^tatc QJoUegg of ;?^srtcttltutp 3^t QJorncU MttwerHttB atljata, 5f. 1- PZ 7 vygg^°f«"""i''"*«y Library Tommy-Anne and the three hearts, 3 1924 014 478 337 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014478337 TOMMY-ANNE THE THREE HEARTS The lives and habits of plants and animals, however fancifully treated in this book, are in strict accordance with the known facts of their existence. ''hg?)C^>(^o Tommy-Anne stood in the doorway tying // knot in the elastic of her hat. — p. 2. Frontispiece TOMMY-ANNE AND THE THREE HEARTS BY MABEL OSGOOD WEIGHT Author of "Biedceaft," "Tue Feiendship of Nature," etc. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS By ALBERT D. BLASHFIELD ¥efa gork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 1897 All rights reserved Copyright, 1896, bt the macmillan company. Set up and electrotyped October, iSg6. Reprinted November, 1896; January, November, 1897. @ ^ ^ ^ 9 4 s ^'^'" Noriuooft ^rcas J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Norwood Mass. U.S.A. Sri)ia tSoofe 10 IBcljicateli TO MY MOTHEE PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION Tommy- Anne and Waddles went out of doors to find Reason Why, and I have tried to tell you how they found him. The winds whispered to Tommy-Anne, and the birds sung to her ; she knew that they bore messages, but she could not understand them until Heart of Nature came to help her. Reason Why is always roving about the fields and woods, often creeping indoors, or sunning himself in winter in a warm garden corner. Go out and question him for yourselves, you healthy, happy children. If the weather is very cold, coax him in by the fireside. You will find that the Three Hearts are always ready to in- terpret for you, for the thing that they love best is the pure child-heart, whether its owner is seven or seventy. M. 0. W. Waldstein, Faiefield, Ct., Christmas Day, 1896. CONTENTS CHAPTEB PAGE I. The Magic Spectacles 1 II. How THE Gkass gkew 17 III. Cook Eobin's Cousins .... 44 IV. Snakes in the Gkass 72 V. Miou's Song 91 VI. The Legend of Opechee 99 VII. The Brotherhood of BniLDERS . . . 122 VIII. Undekgkound . ... 147 IX. ASPETUCK 179 X. The Flower Market 204 XI. The Forest Circus .... .236 XII. KO-KO-KO-HO AND THE BaD OnE . . 266 XIII. The Brush Beacons ... . . 280 XIV. The Snow Owl's Christmas Party . . .303 Ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Tommy-Anne and Waddles Frontispiece " Strange shapes slipping through the grass " 1 Tommy- Anne listening to the Voice 7 " ' Hush, Waddles 1 Down close ! I can hear the grass grow'" 16 '" Nut thief !' chattered the Squirrel " - 17 ♦'In the Moon of Falling Leaves" 20 " An acorn, with a crack in it " 26 "Waddles . . . shot down the hill " 29 Tommy-Anne and Rattle 32 " The Owl was roosting in a Yew tree outside a window " . 37 Rattle apologizes to the Jay 39 "He was coming up the slope . . . completely out of hreath" 41 Tiger and the ham bone 43 " The Sun was sulky " 44 The three Puk-Wudjies in the pie dish 48 " Waddles sneaked out of the room " 50 " The Sun was thinking of getting up " 52 Suggema, the Mosquito 53 "' I'm Johnny Wren ' " 55 " Down from the woods came a strange procession "... 58 "' Who says that Taw is wrong ' " 65 " The Nuthatch with the white vest " 68 Ma-ma, the black and white Woodpecker 71 xi xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE "The Bobolink balanced himself on a long blackberry cane" 72 " ' A pair of Ospreys that have been mated more than forty years' " 77 '" She let the field rats peer into her nest ' " 86 " ' It was my hat your wife was sewed to '" 90 " 'Two can play at that game,' said he" 91 Crotalus, the Rattlesnake 94 Tiger, the Miller's Cat 99 " 'You can see the tip of her beak and the end of her tail'" 107 The young Robins 108 Wenonah 114 Opechee 121 The Song-Sparrow coaxes the Oriole 122 Humpty Dumpty nests 128 '" One was a duck, the other a white rooster ' " 133 Mrs. Ruby-throat's nest 135 B. Oriole's nest 137 Tommy- Anne and the Oriole 142 '" We fell fluttering and struggling ' " 146 " Lac and Lactina disappeared under the wall " 147 The Moles fighting 154 " ' We are Sexton Beetles ' " 166 " A very puffy toad . . . attracted her attention " . . . 174 "' I have my eyes on the snakes,' . . . said a Weasel" . 176 Dahinda's children 179 Dahinda, the Drummer 190 Obi and the snake 196 Returning from the wood 203 The Moon Moth 204 Ruby-throat breakfasting on the roses 207 Gitche-ah-mo, the Bumble-bee 215 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii PAGE "'I am called Tiger Swallow-tail'" 219 The Monarch 223 '"It is a Flying Squirrel'" 236 " The Katydids next came out to sing " 236 Tommy-Anne and little Oo-oo 238 His Grace, the Great Auk ! 261 Dance by the Woodcock Brothers 253 " Each rider took his racing colour from an usher " . . . 257 Tommy -Anne and the Bear 261 '" The Rattlesnake is dead !' " 265 " ' Ko-ko-ko-ho, is that you ? ' " 271 "The Weasel, the Mink, and the Scent Cat danced out into the road" 279 The Eider Duck . . . . .280 " ' How is this ? ' asked the Fox, putting his handkerchief to his face " . . ... .... . 291 The foolish Coon 298 "A Polar Bear in a sealskin coat and cap, for a motor- man" 301 The Snow Owl and the bearskin rug 303 Obi bringing home the Christmas tree 306 The Spruce tree and its fruit 312 Sirius, the Dog Star . . 320 How Tommy-Anne kept the anniversary of The Three Hearts 322 INDIAN WORDS (Chiefly Algonkian) Adjidau'mo The Ked Squirrel. A'moe The Honey Bee. Bukada'win ITamine. Chetowaik The Plover. Dahin'da The Bull Frog. Ghee'zis The Sun. Gitohe-ah-mo The Bumble Bee. Gushkewau' The Darkness. Kabibonok'ka The North "Wind. Keeway'din . . The North "West "Wind. Ko'ko'ko'ho The Horned Owl. Little Oo-oo The Screech Owl. Mahng The Loon. Ma'ma The "Woodpecker. Miskodeed The Spring Beauty, Moon of Leaves May. Moon of Strawberries . . . June. Moon of Falling Leaves . . . September. Moon of Snow-Shoes . . . November. Mudjekee'wis The "West Wind. Ondaig . . The Crow. 0-o-chug The Fly. Ope'chee . The Eobin. Owais'sa . ... The Bluebird. XV xvi INDIAN WORDS Pau'guk Death. Pe'boan Winter. Puk-Wudj'ies Wild Men. Little van- isliing people. Segwun Spring. Shawonda'see The South Wind. Shaw'shaw The Swallow. Shi'sheeb The Duck. Subbeka'she The Spider. Sugge'ma The Mosquito. Tchin-dees The Jay. To'tem Coat of Arms. Wabas'so The Rabbit. The Spirit of the North. Wa'bun The East Wind. Wa'bun An'nung The Morning Star. Wabe'no The Magician. Wa'wa The Wild Goose. Waw'be'ko'ko The Snow Owl. Wawonais'sa The Whip-poor-wUl. Weeng The Spirit of Sleep. THE MAGIC SPECTACLES It was so bright out of doors that particular May morning that the house seemed very dark and lonely by comparison. But then, to be sure, Tommy-Anne never liked to stay indoors, and everything was beckoning and calling; so many strange birds winging over the garden, so many strange shapes slipping through the grass. The wind blowing from the hUl called : " Come out, if you wish to see things grow ! " whispering to the woods as it hurried through : " Make haste, old Oaks, unfurl your flags ; summer will soon be here." Tommy-Anne was not, as might be supposed, a pair of twins, but a little girl with no brothers or sisters. Her real name was Diana, which had B 1 2 TOMMY-ANNE been shortened to Anne. Then, as she could climb trees, preferred boys' games to dolls, and asked a great many questions about how things are made, her father called her Tommy-Anne in fun, and the name suited her so well that people very soon forgot that she had any other. Playing alone in the woods and garden, and doing her lessons seated on the big dictionary close by her father, as he worked in his study, Tommy- Anne had time to think of a great many whys and whats and becauses that very few people understood, and that no one seemed to have time to answer. Her Aunt Prue, who consid- ered Tommy- Anne as odd as her name, and was the only one of the family at home that day, told the child to "go out and try to be like other people," simply because she had asked a few