the thousand
little spears Prickly Porky carries hidden in his coat. Prickly Porky
did as he was told. Indeed, he was so weak from his long struggle that
he was glad to. Unc' Billy caught hold of the piece of bark hanging
from Prickly Porky's mouth. Then he braced himself and pulled with all
his might. For a minute the piece of bark held. Then it gave way so
suddenly that Unc' Billy fell over flat on his back. Unc' Billy
scrambled to his feet and looked reprovingly at Prickly Porky, who lay
panting for breath, and with big tears rolling down his face.
[Illustration: Then he braced himself and pulled with all his might.
_Page 30._]
"Ah cert'nly am surprised, Brer Porky; Ah cert'nly am surprised that
yo' should be so greedy that yo' choke yo'self," said Unc' Billy,
shaking his head.
Prickly Porky grinned weakly and rather foolishly. "It wasn't greed,
Unc' Billy. It wasn't greed at all," he replied.
"Then what was it, may Ah ask?" demanded Unc' Billy severely.
"I thought of something funny right in the middle of my meal, and I
laughed just as I started to swallow, and the piece of bark went down
the wrong way," explained Prickly Porky. And then, as if the mere
thought of the thing that had made him laugh before was too much for
him, he began to laugh again. He laughed and laughed and laughed,
until finally Unc' Billy quite lost patience.
"Yo' cert'nly have lost your manners, Brer Porky!" he snapped.
Prickly Porky wiped the tears from his eyes. "Come closer so that I
can whisper, Unc' Billy," said he.
A little bit suspiciously Unc' Billy came near enough for Prickly
Porky to whisper, and when he had finished, Unc' Billy was wiping
tears of laughter from his own eyes.
IX
JIMMY SKUNK AND UNC' BILLY POSSUM TELL DIFFERENT STORIES
The little people of the Green Meadows and the Green Forest didn't
know what to believe. First came Peter Rabbit with the strangest kind
of a story about being chased by a terrible creature without legs,
head, or tail. He said that it had come down the hill where Prickly
Porky the Porcupine lives in the Green Forest. Jimmy Skunk had been
sent to call on Prickly Porky and ask him if he had seen any strange
creature such as Peter Rabbit had told about. Prickly Porky had said
that he hadn't seen any stranger in that part of the Green Forest, and
Jimmy had straightway returned to the Green Meadows and told all his
friends there that Peter Rabbit must have had something the matter
with his eyes or else was crazy, for Prickly Porky hadn't been away
from home and yet had seen nothing unusual.
At the same time Unc' Billy Possum was going about in the Green Forest
telling everybody whom he met that he had called on Prickly Porky, and
that Prickly Porky had told him that Peter Rabbit undoubtedly had seen
something strange. Of course Jimmy Skunk's story soon spread through
the Green Forest, and Unc' Billy Possum's story soon spread over the
Green Meadows, and so nobody knew what to believe or think. If Jimmy
Skunk was right, why Peter Rabbit's queer story wasn't to be believed
at all. If Unc' Billy was right, why Peter's story wasn't as crazy as
it sounded.
Of course all this aroused a great deal of talk and curiosity, and
those who had the most courage began to make visits to the hill where
Prickly Porky lives to see if they could see for themselves anything
out of the ordinary. But they always found that part of the Green
Forest just as usual and always, if they saw Prickly Porky at all, he
seemed to be fast asleep, and no one liked to wake him to ask
questions. Little by little they began to think that Jimmy Skunk was
right, and that Peter Rabbit's terrible creature existed only in
Peter's imagination.
About this time Unc' Billy told of having just such an experience as
Peter had. It happened exactly as it did with Peter, very early in the
morning, when he was passing the foot of the hill where Prickly Porky
lives.
"Ah was just passing along, minding mah own business, when Ah heard a
noise up on the hill behind me," said Unc' Billy, "and when Ah looked
up, there was something coming straight down at me, and Ah couldn't
see any legs or head or tail."
"What did you do, Unc' Billy?" asked Bobby Coon.
"What did Ah do? Ah did just what yo'alls would have done,--Ah done
run!" replied Unc' Billy, looking around the little circle of forest
and meadow people, listening with round eyes and open mouths. "Yes,
Sah, Ah done run, and Ah didn't turn around until Ah was safe in mah
holler tree."
