Chapter 3

Unc' Billy didn't waste any time. Just as soft-footed as before, he crept along in the darkest shadows, until he was right under the alder tree from which the complaining voice of Sticky-toes the Tree Toad seemed to come. Unc' Billy listened, and the longer he listened, the broader grew the smile on Unc' Billy's shrewd face.

"Thief! thief! thief!"

It certainly sounded for all the world like Sammy Jay's voice, and it was right over Unc' Billy's head. Unc' Billy peered up through the alders. The leaves were so thick that he could not see very well, but what he did see was enough. It was a long tail, a tail of feathers hanging down. It wasn't Sammy Jay's tail, either.

"Don' yo'all think that yo'all have joked enough?" asked Unc' Billy, trying hard to keep from chuckling aloud.

A cry of "Thief" stopped right in the middle, and two sharp eyes looked down in surprise at Unc' Billy.

XVII

THE MEETING OF TWO OLD FRIENDS

"Why, Unc' Billy Possum! What are yo'all doing way up here?" cried the owner of the long tail and sharp eyes.

"This is mah home now. Ah done moved up here," replied Unc' Billy. "'Pears to me that the question is what am yo'all doing way off up here? Ah thought Ah sho'ly done hear your voice the other day, and Ah most wore mah po' feet out looking fo' yo'. Ah thought Ah was mistaken, but now Ah reckon that Ah was right, after all. My, but Ah am right smart glad to see yo'!"

"Thank yo', Unc' Billy," replied the owner of the long tail and the sharp eyes.

"Ah reckon yo' can't be any more glad to see me, than Ah am to see yo'. Fact is, Ah was getting right smart lonesome. Ah done been lying low daytimes, because, yo' know, Ah'm a stranger up here, and Ah was afraid that strangers might not be welcome in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows."

"'Pears like if all Ah hear am true, that yo' haven't done much lying low nights. Ah reckon yo' done make up fo' those lonesome feelings. Yes, Sah, Ah reckon so. Mah goodness, man, yo' done set everybody to running around like they was crazy!" exclaimed Unc' Billy.

The owner of the long tail and sharp eyes threw back his head and laughed, and his laugh was like the most beautiful music. It made Unc' Billy feel good just listening to it.

"Sammy Jay done moved away to the Ol' Pasture since things were so unpleasant here because everybody said he screamed all night," continued Unc' Billy Possum. "He sat up all of one night just to make sho' that he didn't scream in his sleep, and he didn't make a sound the whole night long. The next mo'ning everybody said that he had been screaming just the same, and po' Sammy Jay just moved away. Yo' ought to be ashamed to play such jokes." Unc' Billy grinned as he said it.

"Thief! thief!" came in Sammy Jay's voice right out of the mouth of the owner of the long tail and sharp eyes. Then both little rascals laughed fit to kill themselves.

"Yo' come over to my house," said Unc' Billy. "My ol' woman sho' will be right smart glad to see yo', and she's gwine to be powerful surprised, deed she am! She done been laughing at me fo' a week, because Ah was sho' Ah done hear yo' that day."

So off the two started to see old Mrs. Possum, and for the rest of that night Sticky-toes the Tree Toad listened in vain for the sound of his own voice when his lips were closed tight.

XVIII

THE MISCHIEF-MAKERS

There was a dreadful time on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest. Oh, dear, dear, dear! It really was dreadful! First Sammy Jay had been accused of screaming in the night and keeping honest little meadow and forest people awake when they wanted to sleep. And all the time Sammy Jay hadn't made a sound. Then Sticky-toes the Tree Toad had been accused of being noisy, when all the time he was sitting with his mouth closed as tight as tight could be.

All this was bad enough, but now things were so much worse that it was getting so that no one would have anything to do with any one else. Those who had been the very best of friends would pass without speaking. You see, everybody on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest knows everybody else by their voice. So when Jimmy Skunk, happening along near the Smiling Pool, heard Mrs. Redwing's voice, he didn't waste any time trying to see Mrs. Redwing. Instead, he went straight over and told Johnny Chuck the unkind things that he had overheard Mrs. Redwing saying about Johnny.

In the same way Bobby Coon heard the voice of Blacky the Crow in Farmer Brown's corn-field, and when Bobby listened, he heard some things not at all nice about himself. And so it was, all over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest. It seemed as if almost everybody was heard talking about some one else, and never saying nice things.