particularly difficult whys. Tommy-Anne stood in the doorway, tying a knot in the elastic of her hat, and wondering why her hat would not stick on without being fastened, as the butcher-boy's did. Two odours perplexed her inquisitive nose, — cake in process of baking and a breath of the first apple blossoms. Without hesitating, she started in the direction of the orchard ; but her little rabbit-hound, Waddles, was more interested THE MAGIC SPECTACLES 3 in the cake. He raised his pointed muzzle in the air, sniffed, then gave a short bay and looked at his mistress appealingly. "No, it's not a bit of use. Waddles, wishing for things out of time, when Aunt Prue is at home alone. Aunt Prue says things must be as they are ordered. Now, that's all very well for things that one can't help, but why do people make unnecessary rules and say they must be kept just because they've been made? Cake is for supper and pudding for dinner. Waddles ! Never cake before dinner, and it's only after break- fast now. Did you ever have cake before dinner?" Whereupon Waddles looked very knowing, and gave a few short barks to signify that he believed that he had. "I suspect that you are a glutton, Mr. Wad- dles," Tommy- Anne continued. " Come, let's run up-hill, for you certainly are too fat and need exercise. Doesn't the air make you want to curl up your feet and make wings of your ears, and fly? What a lovely bat you would make, Waddlekins ! Twenty times as big as Dusky Wings, that comes out of the attic win- dow every night." And Tommy- Anne spread her arms and rushed up the slope, the hound fol- lowing her in full cry. 4 TOMMY-ANNE She dropped at the foot of the first tree that she reached, which happened to be an old white oak, and, after she stopped panting, pulled a handful of willow whistles, that the butcher-boy had made, from her pocket, and began sorting them into her lap. She blew each one in turn, but was dissatisfied with them all. "If I only understood the birds' language, then they would answer me," she said. "Bob-white! Bob-white!" called a quail from the brush lot. " Ah ! that is plain enough ; he is telling me his name. I can talk to him." " Bob-white ! " she blew clearly on her longest whistle. For several minutes Tommy- Anne and the quail exchanged greetings, and then he changed his note to — "Poor Bob-white." "Poor Bob-white" — she answered readily. " He must be trying to tell me about his unfort- unate relations who were killed by the gunners last fall. No, that can't be it either ; I'm all boggled up. He is talking my language, but I'm not learning his a bit," and she stretched her- self on the moss, her chin on her hands. "I wish I knew why" sighed Tommy-Anne, looking up through the branches. THE MAGIC SPECTACLES 5 " Why what ? " said a Voice close beside her. "Why everything," she replied, looking about, expecting to see the owner of the voice. The house stood quite below her, the garden and orchard coming between. In the other direction trees, in sociable groups of twos and threes, straggled along until they crowded to- gether to make the wood at the top of the hill. It was very still for a moment ; she could hear the river bubbling over the stones beyond the high- way, the horse stamping as he shifted his footing in the stable. "This is very queer," said Tommy- Anne, ad- dressing Waddles, who was lying at her feet. " Didn't you hear some one speak ? Why don't you bark, sir ? " She walked around the oak and toward the wood, but finding no one, returned to her seat, and leaning her back against the tree, said more earnestly than before, "I do wish I knew " Why What ? " said the Voice, very much louder than before. Tommy-Anne jumped to her feet and looked at the great Oak, for the Voice came from that direc- tion. All that could be seen was the furrowed trunk, whose bark was split and scarred by 6 TOMMY-ANNE weather and decay. She put her ear to a little crack and listened. " Yes, I am here," said the Voice ; " I was here before. Why is it that when you House People look for a clue, you search the corners of the earth for what is close at home ? We Wood Folk know that as a trail ends in cover it cannot begin in the open." "Really, really I don't know," said Tommy- Anne, in confusion. " I never heard a tree talk before, and I was looking for a person, you see." " I am not a tree," said the Voice, " though I seem to be living in one now." "Oh, I am so glad," she cried. "Because if you are clever enough to get into a tree, perhaps you can tell me some whys. " I should be very glad to help you to get out. Please, how shall I begin ? Shall I scoop a hole in the tree with my knife ? It's a rather slow knife, though." The Voice did not answer for several minutes, and then it sounded directly in her ear. "What are the things you want to know, Tommy- Anne ? " it said. " All the whys and whats and becauses, the rea- sons for things," she answered eagerly. " But how did you know my name when I don't know yours ? " She put her ear to a little crack and listened. — p. 6. 7 THE MAGIC SPECTACLES 9 " That is easily told," said the Voice ; " I have often heard your father calling you." " Of course ! how stupid of me ! I might have known that, for if it had been Aunt Prue that you heard, she would have said Di-a-n-a, and you would never have guessed that my usual name is Tommy-Anne. " I want to know so many things," she contin- ued. "Everything about the garden and the woods, the water and the sky. If the flowers are sorry that they can't move about, and what they think of ; where the birds spend the winter, and why they sing before they go to sleep. I want to know what all the noises are, that I hear in the woods when it is dark ; why the rain does not put the fireflies' lights out, and where the butterflies come from. Then there is the river, too ; it always says the same thing when it tum- bles over the dead willow below the bridge ; it seems as if I must understand it." " If you wish to know so many things, Tommy- Anne," said the Voice, " you must go to Why- land and see for yourself, for there everything tells its own story, and each one sees and hears what he most desires." " Whyland, thy land, Away in the cannibal island I " 10 TOMMr-ANNE she repeated. " The Butcher-boy knows a song that goes something like that, only I am not very sure of the words. Is it near Wonderland, where Alice met the mad March Hare and the Cheshire Cat? Or by Fairyland, where Riquet with the Tuft and the Sleeping Beauty lived? Perhaps it is the North Country, where the Storks build their nests on the chimney stones, and the poor little Tin Soldier floated down the gutter, and the Street Lamp was so sad ? " " No, Tommy- Anne ; the people in Whyland are real people, though their speech is so strange to the House People that they think it fairy talk. Whyland covers the whole earth ; and though I am a ruler in it, yet there are different interpreters to teach its languages, for no one may learn them all. " You are a thoughtful child (the heedless can never learn even one of these languages), so you may learn the speech of the nearest corner and the ways of its people, and see them through the Magic Spectacles, that give both sight and hear- ing to those who wear them." "Magic Spectacles?" " Yes, surely ; for no one can more than peep into Whyland without them, and then it seems a dreary place — all facts and figures like the mul- tiplication table. THE MAGIC SPECTACLES H "In Whyland the talk I would teach you is of the Nbaeby ! The speech of the small river ; of the Fox that drinks of it ; of the "Water Snake that spreads its dark folds on the overhanging grape-vine ; of the Red Squirrel in the corn- crib ; of the Mole tunnelling the garden path ; of the Woodchuck slinking through the field ; of the Coon in his tree hollow ; and the Wild Cat that creeps to the wood edge at the first snow- fall. "The talk of the feathered brothers as they follow the year around, from the first Bluebird to the great Snowy Owl that comes when the Christmas trees are trimmed. "You shall learn the language of the flowers that you tie for a bouquet, of the ferns that live in the deep woods, and are so shy that they speak only to the mosses ; you shall hear the tales that the old trees tell, as they rock to and fro croon- ing. The brotherhood that I may teach you of, is of the Beehive and The Little Beasts Near Home." "What must I take with me to Whyland, dear Tree Man ? " asked Tommy- Anne. " You need not carry anything but your mind ; for without that you cannot see even through the Magic Spectacles." 