"Pooh!" sneered Reddy Fox, who had been listening. "You're a coward. I
wouldn't have run! I would have waited and found out what it was. You
and Peter Rabbit would run away from your own shadows."
"You don't dare go there yourself at daybreak to-morrow!" retorted
Unc' Billy.
"I do too!" declared Reddy angrily, though he didn't have the least
intention of going.
"All right. Ah'm going to be in a tree where Ah can watch to-morrow
mo'ning and see if yo' are as brave as yo' talk," declared Unc' Billy.
Then Reddy knew that he would have to go or else be called a coward.
"I'll be there," he snarled angrily, as he slunk away.
X
UNC' BILLY POSSUM TELLS JIMMY SKUNK A SECRET
Be sure before you drop a friend
That you've done nothing to offend.
A friend is always worth keeping. Unc' Billy Possum says so, and he
knows. He ought to, for he has made a lot of them in the Green Forest
and on the Green Meadows, in spite of the pranks he has cut up and the
tricks he has played. And when Unc' Billy makes a friend, he keeps
him. He says that it is easier and a lot better to keep a friend than
to make a new one. And this is the way he goes about it: Whenever he
finds that a friend is angry with him, he refuses to be angry
himself. Instead, he goes to that friend, finds out what the trouble
is, explains it all away, and then does something nice.
Jimmy Skunk and Unc' Billy had been friends from the time that Unc'
Billy came up from ol' Virginny to live in the Green Forest. In fact,
they had been partners in stealing eggs from the hen-house of Farmer
Brown's boy. So when Jimmy Skunk, who had made a special call on
Prickly Porky to find out if he had seen the strange creature without
head, tail, or legs, told everybody that Prickly Porky had seen
nothing of such a creature, he was very much put out and quite
offended to hear that Unc' Billy was telling how Prickly Porky had
said that Peter might really have some reason for his queer story. It
seemed to him that either Prickly Porky had told an untruth or that
Unc' Billy was telling an untruth. It made him very angry.
The afternoon of the day when Unc' Billy had dared Reddy Fox to go at
sun-up the next morning to the hill where Prickly Porky lives he met
Jimmy Skunk coming down the Crooked Little Path. Jimmy scowled and was
going to pass without so much as speaking. Unc' Billy's shrewd little
eyes twinkled, and he grinned as only Unc' Billy can grin. "Howdy,
Brer Skunk," said he.
Jimmy just frowned harder than ever and tried to pass.
"Howdy, Brer Skunk," repeated Unc' Billy Possum. "Yo' must have
something on your mind."
Jimmy Skunk stopped. "I have!" he snapped. "I want to know whether it
is you or Prickly Porky who has been telling an untruth. He told me
that he hadn't seen anything like what Peter Rabbit said chased him,
and you've been telling around how he told you that Peter may have had
good grounds for that foolish story. If Peter saw that thing, Prickly
Porky would know it, for he hasn't been away from home this summer.
Why would he tell me that he hasn't seen it if he has?"
"Don' be hasty, Brer Skunk. Don' be hasty," replied Unc' Billy
soothingly. "Ah haven't said that Brer Porky told me that he had
_seen_ the thing that Peter says chased him. He told the truth when he
told you that he hadn't seen any stranger around his hill. What he
told me was that--" Here Unc' Billy whispered.
Jimmy Skunk's face cleared. "That's different," said he.
"Of course it is," replied Unc' Billy. "Yo' see Peter _did_ see
something strange, even if Brer Porky didn't. Ah have seen it
mahself, and now Ah invites yo' to be over at the foot of Brer Porky's
hill at sun-up to-morrow mo'ning and see what happens when Brer Fox
tries to show how brave he is. Only don' forget that it's a secret."
Jimmy was chuckling by this time. "I won't forget, and I'll be there,"
he promised. "I'm glad to know that nobody has been telling untruths,
and I beg your pardon, Unc' Billy, for thinking you might have been."
"Don' mention it, Brer Skunk, don' mention it. Ah'll be looking fo'
yo' to-morrow mo'ning," replied Unc' Billy, with a sly wink that made
Jimmy laugh aloud.
XI
WHAT HAPPENED TO REDDY FOX
Reddy Fox wished with all his might that he had kept his tongue still
about not being afraid to meet the strange creature that had given
Peter Rabbit such a fright. When he had boasted that he would stop and
find out all about it if he happened to meet it, he didn't have the
least intention of doing anything of the kind. He was just idly
boasting and nothing more. You see, Reddy is one of the greatest
boasters in the Green Forest or on the Green Meadows. He likes to
strut around and talk big. But like most boasters, he is a coward at
heart.