The only one who still managed to keep on good terms with everybody was Unc' Billy Possum. No one had ever heard him saying unkind things about others and so, because now there were so few others to talk to, everybody was glad to see Unc' Billy coming, and he soon was the best liked of all the little meadow and forest people. He went about trying to smooth out the troubles, and to see him you never, never would have guessed that he had anything to do with making them. My, my, no, indeed!

But every night when the moon was up, Unc' Billy would have a caller, who would come and sit just outside the doorway of Unc' Billy's house and scream "Thief! thief! thief!" Then out would pop Unc' Billy's sharp little face, and then his fat little body would follow, and he and his friend with the long tail and the sharp eyes, for of course you have guessed that is who it was, would put their heads together and laugh and chuckle as if they were enjoying the best joke ever was. Then they would whisper and sometimes talk right out loud, when they felt sure that no one was near to hear.

What were they talking about? Why, about the trouble on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest, and what a joke it all was, and what was the best way to keep it up. You see, the reason that no one heard Unc' Billy saying mean things or heard any mean things said about Unc' Billy was because it was Unc' Billy himself and his friend with the long tail and the sharp eyes who were making all the trouble. Yes, Sir, they were the mischief-makers. It was great fun to fool everybody so. They never once stopped to think how very, very uncomfortable it kept everybody feeling.

XIX

BOBBY COON MAKES A DISCOVERY

Bobby Coon had overslept. Usually Bobby is astir shortly after jolly, round, red Mr. Sun has gone to bed behind the Purple Hills. But Bobby is very irregular in his habits. He is very fond of traveling about in the night, is Bobby Coon, and when he does that, he sleeps the greater part of the day. But once in a while he takes a notion to travel about by daylight, and when he does that, why of course he has to sleep part of the night, anyway. Bobby Coon is a very lucky chap, very lucky indeed, for he can see in the dark, and yet, unlike Hooty the Owl, he has no trouble in seeing in the broad daylight as well.

This night Bobby Coon had overslept because he had not gone to bed until the middle of the day. He had been prowling about and getting into mischief all of the night before and had not started for home until jolly, round Mr. Sun was smiling down from right overhead. By this time Bobby Coon had sticks in his eyes. He was so sleepy that it seemed to him that he never, never could get home. He was stumbling along through the Green Forest when he came to a hollow log. What do you think he did? Why, he crawled in there, and in two minutes was fast asleep, just as comfortable as if he had been in his own hollow tree.

There Bobby slept all the rest of the day and until long after Mr. Sun had pulled on his rosy nightcap. Perhaps he would have slept there all night, if he hadn't been waked up. It was the cry of "Thief! thief! thief!" that waked him. It seemed to come from right over his head.

"Sammy Jay ought to be ashamed of himself, waking honest people like this!" muttered Bobby Coon, as he yawned and stretched. At first he couldn't think where he was. Then he remembered. He was just getting ready to crawl out of the hollow log, when he heard something which made him stop and try to sit up so suddenly that he bumped his head. What he heard was the voice of Unc' Billy Possum, and he knew by the sound that Unc' Billy was sitting on the very log in which he himself was hiding.

"This is the greatest joke that ever was!" said Unc' Billy. "Pretty soon nobody on the Green Meadows or in the Green Forest will speak to anybody else excepting me. Yo' cert'nly have got all your ol' tricks with yo'."

"Yes," replied a voice which Bobby Coon had never heard before, but which he knew right away must belong to some one who had come from way down South where Unc' Billy Possum and Ol' Mistah Buzzard had come from. "Yes," said the voice, "Ah done got all mah ol' tricks and some more. But it's easy, Unc' Billy, it's easy to fool your new friends, because Ah reckon they never have been fooled this way before. Don' yo' think it is most time to stop? Ah don't want to show mahself in daylight. Besides, if Ah'm found out, nobody ain't gwine to have anything to do with me."

"Don't yo' worry. Nobody's gwine to find yo' out. We'll keep it up just a day or two longer. Yo' cert'nly am powerful good at imitating other people's voices. Ah wonder that Ol' Mistah Buzzard hasn't got his eye on yo' before now," said Unc' Billy Possum.

Bobby Coon had become wide awake as he listened. He tried hard to get a peep at the stranger with Unc' Billy, but all he could see was a long tail of feathers. Bobby waited until Unc' Billy and his friend had left. Then he crawled out of the hollow log, and he was chuckling to himself.

"I'll just have a little talk with Ol' Mistah Buzzard," said Bobby to himself.