12 TOMMY-ANNE " Oh ! I know one what already," she cried, clapping her hands after a little habit of her own, because very often when she was glad she had no one to tell it to ; "I know what absent- minded means, now. It is not to see what is straight under your nose, because your thinker is somewhere else ! Dear Mr. Tree Man, please, please, tell me your real name and what the Magic Spectacles are made of, and how long I may wear them. I thought that magic things were not really-trulies." "The House People have a habit of calling many things that they cannot understand with their every-day eyes, magical or untrue, but I cannot tell you how the Magic Spectacles are made until you have worn them. While you have them on you will understand the speech of beasts and birds, while they will not fear you; and you shall wear these spectacles until Christ- mas eve. " Remember ! the pass-word in this new world is Brotherhood ! " A breeze blew Tommy-Anne's hair about her face, and as she shook it back and tucked the curly ends under the ribbon, everything appeared to be more distinct, and she heard a babel of soft voices. THE MAGIC SPECTACLES 13 " The Magic Spectacles ! I have the Magic Spec- tacles, though I can't feel them," she cried, put- ting her hands to her eyes. Looking up, she saw an old man standing where the Oak tree had been. At least, she thought at the first glance that he was old, because everything about him seemed gray ; when she looked again, she saw that it was not the gray of age, but rather the colour of the pearly mist that follows the spring rains and makes the earth bud forth. His face was kindly, though many varying expres- sions passed over it, some tender, some very stern. Tommy- Anne was puzzled ; it was unlike any face that she had ever seen before. " Are you very old, Tree Man ? " she asked timidly. "I have lived a great many years, if that is what you mean by being old. But if you under- stand age as nearing the end of life as you know it, then I am young." " Your name ; please tell me your real name before you go," begged Tommy-Anne, as she saw that the form of the Tree Man was melting away in the branches of the Oak. Pausing a moment, he said : " Listen chUd ; there are Three Hearts that together rule every- thing, the seen and the unseen: each has a law 14 TOMMY-ANNE and language of its own, which you will learn in time. I am one of these rulers, though not the greatest, and my name is — Heart of Nature." Then the great Oak stood alone, and through all the treetops there ran a mysterious whisper: " Heart o' Nature ! Heart o' Nature ! " " We are in great luck, aren't we, Waddles ? " said Tommy- Anne, after a long silence. "I do not think I understand exactly what the Tree Man means about the Three Hearts, but I sup- pose he will tell me before next Christmas. Oh, Waddles dear ! when we can ask as many ques- tions as we please and have them answered, donH you think it will be very hard to have to go into the house at night ? " "The Tree Man did not say that you must not ask questions in the house." " No ; I don't remember that he did ; but I hardly think it would be polite in us to trouble the beasts and things to come so far from home ; and suppose Aunt Prue was to see them ! Of course we can talk to the mice, and there are sometimes nice big ants in the sugar- jar, but we had better save those for rainy days." " I do not mind staying out all night, if it's moonlight, but I do hope you will not forget THE MAGIC SPECTACLES 15 dinner time ; you often do now," said the hound, with a sigh. " Why ! how plainly you can answer me, " cried Tommy-Anne, in delight ; " I never un- derstood more than half that you used to say." " No, mistress, you did not" said Waddles, complacently. " You never would understand, though I kept saying the same thing over and over again. I always had to push and jump, make faces or wag my tail, before you would attend to me. That is the reason why I some- times helped myself, to save you trouble; but your aunt always mistakes my motives and cuffs my ears. "By the way, now that we understand each other, would you mind telling your aunt never to cuff my ears ? You cannot tell how it up- sets my brain and makes it roar until tears come in my eyes, and all day long I can hardly tell a rat from a rabbit, and then you scold me and call me dumpish. An ache in ears like mine is ten times as big as it is in little ones like yours. Yet, when you have an earache you go to bed and have a nice, soft, hot-water bag to comfort it, while most likely / end the day in the wood-house." And Waddles looked up at Tommy-Anne with a very sad expression in his great brown eyes. 16 TOMMY-ANNE " Oh, doggie ! " she cried, standing him up on his hind legs and squeezing his cold nose against her cheek, while she drew his silky ears gently through her hand. "I've pulled you about by these often, but I'll never do it again ; I'm so sorry." Whereupon Waddles gave her a forgiv- ing little kiss, which, according to the best dog etiquette, was a dainty lick on the end of her nose. As Tommy-Anne stooped over him, she heard a faint sound coming from the ground. Press- ing her ear to the sod, she laid her finger on her lips, whispering, " Hush, Waddles ! Down close ! I can hear the grass grow ! " ■0 II HOW THE GRASS GREW " Push, thrust ! Push, thrust ! Now all to- gether ! " whispered the small voices. " Jump up. Waddles, quick ! " cried Tommy- Anne. "See what you've been sitting on." Waddles raised himself slowly from force of habit, for his mistress seldom stayed long in one place, and gave a sly smile as if he knew per- fectly well that he was sitting on grass, if she did not. " Pray do not disturb yourselves ; I am quite used to being crushed ; I rather like it," said a little voice, which Tommy- Anne found proceeded from a blade of grass. "I have some visitors here, however, from the Oak, Beech, and Fir families that feel quite differently." c 17 18 TOMMY-ANNE Looking at what seemed to be merely a stretch of rather dead sod, to which the colour of spring was coming very slowly, Tommy- Anne saw innu- merable little spikes like green bayonets, pricking through the brown mat, and as they came up, they called encouragingly to each other. Here and there, between this young grass, appeared the sprouts of stronger plants, some bearing a pair of long, saw-edged leaves pressed together, like hands, palm to palm ; others shooting out a half-dozen green spokes at the top of the stem, like a wheel that lacked the tire. Made bold by the humble manner of the grass, Tommy-Anne asked, " Why are you so late in coming up? The grass in the garden and past- ure was green long ago, and down by the river it has been bright all winter." "For two reasons," said the nearest Grass-blade, shivering a little as it straightened its bayonet. " We are all new here, fresh from the seed, and we are late because the sun forgot to call us." " Why did the old grass die? It was thick and strong last summer and grew all in little bunches. Waddles and I used often to sit upon it. Do you think that it was discouraged?" "No, not that; but in this place last Moon of Snow-Shoes, Kabibonokka and Shawondasee HOW THE GRASS GREW. 19 fought their great battle, and where they fight the grass is blasted, the bushes shrivel, and even the great oaks themselves bud forth but grudgingly." "Who are Kabibonokka and Shawondasee, and what is the Moon of Snow-Shoes ? " asked Tommy- Anne, with deep interest. "Pardon me," said the Grass-blade, politely ; " I forgot that in our language we still have some names and words that the House People do not use. We learned them from the Red Brothers, the first men who lived with us here, and they understood our secrets, speaking our speech until our language mixed itself with theirs and theirs with ours, and we remember a word from this tribe, another from that. Moon of Snow-Shoes means November, and was in those days the beginning of the season you call winter. Then the deep snows coming early cover everything, so that none could go abroad unless on snow shoes, whose wide, flat, latticed soles slid safely on the crust, and in this way the Red Brothers followed the Fox and Rabbit trails in — " Here Waddles raised his head, uttered a series of bays that could be heard for miles, circling about the great Oak, head down, as if he was mad; then threw himself on the grass, rolling and whin- ing petulantly. 