Unc' Billy Possum knew this, and that is why he dared Reddy to go the
next morning to the foot of the hill where Prickly Porky the Porcupine
lives, and where Peter Rabbit had had his strange adventure, and where
Unc' Billy himself claimed to have seen the same strange creature
without head, tail, or legs which had so frightened Peter. Unc' Billy
had said that he would be there himself up in a tree where he could
see whether Reddy really did come or not, and so there was nothing for
Reddy to do but to go and make good his foolish boast, if the strange
creature should appear. You see, a number of little people had heard
him boast and had heard Unc' Billy dare him, and he knew that if he
didn't make good, he would never hear the end of it and would be
called a coward by everybody.
Reddy didn't sleep at all well that afternoon, and when at dusk he
started to hunt for his supper, he found that he had lost his
appetite. Instead of hunting, he spent most of the night in trying to
think of some good reason for not appearing at Prickly Porky's hill at
daybreak. But think as he would, he couldn't think of a single excuse
that would sound reasonable. "If only Bowser the Hound wasn't chained
up at night, I would get him to chase me, and then I would have the
very best kind of an excuse," thought he. But he knew that Bowser
_was_ chained. Nevertheless he did go up to Farmer Brown's dooryard to
make sure. It was just as he expected,--Bowser was chained.
Reddy sneaked away without even a look at Farmer Brown's hen-house. He
didn't see that the door had carelessly been left open, and even if he
had, it would have made no difference. He hadn't a bit of appetite.
No, Sir. Reddy Fox wouldn't have eaten the fattest chicken there if it
had been right before him. All he could think of was that queer story
told by Peter Rabbit and Unc' Billy Possum, and the scrape he had got
himself into by his foolish boasting. He just wandered about
restlessly, waiting for daybreak and hoping that something would turn
up to prevent him from going to Prickly Porky's hill. He didn't dare
to tell old Granny Fox about it. He knew just what she would say. It
seemed as if he could hear her sharp voice and the very words:
"Serves you right for boasting about something you don't know anything
about. How many times have I told you that no good comes of boasting?
A wise Fox never goes near strange things until he has found out all
about them. That is the only way to keep out of trouble and live to a
ripe old age. Wisdom is nothing but knowledge, and a wise Fox always
knows what he is doing."
So Reddy wandered about all the long night. It seemed as if it never
would pass, and yet he wished it would last forever. The more he
thought about it, the more afraid he grew. At last he saw the first
beams from jolly, round, red Mr. Sun creeping through the Green
Forest. The time had come, and he must choose between making his boast
good or being called a coward by everybody. Very, very slowly, Reddy
Fox began to walk towards the hill where Prickly Porky lives.
XII
WHAT REDDY FOX SAW AND DID
Who guards his tongue as he would keep
A treasure rich and rare,
Will keep himself from trouble free,
And dodge both fear and care.
The trouble with a great many people is that they remember this too
late. Reddy Fox is one of these. Reddy is smart and sly and clever in
some ways, but he hasn't learned yet to guard his tongue, and half the
trouble he gets into is because of that unruly member. You see it is a
boastful tongue and an untruthful tongue and that is the worst
combination for making trouble that I know of. It has landed him in
all kinds of scrapes in the past, and here he was in another, all on
account of that tongue.
Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun had kicked his rosy blankets off and was
smiling down on the Great World as he began his daily climb up in the
blue, blue sky. The Jolly Little Sunbeams were already dancing through
the Green Forest, chasing out the Black Shadows, and Reddy knew that
it was high time for him to be over by the hill where Prickly Porky
the Porcupine lives. With lagging steps he sneaked along from tree to
tree, peering out from behind each anxiously, afraid to go on, and
still more afraid not to, for fear that he would be called a coward.
He had almost reached the foot of the hill without seeing anything out
of the usual and without any signs of Unc' Billy Possum. He was just
beginning to hope that Unc' Billy wasn't there, as he had said he
would be, when a voice right over his head said:
"Ah cert'nly am glad to see that yo' are as good as your word, Brer
Fox, fo' we need some one brave like yo' to find out what this strange
creature is that has been chasing we-uns."