XX

BOBBY COON AND OL' MISTAH BUZZARD HAVE A TALK

Bobby Coon had spent the largest part of the forenoon sitting at the foot of the tall dead tree on which Ol' Mistah Buzzard likes to roost. All the time Ol' Mistah Buzzard had been sailing 'round and 'round in circles way up in the blue, blue sky, sometimes so high that to Bobby he looked like just a tiny speck. Bobby had watched him until his own neck ached. Mistah Buzzard hardly ever moved his wings. He just sailed and sailed and sailed up and down and 'round and 'round, just as if it was no work at all but pure fun, as indeed it was.

Bobby Coon had waited so long that it was almost more than he could do to be patient any longer, but if you really want a thing, it is worth waiting for, and so Bobby gave a great sigh and tried to make himself more comfortable. At last Mistah Buzzard came sailing down straight for the tall dead tree. With two or three flaps of his great wings he settled down on his favorite perch and looked down at Bobby Coon.

"Good mo'ning, Brer Coon," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard.

"Good morning, Mistah Buzzard; I hope you are feeling very well this morning," replied Bobby Coon as politely as he knew how.

"Fair to middling well," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard, with a twinkle in his eyes. "What can Ah do fo' yo'all?"

"If you please, Mistah Buzzard, you can tell me if there is anybody way down South where you come from who can make his voice sound just like the voices of other people. Is there?" Bobby was using his very politest manner.

"Cert'nly! Cert'nly!" chuckled Ol' Mistah Buzzard. "It's Mistah Mockah the Mocking-bird. Why, that bird just likes to go around making trouble; he just naturally likes to. He just goes around mocking everything and everybody he hears, until sometimes it seems like yo' couldn't be sure of yo' own voice when yo' hear it. Why do yo' ask, Brer Coon?"

"Because he is right here in the Green Forest now," replied Bobby Coon.

"What's that yo' am a-saying, Brer Coon? What's that?" cried Ol' Mistah Buzzard, growing very excited.

Then Bobby Coon told Ol' Mistah Buzzard all about the trouble on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest; how Sammy Jay had moved away to the Old Pasture so that no one could say that he screamed in the night, and yet how his voice was still heard; how Sticky-toes the Tree Toad was almost crazy because his neighbors said he was noisy, when all the time he was sitting with his mouth tight closed; and finally, how all the little meadow and forest people refused to speak to one another because of the many unkind things which had been overheard. And Bobby told what he had overheard the night before when Unc' Billy Possum and a stranger had sat on the very log in which Bobby had been taking, a nap. Ol' Mistah Buzzard chuckled.

"Yo' might have known Unc' Billy was behind all that trouble," said he. "Yes, Sah, yo' might have known that ol' rascal was behind it. When Unc' Billy Possum and Mockah get their haids together, there sho'ly is gwine to be something doing."

XXI

BOBBY COON HAS A BUSY DAY

Bobby Coon had left Ol' Mistah Buzzard sitting on his favorite dead tree. Every few minutes Ol' Mistah Buzzard would chuckle. "Brer Coon is right smart, and Ah reckon Unc' Billy Possum is gwine to get a taste of his own medicine. Yes, Sah, Ah reckon he is!" said Ol' Mistah Buzzard. Then he chuckled and chuckled, as he spread his broad wings and said: "Ah reckon Ah better be up in the blue, blue sky where Ah can look right down and see all the fun."

In the meantime Bobby Coon was hurrying back and forth across the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest, calling on all the little people who live there. He whispered a few words in the ear of one and then hurried on to whisper to the next one. When Bobby would first begin to whisper, the one to whom he was whispering would shake his head and look as if he didn't believe a word of what Bobby was saying. Then Bobby would point to Ol' Mistah Buzzard sailing 'round and 'round high up in the blue, blue sky where everybody could see him, and whisper some more. When he got through, he always carried away with him a promise that just what he had asked should be done.

Bobby Coon had thought of a plan to turn the joke on Unc' Billy Possum, and this was why he was hurrying back and forth whispering in the ears of every one who lived on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest; that is everybody excepting Unc' Billy Possum and his family. It was the busiest day that Bobby Coon could remember.

It was the very next morning that Unc' Billy Possum was trotting along the Crooked Little Path down the hill. He was just starting out on his daily round of calls, and he was grinning as only Unc' Billy Possum can grin.