20 TOMMY-ANNE " I was very thouglitless," sighed the Grass-blade, con- tritely, "to mention snow and Rabbits before a Rabbit hound ; no wonder it was too much for his feelings. But where were we ? " " You were explaining about the things that fought and killed the grass." " Oh yes ! Kabibonokka is the North Wind, and Sha- wondasee, his rival, the South Wind. The South Wind always has Gheezis, the Sun, for his companion, while the North Wind keeps with him Gushkewau, the short dark days, Wabasso, the Snow Rabbit, the spirit of the North ; while fol- lowing them, trampling down the Wood Folk, often stalk Bukadawin, Famine, and Pauguk, Death. " All plants have blood in them the same as the House People and other animals, only plant blood is very seldom red, but pale and greenish, and you call it sap. In the Moon of Falling Leaves, which is the first month of your autumn, Kabi- HOW THE GRASS GREW 21 bonokka begins to murmur afar off, and the tree blood, hearing the sound, creeps from the branches to the trunk, and from the trunk down to the roots beneath the ground, to stay there lest it should freeze while Kabibonokka reigns. " Then the leaves, having no blood to fill their veins and nourish them, drop off and dry away. So Kabibonokka, coming, cries out, ' See how Shawondasee fears me. All the leaves that sang to him have fallen before me, trembling; all the flowers that he wreathed about him are pale and dead with fear. Even his mate, the sun god Gheezis, hastens away and leaves short days to harbour Bukadawin and Pauguk. " ' Come back, soft Summer Wind, with tender muscles. Come back, thou, pink-lipped with strawberry-eating. I, even I, the North Wind, will wrestle with you for your strengthening! ' " Now the plant blood should stay beneath the ground, until Heart of Nature calls the South Wind back, and bids the Sun shine through the earth and say, ' Up ! up ! flow up, green sap, and swell the buds to make the Moon of Leaves,' — your spring. " But sometimes Shawondasee is lingering too near, and hears Kabibonokka's challenge, and breaking the law, comes back to fight, and then 22 TOMMY-ANNE this evil happens, for evil always follows the breach of Nature's laws. "Listen! The North Wind whistles, the sap runs down ; the South Wind calls, the sap starts to flow upward, thinking its sleep is over. Then upward, downward, while the battle lasts, it goes, until finally, Kabibonokka, satisfied, takes the Snow Owl on his shoulder, and leads Peboan, the Winter, to the northland. " Then Shawondasee calls again, this time in earnest ; but the poor sap, weak and tired (and in the small plants spent and lifeless), answers him slowly, even in the sturdy trees crawling but feebly, not having force to reach the topmost branches, finding in its course many buds, both dead and dying. Then the House People say, ' Look at that treetop ; it is winter-killed ! ' And when this happens, all the hope of life for tender things is in the seed. "When Heart of Nature is obeyed, then all goes rightly. Kabibonokka and Peboan come to- gether bringing the White Owls with them, and the snow falls thick and covers everything so deeply that the South Wind flies before it, and the tree blood, hearing no disputing, waits in peace." ' " Dear Mr. Grass," said Tommy- Anne, " how HOW THE GRASS GREW 23 could a tiny seed sucli as you come from, live through this great fight? I helped my father sow some of you last fall, down in the new meadow, and you were like specks of dust." "Yes; we are only dust-motes borne by the breeze. We were of the seed you scattered, and the wind swept us here under this Oak." " But," persisted she, " why didn't you grow then like the other seeds ? why did you wait so long?" "Because, little House Child, the first lesson we bits of plant life have to learn is — when and how to wait. ' ' We cannot move from place to place and shift our homes like the animals, according to the seasons and the weather ; so from first to last, waiting is our portion. " The little seed, lying on the ground, waits for the rain and sun to touch it before it may swell and grow ; the plant waits for the roots to suck nourishment from the earth and air before it can form the flower ; the flower, spreading glowing colours to the sun, or wafting perfume through the night, waits for the Bee, the Butterfly, the Hummingbird, the Moth, to bring it food to fill the little seed germs that it holds within its heart. And, last of all, the bursting pod waits 24 TOMMY-ANNE for the wind, the birds, the hand of man, to scatter the seeds afar, lest, falling too close about the parent plant, they choke for lack of soil. "Back in the Moon of Falling Leaves, -when we were blown here to this barren spot, if we had sprouted like our brothers in the warm sheltered meadow, the first rain, gullying down the slope, would have washed us out before we had firm footing. The Voice said wait until the sun looks backward toward the west at evening and shines full on you from between the birches. For many weeks the clouds hung low, but yesterday the sun remembered us at last, and to-day you see that we are here." " Who do you mean by the Voice ? Was it the Tree Man who gave me the Magic Spec- tacles?" " Yes, the very same, — Heart of Nature." " What do you think of this. Waddles dear, or did you know all about it before ? " said Tommy- Anne. " No, Mistress, I never bothered the grass with such questions ; we always talk upon a different subject. I put my nose down close and whisper, ' What beast tracked through here last, and which way did he run ? ' The grass always an- HOW THE GRASS GREW 25 swers me truly — 'this way or that.' If I do not tree the cat or find the rabbit burrow, it is sure to be because you call me back. " The Tree Man told you that in Whyland each one heard what he wished to hear the most, so you hear the grass say a great many whys, but I hear Oats and Habbits." " Get up, you lazy Waddles, and see if we can find the little trees that do not like to be trodden on. Yes, here is one, I am sure ; only you have broken it almost off. I wonder what it would have grown to be." "An Oak tree," said a vigorous little voice; " a white Oak like the big one overhead." Tommy- Anne, looking intently, saw many ten- der, pinkish green sprouts coming from the ground, each with a few long, wave-edged leaves along its stems. One of them was stretching his leaves and talking. "Tell me," she asked, "how did you grow so much quicker than the grass ? You look very strong and juicy." "With pleasure. Tommy- Anne," it replied. " Pull up the broken sprout, and I will endeavour to explain." She drew herself together quite unconsciously, and pulling up the broken tree, held it in her 26 TOMMY-ANNE hand. The Oak's voice was pleasant, but it spoke with authority, not humbly like the grass. For an Oak, no matter how small, never forgets its dignity, never whispers like a Birch, or titters and flutters like an Aspen. " What have you in your hand ? " it continued. " An acorn, with a crack in it, and a sprout growing up with leaves on it, and a sprout growing down with little hairs on it," she replied; for she had been taught by her