Reddy looked up with a sickly grin. There sat Unc' Billy Possum in a
pine tree right over his head. He knew now that there was no backing
out; he had got to go on. He tried to swagger and look very bold and
brave.
"I told you I'm not afraid. If there's anything queer around here,
I'll find out what it is," he once more boasted, but Unc' Billy
noticed that his voice sounded just a wee bit trembly.
"Keep right on to the foot of the hill; that's where Ah saw it
yesterday. My, Ah'm glad that we've got some one so truly brave!"
replied Unc' Billy.
Reddy looked at him sharply, but there wasn't a trace of a smile on
Unc' Billy's face, and Reddy couldn't tell whether Unc' Billy was
making fun of him or not. So, there being nothing else to do, he went
on. He reached the foot of the hill without seeing or hearing a thing
out of the usual. The Green Forest seemed just as it always had
seemed. Redeye the Vireo was pouring out his little song of gladness,
quite as if everything was just as it should be. Reddy's courage began
to come back. Nothing had happened, and nothing was going to happen.
Of course not! It was all some of Peter Rabbit's foolishness. Some day
he would catch Peter Rabbit and put an end to such silly tales.
"Ah! What was that?" Reddy's sharp ears had caught a sound up near the
top of the hill. He stopped short and looked up. For just a little wee
minute Reddy couldn't believe that his eyes saw right. Coming down
the hill straight towards him was the strangest thing he ever had
seen. He couldn't see any legs. He couldn't see any head. He couldn't
see any tail. It was round like a ball, but it was the strangest
looking ball that ever was. It was covered with old leaves. Reddy
wouldn't have believed that it was alive but for the noises it was
making. For just a wee minute he stared, and then, what do you think
he did? Why, he gave a frightened yelp, put his tail between his legs,
and ran just as fast as he could make his legs go. Yes, Sir, that's
just what Reddy Fox did.
[Illustration: Reddy wouldn't have believed that it was alive.
_Page 69._]
XIII
REDDY FOX IS VERY MISERABLE
When Reddy Fox put his tail between his legs and started away from
that terrible creature coming down the hill where Prickly Porky lives,
he thought of nothing but of getting as far away as he could in the
shortest time that he could, and so, with a little frightened yelp
with every jump, he ran as he seldom had run before. He forgot all
about Unc' Billy Possum watching from the safety of a big pine-tree.
He didn't see Jimmy Skunk poking his head out from behind an old stump
and laughing fit to kill himself. When he reached the edge of the
Green Forest, he didn't even see Peter Rabbit jump out of his path
and dodge into a hollow log.
When Reddy was safely past, Peter came out. He sat up very straight,
with his ears pointing right up to the sky and his eyes wide open with
surprise as he stared after Reddy. "Why! Why, my gracious, I do
believe Reddy has had a fright!" exclaimed Peter. Then, being Peter,
he right away began to wonder what could have frightened Reddy so, and
in a minute he thought of the strange creature which had frightened
him a few days before. "I do believe that was it!" he cried. "I do
believe it was. Reddy is coming from the direction of Prickly Porky's,
and that was where I got my fright. I--I--"
Peter hesitated. The truth is he was wondering if he dared go up there
and see if that strange creature without head, tail, or legs really
was around again. He knew it would be a foolish thing to do, for he
might walk right into danger. He knew that little Mrs. Peter was
waiting for him over in the dear Old Briar-patch and that she would
worry, for he ought to be there this very blessed minute. But he was
very curious to know what had frightened Reddy so, and his curiosity,
which has led him into so many scrapes, grew greater with every
passing minute.
"It won't do any harm to go part way up there," thought Peter.
"Perhaps I will find out something without going way up there."
So, instead of starting for home as he should have done, he turned
back through the Green Forest and, stopping every few hops to look and
listen, made his way clear to the foot of the hill where Prickly Porky
lives. There he hid under a little hemlock-tree and looked in every
direction for the strange creature which had frightened him so the
last time he was there. But nobody was to be seen but Prickly Porky,
Jimmy Skunk, and Unc' Billy Possum rolling around in the leaves at the
top of the hill and laughing fit to kill themselves.
"There's no danger here; that is sure," thought Peter shrewdly, "and I
believe those fellows have been up to some trick."
With that he boldly hopped up the hill and joined them. "What's the
joke?" he demanded.