"Mah name is Billy Possum and mah home's a hollow tree! By day or night Ah wander forth--it's all the same to me! Ah fill mah stomach with an egg, or sometimes it is fish; In fact Ah always helps mahself to anything Ah wish. Fo' mah name is Billy Possum and mah other name is Smart; To catch yo' Uncle Billy yo' must make an early start."

Unc' Billy was singing this to himself as he trotted along the Crooked Little Path, and all the time he was thinking of the great joke that he and his old friend Mr. Mocker, from way down South, were playing on the little people of the Green Meadows and the Green Forest.

This morning he was on his way to call first on Johnny Chuck. Half-way down the hill he met Bobby Coon. Unc' Billy stopped and held out one hand as he said "Good mo'ning, Brer Coon. How do yo'all do this fine mo'ning?"

Bobby Coon walked right past as if he didn't see Unc' Billy at all. He didn't even look at him.

"What's the matter with yo' this mo'ning, Brer Coon?" shouted Unc' Billy. Bobby Coon kept right on, without so much as turning his head. Unc' Billy watched him, and there was a puzzled look on Unc' Billy's face. "Must be that Brer Coon has something powerful impo'tant on his mind," muttered Unc' Billy, as he started on.

Pretty soon he met Jimmy Skunk who had always been one of Unc' Billy's best friends. Jimmy was looking under every stick and stone for beetles for his breakfast.

"Good mo'ning, Neighbor Skunk!" said Unc' Billy in his heartiest voice.

Jimmy Skunk, who never hurries, kept right on pulling over sticks and stones just as if he didn't see or hear Unc' Billy at all. In fact, when he pulled over one stone, he dropped it right on Unc' Billy's tail and didn't seem to hear Unc' Billy's "Ouch!" as he pulled his tail from under the stone. Jimmy just went right on about his business.

Unc' Billy sat down and scratched his head. His face had lost the cheerful grin with which he had started out. Pretty soon he started on, but every few minutes he would stop and scratch his head thoughtfully. He didn't know what to make of Bobby Coon and Jimmy Skunk.

He was so surprised that he hadn't known whether to be angry or not.

"Ah must find out what Brer Chuck knows about it," thought Unc' Billy, as he trotted on.

XXII

UNC' BILLY POSSUM SEES MANY BACKS

Unc' Billy Possum was very sober as he hurried down the Lone Little Path to Johnny Chuck's house. He was very sober indeed, and that is very unusual for Unc' Billy Possum. It was very plain to see that something was bothering him. Johnny Chuck was sitting on his doorstep when Unc' Billy Possum came in sight, trotting down the Lone Little Path. As soon as Johnny saw him, he turned his back squarely towards Unc' Billy and pretended to be very much interested in something way off in the other direction. Unc' Billy came to a stop about two feet behind Johnny Chuck.

"A-hem!" said Unc' Billy.

Johnny Chuck sat there without moving, just as if he hadn't heard.

"It's a fine mo'ning," said Unc' Billy in his pleasantest voice.

Instead of replying, Johnny Chuck suddenly kicked up his heels and disappeared inside his house. Unc' Billy scratched his head with one hand and then with the other, and all the time his face grew more and more puzzled-looking. After a while he started on. Pretty soon he came to where Danny Meadow Mouse was playing all by himself. He didn't know that Unc' Billy was about until Unc' Billy said: "Good mo'ning, Brer Meadow Mouse."

Now Danny had always been delighted to see Unc' Billy Possum and to have a chat with him whenever Unc' Billy would stop. But this morning no sooner did Danny hear Unc' Billy's voice than he turned his back to Unc' Billy. This was more than Unc' Billy could stand. He reached out to take Danny Meadow Mouse by the ear to turn him around, but somehow Danny must have guessed what Unc' Billy meant to do, for without a word he ducked out of sight under the long grass, and hunt as he would Unc' Billy couldn't find him.

So Unc' Billy Possum gave it up and went on down to the Smiling Pool. There Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink and Jerry Muskrat were at play. They saw Unc' Billy coming, and when he reached the bank of the Smiling Pool there sat the three little scamps on the Big Rock, but all he could see was their backs.

"Hello, yo'alls!" shouted Unc' Billy.

Splash! All three had dived into the Smiling Pool, and though Unc' Billy waited and waited, he didn't see one of them again. Even Grandfather Frog turned his back to him and seemed very deaf that morning, though Unc' Billy tried and tried to make him hear.

All day long, wherever he went, Unc' Billy saw only the backs of his friends, and none of them seemed to see him at all. So he went home to his hollow tree in the Green Forest early that day to try and study out what it all meant.