father to see and answer accurately; "but please don't ask me whys and hecauses, for I don't know anything, — no, not one thing." " People who ask so many whys and whats must answer sometimes to show that they understand ; and if you understand me you will know how all trees grow," said the Oak, proudly. " I was a little speck of oak life, shut up in an acorn like the one you have in your hand. In it I fell to the ground last season, before the leaves. About me in the acorn was packed nice sweet food, to nourish me in growing until my roots could feed me from the earth. "A while ago the Voice called, and at the HOW THE GKASS GREW" 27 sound my heart swelled so with gladness that I burst the shell. The sun called one way, and the moist earth the other ; so I reached upward with a hand and groped downward with a foot, though still anchored by the acorn. The sun warmed me, but as yet I could not feed myself, and lived upon the food wrapped up for me, until to-day. Look ! now I have a rooting in the soil, and leaves to catch the dew, and I have eaten every bit of my food — the acorn -shell is empty ! So is it with all seeds. Of all the plants that creep or climb or float upon the water, great or small, tree or bush, the seed birth is the same." Tommy- Anne sat still for a long time, her face between her hands ; in fact, she was so still that Waddles became nervous and poked his nose into her face anxiously, saying : " Why don't you speak to something else, mistress? This Oak is very gloomy and not over-polite. I should think, after saying so much about food, the least thing it could do would be to offer us something to eat." "Be still. Waddles ; what if it should hear you? Don't you know that Aunt Prue says it is awful to ask for anything to eat if you are visiting, even if you are shrivelling with hunger. The most you may hint at even is a glass of water." 28 TOMMY-ANNE "Who is visiting, mistress — we or the Oak?" persisted Waddles, sturdily. "It is our ground, you know." "Then the Oaks must be our guests, and we must be very nice to them." " I don't see why ; we did not invite them to come." " For shame. Waddles ! Aren't you enough of a gentleman to know that you must be extra polite to the people you didn't invite, so that they will feel comfortable, and not know that there is not quite enough for dinner until they get to the table ? " " I don't see what all that has to do with the — " " Tommy- Anne," interrupted the Oak, "if that small dog of yours thinks he is hungry again, there is Adjidaumo, the Red Squirrel, that lives in the big Oak, whom he might try to catch for amusement ; and if he is really hungry, why doesn't he dig up the ham bone he buried in the orchard this morning? It was a fine bone, with good meat upon it. The Blacksmith's cat, Tiger, is smelling around the spot now" Up jumped Waddles, his tail standing out like a pump handle, and casting a reproachful look at the tell-tale tree, and a shamefaced one at his mistress, he shot down the hill. HOW THE GRASS GREW 29 "Then Waddles really did steal that ham, as Aunt Prue said," mused Tommy- Anne to herself. "Never mind; it will take him some time to chase the cat, and I can talk a little longer with the Oak. I don't think it was offended." So she said, " Will you please tell me where the flowers get the food that they pack in the seeds' lunch baskets ? " "That is not for me child. That story belongs to the mes- sengers of Flowerland, Hummingbird and the Moon Moth. They will tell it to you when they guide you through the Flower Market and to the Land of Nod." " The Flower Market and the Land of Nod ! Oh, where are they ? Are they places in Why- land?" " Yes ; they are in Whyland ; the Flower Market is where the Flowers live, from spring to leaf-fall. The Land of Nod is where the Flowers close their eyes and go to sleep. " If you wish to go to the Flower Market, wait 30 TOMMY-ANNE early in the morning by the tulips in the garden, and when a Hummingbird comes by, wearing a patch of sparkling rubies on his throat, gather a bunch of single tulips and offer them to him, saying, ' Will you breakfast on my flowers, and take me with you to the Flower Market?' " If he feeds upon the tulips, then you may follow him. " But if you wish to visit the Land of Nod, then stand at sunset on the garden's border, and presently a great green Moth with moon- light-coloured wings will flutter past. Hold out your hand and whisper softly : ' Moon Moth, may I go with you to the Land of Nod ? ' If he lights upon your hand, then you may follow him." Tommy- Anne clasped her hands and looked up at the sky, with a little smile of deep content. This smile meant also gratitude, for she was very grateful. " A few more questions ; may I ask a very few more ? " she said shyly, as if afraid that even an Oak might grow tired of whys. " With pleasure," it answered, " if they are about trees. The fact is I am very young and have not had time to learn much, but of course I know all the history of our best tree families." " Well, Mr. Rattle, what have you to say ? " — p. 33- 32 HOW THE GRASS GREW 33 " Thank you, dear patient little Oak ! I will put some sticks around you, so that no one shall crush you until you grow big enough to stand by yourself. You fell from the great Oak above ; but how did the other trees, that I see in the grass, come here? I am sure that there are no others with leaves like theirs, nearby." " Pr-r-r-r-ink ! Pr-r-r-ink. Pr-u-p ! Pr-u-p ! Pr-r-r-ink," chattered a voice from a branch of the great Oak that reached over Tommy-Anne's head. She knew before looking up that it was Adjidaumo, the Red Squirrel, who was talking and scolding. There he sat, his tail curved up over his back, his round ears twitching, his poppy eyes gazing several ways at once, while he munched at a bunch of apple blossoms that he held between his front paws. "Pr-r-r-ink ! Pr-r-r-r-r ! " he called again, turn- ing suddenly about, so that he faced her. "Well, Mr. Rattle, what have you to say? Do you know how the seeds of the other trees came here," she asked, shaking her finger at him, for they were old friends. " Certainly I do ; that is, of a part of them at least. I live in a hole under this tree, and my nest is up in the cedar yonder ; and often 34 TOMMY-ANNE when I've been to market over in the hickories above the river, or in the chestnuts behind the mill, and carry a great load home, I drop some of the nuts, and they grow. " I don't think you know how hard I have to work sometimes, mistress, to get in our winter store of food. I carried four quarts of chestnuts, two nuts at a time, from over the river, and that wicked little dog of yours chased me every time I crossed your garden wall." " He isn't a wicked dog ; father says it is his nature to chase little beasts for food." "Yes, for food. We all may take what we need to eat. Heart of Nature allows that. But Waddles is never really hungry ; he has learned bad habits of the House People, and chases for sport, to see us run, as they do. We understand what hunger is and know all its ex- cuses, but our law is like the Red Brother's, — 'take what ye need to eat.' " Many a weary run I've had across the open, half choking, with my cheeks stuffed out with nuts, the dog behind, and not a tree to save me. One thing comforts me ; I've dropped so many chestnuts on the way that a forest will surely grow there to shelter my great-grandchildren. Pr-r-r-r-ut ! Pr-r-ink ! " laughed Rattle. HOW THE GRASS GREW 35 "You brought me further than from the mill woods," said a thin, piping voice. " I sprouted two years ago, and I was so lonely, but I'm very thin and small, hardly bigger than my brothers of this spring." "Who are you?" said Tommy- Anne. "Are you a tree ? You and your brothers look like little whisps of moss." " A tree ? of course I am, and a very important tree too ; — a Christmas tree, — or at least my mother was." And the little Spruce paused proudly, as if nothing more could be said in its praise. " Then you must have come from Wild Cat Moun- tain ; Christmas trees do not grow any nearer," she replied, looking down with great respect at the few dark green bristles that represented the tree. " Yes, our family has lived there for centuries ; I was a seed in a cone that Rattle brought home ; he stripped it and ate all the other seeds, then dropped the cone, thinking it finished; that is why there is only one of me. Last year cones were in plenty. Rattle was careless, and scat- tered so many about here that now I have many companions." " They do not grow as the Oak did ; they have six little green fingers instead of leaves." 