"Did you meet Reddy Fox?" asked Jimmy Skunk, wiping the tears of
laughter from his eyes.
"Did I meet him? Why, he almost ran into me and didn't see me at all.
I guess he's running yet. Now, what's the joke?" Peter demanded.
When the others could stop laughing long enough, they gathered around
Peter and told him something that sent Peter off into such a fit of
laughter that it made his sides ache, "That's a good one on Reddy, and
it was just as good a one on me," he declared. "Now who else can we
scare?"
All of which shows that there was something very like mischief being
planned on the hill where Prickly Porky the Porcupine lives.
XIV
REDDY FOX TRIES TO KEEP OUT OF SIGHT
Never in all his life was Reddy Fox more uncomfortable in his mind. He
knew that by this time everybody in the Green Forest, on the Green
Meadows, around the Smiling Pool, and along the Laughing Brook, knew
how he had put his tail between his legs and run with all his might at
the first glimpse of the strange creature which had rolled down the
hill of Prickly Porky. And he was right; everybody _did_ know it, and
everybody _was_ laughing about it. Unc' Billy Possum, Jimmy Skunk,
Prickly Porky, and Peter Rabbit had seen him run, and you may be sure
they told everybody they met about it, and news like that travels
very fast.
It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't boasted beforehand that if
he met the strange creature he would wait for it and find out what it
was. As it was, he had run just as Peter Rabbit had run when he saw
it, and he had been just as much frightened as Peter had. Now, as he
sneaked along trying to find something to eat, for he was hungry, he
did his very best to keep out of sight. Usually he is very proud of
his handsome red coat, but now he wished that he could get rid of it.
It is very hard to keep out of sight when you have bright colored
clothes. Presently Sammy Jay's sharp eyes spied him as he tried to
crawl up on the young family of Mrs. Grouse. At once Sammy flew over
there screaming at the top of his lungs:
"Reddy Fox is very brave when there's no danger near;
But where there is, alas, alack! he runs away in fear."
Reddy looked up at Sammy and snarled. It was of no use at all now to
try to surprise and catch any of the family of Mrs. Grouse, so he
turned around and hurried away, trying to escape from Sammy's sharp
eyes. He had gone only a little way when a sharp voice called:
"Coward! Coward! Coward!" It was Chatterer the Red Squirrel.
No sooner had he got out out of Chatterer's sight than he heard
another voice. It was saying over and over:
"Dee, dee, dee! Oh, me, me!
Some folks can talk so very brave
And then such cowards be."
It was Tommy Tit the Chickadee. Reddy couldn't think of a thing to say
in reply, and so he hurried on, trying to find a place where he would
be left in peace. But nowhere that he could go was he free from those
taunting voices. Not even when he had crawled into his house was he
free from them, for buzzing around his doorway was Bumble Bee and
Bumble was humming:
"Bumble, grumble, rumble, hum!
Reddy surely can run some."
Late that afternoon old Granny Fox called him out, and it was clear to
see that Granny was very much put out about something. "What is this I
hear everywhere I go about you being a coward?" she demanded sharply,
as soon as he put his head out of the doorway.
Reddy hung his head, and in a very shamefaced way he told her about
the terrible fright he had had and all about the strange creature
without legs, head, or tail that had rolled down the hill where
Prickly Porky lives.
"Serves you right for boasting!" snapped Granny. "How many times have
I told you that no good comes of boasting? Probably somebody has
played a trick on you. I've lived a good many years, and I never
before heard of such a creature. If there were one, I'd have seen it
before now. You go back into the house and stay there. You are a
disgrace to the Fox family. I am going to have a look about and find
out what is going on. If this is some trick, they'll find that old
Granny Fox isn't so easily fooled."
XV
OLD GRANNY FOX INVESTIGATES
In-vest-i-gate is a great big word, but its meaning is very simple. To
in-vest-i-gate is to look into and try to find out all about
something. That is what old Granny Fox started to do after Reddy had
told her about the terrible fright he had had at the hill where
Prickly Porky lives.
Now old Granny Fox is very sly and smart and clever, as you all know.
Compared with her, Reddy Fox is almost stupid. He may be as sly and
smart and clever some day, but he has got a lot to learn before then.
Now if it had been Reddy who was going to investigate, he would have
gone straight over to Prickly Porky's hill and looked around and
asked sly questions, and everybody whom he met would have known that
he was trying to find out something.