XXIII

UNC' BILLY POSSUM CONSULTS OL' MISTAH BUZZARD

Ol' Mistah Buzzard has very sharp eyes. Nobody has sharper eyes than he. Swinging 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round in great circles way up in the blue, blue sky, so high that sometimes he looks like nothing but a little speck, he looks down and sees everything going on in the Green Meadows and a great deal that goes on in the Green Forest. There is very little that Ol' Mistah Buzzard misses. So all the day that Unc' Billy Possum had been tramping over the Green Meadows and through the Green Forest and finding everybody's back turned to him, Ol' Mistah Buzzard had been watching and laughing fit to kill himself. You see he knew all about Bobby Coon's visit to all the little meadow and forest people, and how Bobby had whispered in the ear of each that Unc' Billy Possum was partly to blame for all the trouble they had had lately.

Ol' Mistah Buzzard watched Unc' Billy go home and sit down with his chin in his hands and study and study, just as if he had something on his mind. By and by Unc' Billy looked up in the sky where Ol' Mistah Buzzard was sailing 'round and 'round. Then Unc' Billy hopped up mighty spry.

"Ah reckon Unc' Billy 'lows he'll make me a visit," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard with a chuckle, as he slid down, down out of the sky to the tall dead tree in the Green Forest, which is his favorite roosting-place. He hadn't been there long when Unc' Billy Possum came shuffling along, just as if he was out walking for his health.

"Howdy, Mistah Buzzard! Ah cert'nly hopes yo'all feel right smart," said Unc' Billy.

Ol' Mistah Buzzard's eyes twinkled as he replied: "Ah feel right pert, Brer Possum, thank yo'. Ah hopes yo' feel the same. Yo' look like nothing ever bothers yo'."

Unc' Billy grinned, but at the same time he looked a little foolish as he said: "That's right, Mistah Buzzard, that's right! Nothing ever does bother me." And all the time he was wondering however he should ask for Ol' Mistah Buzzard's advice and not let him know that something really was bothering him a great deal.

"Ah watched yo' take a long walk this mo'ning, Brer Possum," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard.

"Did yo', indeed; yo' have keen eyes, Mistah Buzzard!" replied Unc' Billy.

"Ah saw yo' meet a lot of yo' friends. It's fine to have a lot of friends, isn't it, Brer Possum?" said Ol' Mistah Buzzard.

Unc' Billy looked at Ol' Mistah Buzzard sharply. He wondered if Mistah Buzzard had noticed that all those friends had turned their backs on Unc' Billy that morning, but Mistah Buzzard looked as sober and solemn as a judge. All at once Ol' Mistah Buzzard hopped up and turned around, so that all Unc' Billy could see of him was his back. Unc' Billy stared, and for a minute he couldn't find his tongue. Then he heard a noise that sounded very much like a chuckle. In a few minutes it was a laugh. Finally Unc' Billy began to laugh too.

"Yo' take mah advice and bring mah ol' friend Mockah out of his hiding-place and introduce him to the Green Meadows and the Green Forest," said Ol' Mistah Buzzard.

Unc' Billy shook his head doubtfully. He was afraid that they might not forgive the tricks that Mr. Mocker had played on them, and then of course he couldn't stay in the Green Forest. So Unc' Billy scratched his head and thought and thought of how he could get Mr. Mocker out of the trouble he had got him into. Finally he went home and told all his troubles to old Mrs. Possum and asked her advice, as he should have done in the first place.

"Serves yo'alls right! It cert'nly does serve yo'alls right!" grunted Mrs. Possum, who was so busy looking after her eight lively babies that she had little time for fooling.

"Ah know it. It cert'nly does," replied Unc' Billy meekly.

"Mischief always trots ahead of grim ol' Mistah Trouble, They look and act enough alike to be each other's double. Whoever fools with Mischief's gwine to wake some day or other And find that Trouble's just the same as Mischief's own twin brother."

Unc' Billy Possum listened to this just as if he had never heard it before, and nodded his head as if he agreed with every word of it. Old Mrs. Possum grumbled and scolded, but all the time she was thinking, and Unc' Billy knew that she was. Finally she finished sweeping the doorsteps and looked thoughtfully at Unc' Billy.

"Why don't yo' give a party fo' Mistah Mocking-bird?" she inquired.

"The very thing!" cried Unc' Billy, and like a flash back came his old-time grin.

XXIV

UNC' BILLY POSSUM GIVES A PARTY