36 TOMMY-AMTE " Certainly, our family follows its own cus- toms. Every respectable plant family has its own habits, shape, and colours. In some the leaves are broad, in some narrow ; in some the veins run up and down, and in others across, like spider webbing (you will learn our laws in the Flower Market). In one thing we are all alike ; — We all have roots, and we come from the spark of life that our mothers pack into the seed lunch baskets." " Oh, oh ! I see," said Tommy-Anne ; " the food that Rattle finds in the nuts and cones was packed away to feed the plant life while it grew. " But if I were you, little Spruce, I Avould rather stay out in the wood and grow tall, so that I could see over the hills to salt water, than be cut down for a Christmas tree when I was quite young." " Tommy- Anne, have you never seen a Christ- mas tree, that you should talk so ? The Snow Owl has seen one ! He told my grandmother about it, and our family have never since com- plained when House People come and cut our brethren down after the first snow. He saw it in the great house in the village, the one where people go on Sundays, wearing their best clothes. The house that points up to the sky with one HOW THE GRASS GREW 37 long, white finger. The Owl was roosting in a Yew tree outside a window, when a bright light shone out into the dark, and he was about to fly away, fearing some trap or magic, when he saw inside this house one of our family all blooming with such flowers as the Snow Owl never saw before. He said the tree bore gold and silver fruit instead of dingy cones, and that a great star, bigger than Sirius, the winter watchman, hung on the top, and that lights more brilliant than the fires of the north spangled the branches. Then he said that House People and their children came and sang songs to the tree and did it homage. He promised to come back and tell us more, if ever he could go inside the house and see it closer." " You dear little Spruce ! I have a Christmas tree every year ; and now that I understand the speech of Whyland, I will invite the Snow Owl and all his friends to come and see it lighted." Rattle grew jealous of the attention the tree was receiving and began to chatter again. Just 38 TOMMY-ANNE then a fine blue bird, with a pointed cap and black collar, flew near, crying in a harsh voice, "Jay, Jay ! " as if anxious to tell his name, and dropped on the branch close to Rattle, who was beginning to eat a fresh bunch of apple blossoms. " Egg sucker ! " screamed the Jay. " Nut thief ! " chattered the Squirrel, humping his back with rage. " Where are my four fine fresh eggs ? " shrieked the bird. " Where are my first quality beech nuts ? " squeaked the Squirrel. And without more ado they began to fight desperately. " Stop, you horrid things ! " called Tommy- Anne, resolutely. " You are both wrong. Father says people mostly are when they fight, and that they do it because they can't make excuses even to themselves. " Stop this minute, or I will tell the butcher- boy where you live, and he will hunt you away. Re can find anything, even a Hummingbird's nest." This dreadful threat ended tlie quarrel, and the fighters began very meekly to explain ; but an- other voice coming from the grass said, "The Jay did not, steal the nuts ; he gathered them him- self from the top of the great Beech tree on the HOW THE GRASS GREW 39 lawn. I ought to know, because I am one of them that he dropped." "Yes, we are some that he dropped," said all the little Beech trees in chorus. " Then," said Rattle, bowing politely to the Jay, with one hand on his heart, " I will say that / did not sack your eggs. It was Kaw- Ondaig, the lame-winged Crow, who did it. I saw him this morning when I was leaping through the treetops for exercise. But you need not make such a fuss about it, Tchin, for you know those eggs would never have hatched, because you and your wife let them grow cold yesterday, while you were worrying that Warbler who wished to build on the ground under your tree. Poor Kaw is old and feeble and cannot go out with the flock down to the cornfields, or over to the shore for mussels. Think twice before you try to make a fight over bad eggs, friend Tchin ! " Tommy-Anne asked the Jay, after he had grown quiet, if he could introduce her to any birds of his acquaintance and tell her where they nested. He, however, seemed to be very 40 TOMMY-ANNE uncomfortable, and after hesitating a long time said : — "Mistress Tommy- Anne, the fact is I am not very popular with my tribe ; they suspect me of sometimes meddling with their nests, and so keep their secrets from me. One thing I do know, however: to-morrow is an anniversary day in Bird- land. Be early in the meadow between the river and wood, and you will see and hear enough, I promise you. Be early, mind ! " And Tchin (which was the Red Brother's name for him) flew away silently enough, as he can when he wishes. " Aren't you ashamed of yourself now ? " said Tommy- Anne to Rattle. "Not a bit, not a bit! Somebody stole my nuts," he blustered. " You were both wrong," she continued; "for you could not prove what you said ; and by the way, pray why are you eating those apple blossoms ? " " I need variety, missy, the same as the House People. Nuts are my meat, but sometimes I like a fresh Qgg or a flower salad." And he continued munching the fleshy base of the blossoms that would some day have grown into apples. " For shame ! Rattle, I shall make you move away if you act so. Father will not let any one HOW THE GRASS GREW 41 rob nests or hurt anything on his land ; do you hear, sir ? " " Look at Waddles ! look at Waddles ! " cried Rattle, half in surprise and half to divert atten- tion from himself. Indeed, Waddles seemed to be very sad and quite spent. He was coming up the slope pain- fully and completely out of ■ breath, his tongue hanging out, his head down. Great bunches of burdock seeds fringed his tail, making it look like a bit of frayed rope, while his usually smooth white coat was rough and muddy, and his black and tan ears gray with dust. Tommy-Anne ran to meet him, half sorry and half inclined to scold. "Was the ham bone good?" she asked. "Eating it seems to have been very hard work. Or perhaps you have been burying it in a safer place out of the cat's reach. You know Tiger can dig very deep, and her claws are very sharp." "I didn't eat the ham," gasped Waddles, be- tween his pantings. " Tiger has it ; she is a terrible cat, almost as big as a cow, and her claws are as long as pitchforks." Here he lifted 42 TOMMY-ANNE his lovely little face to show deep scratches on his nose. " You poor dear ! " moaned Tommy -Anne, hug- ging him. " Vm sorry for your nose ; but the next time you won't steal ham and have to hide it in an out-of-the-way place for Tiger's benefit, will you? " Think," said she ; " I have heard part of a secret since you have been away, and I can't know the whole of it until to-morrow. Tchin, the Jay, said, ' Be in the meadow between the river and the woods very early. ^ " Remember, Waddles ! very early ! Oh, what if it should rain ! " Boom ! boom ! sounded the dinner gong down at the house. Waddles brightened up and cocked his ears so suddenly that Tommy- Anne laughed outright, and said mockingly: "So you wish some dinner ; I thought that perhaps you would rather stay here and wait for Tiger to bring the ham bone back. " No, you would rather come with me ? Then wash your face and make yourself a bit tidy." The dog began obediently to lick his paw and make a sponge of it to clean his smutty nose. Boom ! bang ! but this time the sound was followed by a clear, melodious whistle. HOW THE GRASS GREW 43 " Hurry, Waddles ; don't prink any more ; don't you hear the whistle? Father and mother have come home early ; now there may be pudding and cake for dinner." She answered the call with a shrill yoh-yoh-yoh cry, that was a combination of Screech Owl and Indian war-whoop, — a sound that had been very useful to her more than once when she was lost in the far-away woods, — ■ and then hurried to the house, turning Tchin's words " To- morrow early" into a merry song. Ill COCK EOBiN's cousiisrs That night it rained. The Sun was sulky and out of sorts when it went down, and whispered crossly to Mudjekeewis, the West Wind, who went about repeating it among the trees on Wild Cat Mountain, scolding and jostling them until the great pines shook with rage. The clouds rolled uneasily, the fierce winds of the upper air meddled, and tossed them hither and thither until they bumped into each other recklessly, and at every bump they growled like drums. The House People said, " Hear the thunder." Angry sparks flashed from between 44 COCK EOBIN'S COUSINS 45 the clouds, streaking down the sky, forking and blazing like molten metal in the forge mould. The time between the flash and the blows grew shorter, and the House People said, " The storm is coming nearer ; see the lightning ! " A few big drops of rain fell to try how dry the ground was. The earth sent up a little whiff of dust and cried, " Come, I am thirsty ! " and the rain shook itself from the grasp of the clouds. Tommy-Anne sat on her father's knee by the open study window. Waddles had tipped over the scrap basket and curled himself up in it, at the first peal of thunder. His nerves were sadly upset by his encounter with the cat, and the lightning reminded him of the glare of her eyes. The glass eyes in the bearskin rug on the floor winked knowingly at him, and he was afraid that Aunt Prue might ask more questions about the ham, and altogether he thought wisely that "out of sight is out of mind." " Whip-poor-will ! Whip-poor-will ! Whip- poor-will ! " called a voice close outside the window. Tommy- Anne, half sleepy, started and clasped both her arms around her father's neck, while Waddles jumped out of the basket and bayed dismally, her mother, who was knitting some- 46 TOMMY-ANNE thing soft and white in the twilight, laughed and said, "So you are both afraid of a bird, though you spend all your days in the woods ? " " A bird ! I didn't know that it was a bird," replied Tommy- Anne, regretfully ; " I've never heard it before." " No, dear," said her father ; " we were not here while it was in song last season, and it is late in coming this year." " In song ? Doesn't it sing all the time ? Where does it come from, and what is its name ? " " Few birds sing all the year ; this one has come now from the south, and its name is the Whip- poor-will." " Why doesn't it sing all the time, and why does it ever go away, and why is its name Whip- poor-will ? " she asked in one breath. "I will tell you the story about it that I heard when I was a little boy. There was a very poor woman who lived in a hut on the edge of a great forest, and all the money she could earn was by selling the bundles of dry sticks that she gathered. She had one child, a little boy named Will, and an old brown dog called Jock. " Every day when she went down to the village to sell her sticks. Will would go to the wood to pick up more faggots, taking Jock for company. COCK KOBIN'S COUSINS 47 One day the butcher gave her a piece of meat, and the baker a piece of dough, because she always brought a good measure of sticks, and she hurried home with tlie treasures, for they very seldom had meat at the hut. "Next day, bright and early, she made a fine meat pie, baked it a delicious brown, and put it on the shelf for supper. Leaving a slice of bread and a lump of cheese on the table for her boy's dinner, she shouldered her load of sticks and tramped off to the village. " It was a cool day in the early May, and when Will came home it was afternoon, and he was very hungry. He lighted a few sticks and made a little blaze on the hearth, then looked about for his food. He found a bowl of cold porridge in the closet. This he divided evenly between himself and Jock and then ate the bread and cheese. Still he was very hungry; he smelled the pie on the shelf and lifted it down to the table, intending only to look at it. He did not realize that his mother was walking all day, with only a slice of bread for lunch- eon, or how faint and tired she would be at night. He only remembered that he was hungry then. "A bad little Puk-Wudjie, named Did-Not- Think, who causes a great deal of needless trouble, came in at the window, perched on the 48 TOMMY-ANNE edge of the pie, and threw dust in his eyes, so that right and wrong became mixed up to him, though these mischievous spirits never come un- invited. ' I will take out one little piece of meat,' he said, — 'only one.' And he slipped his stout knife between the crust and the dish. " It tasted so good, he took another piece. Did- Not-Think threw some more dust, and Will took a third piece, and another, and another. " Suddenly the crust broke and dropped into the dish ; he had eaten all the meat ! Then another Puk-Wudjie, with a long face like a grasshopper, climbed to the edge of the dish. This one's name was Didn't-Mean-To. He whimpered a little and then whispered, 'The pie is spoiled now, so you might as well eat the crust.' So Will ate it, and there remained only the dish with a third Puk-Wudjie sitting in the bottom of it, crying and rubbing his eyes with his knuckles; and this one's name was So-Sorry. Then all three began to point at Will, and sing together, 'What will your mother say to you? What will your mother do to you ? ' COCK ROBIN'S COUSINS 49 " Will was now very much ashamed of what he had done, as well as somewhat frightened, and he ran out of the hut up to the forest ; but Jock remained asleep on the hearth. " It was almost dark when the poor woman came liome, thinking of the nice pie, and of how she and her boy would have a feast. She lighted a candle and looked on the shelf for the pie. 'I thought that I left it there,' she said. ' No ! I was mistaken ; it is on the table.' " The candle flickered, and she did not see very well ; but when she came nearer she dis- covered the empty dish. Looking about, she noticed that Will was gone, while Jock was in the house. "'You wicked dog,' she said, 'to eat our sup- per, while my poor boy is hard at work in the woods ! ' And she beat Jock with the broom and turned him out of doors. " Meanwhile, Will was wandering in the woods, feeling very wretched, and thinking about what his mother would say, and wondering how she would punish him. " ' Whip-poor-will ! Whip-poor-will ! Chur-rk ! ' said a loud voice, directly above him. For a moment he was so startled he could not move. '"Whip-poor-will! Whip-poor-will I Chu-r-r-k!' 50 TOMMY-ANNE it cried, the last word sounding like a switch striking the air. " Will darted from one tree to another, but the voice always followed, and in despair he ran home, the bird following close behind him and calling in . at the door of the . L — hut. And though she did not like to do it, his mother whipped him ; for she said the bird knew best, and poor Jock had been punished for noth- ing. This bird has been called the Whip-poor- will ever since, and when the woods- men hear him, they say, ' Some one hereabout has done wrong. ' " During the last part of the story Waddles sneaked out of the room. " He feels guilty about that ham bone," laughed Tommy-Anne to her- self. The bird called again, four or five times in suc- cession, this time from the end of the garden. COCK ROBIN'S cousms 61 " Father dear, please let me go and look for him," she pleaded, knowing very well that it was bed- time. Unfortunately for her the tall clock began to whirr, and then gave eight deliberate strokes. " No, little Owl ; don't you know that every- thing is soaking with the rain? Wait until to- morrow ; it will be a fine day for all your bird friends after this shower; then you may take your luncheon and stay out all day." So she went con- tentedly to bed after pushing her comfortable little nest nearer to the window so that she might be sure to wake early. " Whip-poor-will ! " called the bird once more, brushing the window glass in his circling. Quick as a flash she was up, and opening the window a crack, thrust her head out, calling, " Good-night, Whip-poor-will ; do you feel as lonely as you sound? and will you be at the anniversary to- morrow ?' " Yes ; I shall be there, Tommy- Anne, and I don't feel sad a bit. I'm very merry, in fact; the people who tell stories about me do not under- stand my language ; that is all." Then she heard voices in the next room, which was the study, — her Aunt Prue talking to her par- ents. " If she were mine," the voice said sharply, " I would stop such antics. There she is standing 62 TOMMY-ANNE in her nightgown, talking out of the window to nothing." Her mother only said, "It is a very- warm night, sister Prue," but her father sighed and began to write, saying, " It were well if we all could be as close to the Heart of Natui'e as she is." " Father knows Heart of Nature, my dear Tree Man, so everything must be all right," whispered Tommy- Anne, in ecstasy. " Then he must know the other Hearts too. I'm so glad ! Remember to- morrow early,^^ she whispered, as she curled down on her pillow. When everything was quite still. Waddles crept in and rested from his unhappy day on his special piece of carpet, keeping one eye upon the bed, where his mistress usually found him in the morning, though it was against tlie rules. Gheezis, the Sun, was thinking of getting up. COCK ROBIN'S cousms 53 and like many another important person, made a great fuss about the matter. First he called the gray night clouds that hung about his path, telling them to go and sweep the sky clean ; so they sailed up higher and higher in long ridges, collecting all the little cloud scraps as they went. Then he called to the white river mists, that hang low and heavily over the ponds and streams, " Come that I may drink," — and as they arose, he swallowed them one by one. Then Gheezis looked up over the edge of the part of the earth that can be seen at one time, which the House People call the horizon, and all the sky flushed red with pleasure. Only Wabun Annung, the Morning Star, turned pale, and the shadows slipped away, except those that hid behind trees where Gheezis did not look. The Puk-Wudjies, the little wood folk that live in the brown-tented toadstool villages, vanished in their homes, and Suggema, the ]Mosquito, came 54 TOMMY-ANNE out of the marsh, wiping the dew from his long nose and began to sing, wending his zigzag way upward to the pastures; and Mudjekeewis came smiling from his pleasure palace. " Say, say ! What's the row ? I'm awake, so are you," jeered Miou, the gray Catbird, tipping his black-capped head on one side and flicking his tail. " Winter's over, winter's over ! Hear me laughing, laughing, — see ! " sang the black and white Bobolink, soaring high above the meadow grass. Tommy-Anne started, rubbing her eyes, saw that the sun had risen some time ago, heard the bird music, and then scolded Waddles, who had found his way, as usual, to the foot of her bed, and was waking very slowly, yawning and mak- ing a bow of his back. " Oh, Waddles, Waddles ! I told you to re- mind me, — 'to-morrow early,' — and it's late now, and there's bath and breakfast before we can go out. I could take my breakfast in my pocket, but not my bath. I wonder if the anniversary has begun." And she hung out of the window, looking anxiously toward the meadow, which could not be seen because of the trees. A tiny brown Wren, wild with good spirits, COCK ROBIN'S COUSINS 55 chattered at her from the honeysuckle. " Perhaps he will tell me something about it," she said. " Tell you something about what ? " he an- swered pertly, never stopping his nervous hop- ping from twig to twig. " What do you want to know — who I am? I'm Johnny Wren ; I live here in this little box ; soon there will be spotted brown eggs in it — perhaps five — per- haps ten — who knows — do you? If we like it here — and no cats come — we'll stay — make another nest in the next box later on. New nest for every brood — best way — more neat — some birds don't, though — we are neat — are you ? Here comes my wife — hear her scold — good- bye!" "Now I know what a chatterbox is," said Tommy- Anne, drawing a long breath. " He asked us if we are neat. Waddles. Perhaps he was hinting about that bath. I think I had better set about it, because it's a must be. 56 TOMMY-ANNE that only stops for two things, — a bad cold and frozen water pipes." Tommy-Anne and her father had their break- fast together on a little table in the piazza, and Tommy-Anne poured out his coffee and carried it to him as steadily as if she was not eager to be down in the meadow. They often breakfasted together in this way, for her mother was not very strong and slept late, and Aunt Prue sim- ply would not take a meal out of doors. "Din- ing-rooms are to eat in," she said ; "if one is to eat with bugs and ants crawling over the butter, and flies in the milk, one might as well be a pedlar and live in a cart." A Robin flew past, calling, " Quick ! Quick ! " It was only his fussy way, but Tommy-Anne thought that he was telling her to hurry; and her father, seeing her earnestness, let her go, first asking if she had on her thick boots. Yes, she had ; for thick boots were her dear friends, and a why that she thoroughly under- stood, after a summer spent in the company of ankles bruised with stones and striped with briar scratches, to say nothing of colds. "We are too late, Waddles; I'm sure we are too late," she sighed, as they crossed the bridge, and standing under a great apple tree, the be- COCK ROBIN'S COUSINS 57 ginning of the old orchard, looked over the meadow toward the woods. " The Bobolinks are here, but they always are ; they make flat pie nests in the grass. I stepped in one last summer; but lucky for them it was empty. They are too giddy to tell us anything. As soon as they see any one coming, they sail straight up in the air and sing so fast that they forget the words and have to come down again to think." "Mistress," said Waddles, who had been sniff- ing where the grass was trampled down in a long trail, " the Miller's bull, Taw, is out for a walk without the Miller. Now the last time Taw went walking alone a great many accidents hap- pened. My particular friend, the Doctor's dog, Flo, sprained her back, our pasture fence fell over, and the Egg Woman, who was going across lots to the store, spilled four dozen fresh eggs and had to climb up this very tree that we are stand- ing under, in an awful hurry. " When the Miller came to find the bull, Taw roared at him terribly from over the river, and shook his brass nose-ring, saying 'I'm out for the day,' — and so he was. For the Miller knows that there is no use in contradicting a bull in an open field, when there is no rope tied to his nose-ring. I think, mistress, that you had better 58 TOMMY-ANNE ,^™ climb this apple tree now, for there is a queer noise over in the wood." So saying, Waddles made himself into a very small package behind the gnarled trunk, where he could see and not be seen. There certainly was a commotion in the wood. Birds were chattering at a great rate, not singing, but giving their call notes and alarm cries. " The anniversary must be beginning," said Tommy - Anne, from her perch ; " don't you want to come where you can see better, Waddles ? I can pull you up, and there is a nice wide branch for you to sit on, if you keep quite still." " No thank j^ou ; it's against the custom of our family to climb trees. I might be disgraced by being mistaken for a cat. Look quick, mistress ! " .NV,*^T-^-^