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     SLEEPY-TIME TALES

            BY

     ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

     THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR
     THE TALE OF FRISKY SQUIRREL
     THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX
     THE TALE OF FATTY <DW53>
     THE TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK
     THE TALE OF JIMMY RABBIT
     THE TALE OF PETER MINK
     THE TALE OF SANDY CHIPMUNK
     THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER
     THE TALE OF PADDY MUSKRAT




     _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_

         THE TALE OF
            BILLY
          WOODCHUCK

             BY

     ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

       ILLUSTRATED BY

       HARRY L. SMITH

          NEW YORK
      GROSSET & DUNLAP
         PUBLISHERS




     Copyright, 1916, by
      GROSSET & DUNLAP




CONTENTS


     CHAPTER                           PAGE

     I THE HOUSE IN THE PASTURE           9

     II CALLING NAMES                    14

     III MAGIC                           19

     IV THE GREAT HORNED OWL             24

     V BILLY STANDS GUARD                29

     VI BILLY FORGETS TO WHISTLE         34

     VII GREEN PEAS                      39

     VIII A NEW GAME                     44

     IX WHAT HAPPENED AT AUNT POLLY'S    49

     X UNCLE JERRY CHUCK                 53

     XI BILLY ASKS FOR PAY               58

     XII WHAT JIMMY RABBIT SAW           62

     XIII A JOKE ON UNCLE JERRY          66

     XIV MR. FOX HAS AN IDEA             71

     XV "POP! GOES THE WEASEL!"          76

     XVI THE PLAY-HOUSE                  81

     XVII BILLY BRINGS THE DOCTOR        86

     XVIII A WONDERFUL STICK             91

     XIX MR. WOODCHUCK MOVES             95

     XX THE FAMILY ESCAPES              100

     XXI AT HOME IN THE WOODS           104

     XXII GROUND HOG DAY                108




ILLUSTRATIONS


     BILLY WOODCHUCK OFTEN DUG
     HOLES IN THE PASTURE    _Frontispiece_

                                       PAGE

     "JUST CRAWL INSIDE THAT OLD
     STUMP!" MR. FOX SAID                20

     "WHAT'S THE MATTER?" BILLY
     ASKED                               36

     SHE TOOK HOLD OF BILLY'S EAR        50

     HE PAINTED TWO WHITE STRIPES ON
     UNCLE JERRY'S BACK                  68

     BILLY CARRIED HER BASKET OF HERBS   88




THE TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK

I

THE HOUSE IN THE PASTURE


One day, when Johnnie Green tramped over the fields toward the
woods, he did not dream that he walked right over somebody's
bedroom. The snow was deep, for it was midwinter. And as Johnnie
crossed his father's pasture he thought only of the fresh rabbit
tracks that he saw all about him. He had no way of knowing that
beneath the three feet of snow, and as much further below the top
of the ground too, there was a snug, cozy little room, where Mr.
and Mrs. Woodchuck lay sound asleep on a bed of dried grass.

They had been there all winter, asleep like that. And there they
would stay, until spring came and the grass began to grow again.

In summer Johnnie Green was always on the watch for woodchucks. But
now he never gave them a thought. There would be time enough for
that after the snow was gone and the chucks came crawling out of
their underground houses to enjoy the warm sunshine.

Usually it happened in just that way, though there had been years
when Mr. and Mrs. Woodchuck had awakened too soon. And then when
they reached the end of the long tunnel that led from their bedroom
into Farmer Green's pasture they found that they had to dig their
way through a snow-bank before they reached the upper world where
Johnnie Green lived.

But this year their winter's nap came to a close at just the right
time. A whole month had passed since Johnnie walked over their
house. And now when they popped their heads out of their front door
they saw that the snow was all gone and that the sun was shining
brightly. Almost the first thing they did was to nibble at the
tender young grass that grew in their dooryard.

When you stop to remember that neither of them had had so much as a
single mouthful of food since long before Thanksgiving Day you will
understand how hungry they were.

They were very thin, too. But every day they grew a little fatter.
And when at last Johnnie Green passed that way again, late one
afternoon, to drive the cows home to be milked, he thought that
Mrs. Woodchuck looked quite well.

She looked happy, too, just before Johnnie came along. But now she
had a worried air. And it was no wonder, either. For she had five
new children, only a few weeks old, and she was afraid that Johnnie
would take them away from her.

Poor, frightened Mrs. Woodchuck ran round and round her five
youngsters, to keep them all together. And all the time she urged
them nearer and nearer the door of her house.

Johnnie was already late about getting the cows. But he waited to
see what happened. And soon he saw all five of the little chucks
scramble through the doorway. And as soon as the last one was
safely inside the old lady jumped in after her children.

That last one was the biggest of all the young chucks. Perhaps it
was because he always ate twice as much as any of his brothers and
sisters. His mother found him harder to manage, too; and she had to
push him along through the doorway, because he wanted to stop and
snatch a bite from a juicy plantain.

That was Billy Woodchuck--that fat, strong youngster. Even then
Johnnie Green knew that he was going to be a big fellow when he
grew up.




II

CALLING NAMES


Billy Woodchuck grew so fast that he soon looked very much like his
father. Of course, he was still much smaller than Mr. Woodchuck.
But like him, Billy was quite gray; and he had whiskers,
too--though, to be sure, those were black. His eyes also were black
and large and bright. When Billy sat up on his hind legs--as he
often did--he appeared for all the world like a huge squirrel.

In fact, some of Billy's friends remarked how like a squirrel he
looked. And one day when Billy was playing near the edge of the
woods a disagreeable young hedgehog told him that. To tell the
truth, Billy Woodchuck had grown to be the least bit vain. He loved
to gaze upon his bushy tail; and he spent a good deal of time
stroking his whiskers. He hoped that the neighbors had noticed
them.

Now, other people are always quick to see when anyone is silly in
that way. And the young hedgehog thought that Billy Woodchuck
needed taking down a peg. So he said to him:

"Why don't you join the circus?"

"Circus? What's that?" Billy asked.

"A circus is a place where they have all kinds of freaks," the
hedgehog answered with a sly smile--"giants and dwarfs, and thin
people and fat people."

"But I'm not a freak," Billy Woodchuck replied. "Of course, I'm big
for my age. But I'm not a giant."

"Yes, you are," the hedgehog insisted.

"You're a giant squirrel. You look like _him_"--he pointed to a
young fellow called Frisky Squirrel--"only you're ever so much
bigger."

That made Billy Woodchuck very angry. And he began to chatter and
scold.

Wise old Mr. Crow, who sat in a tree nearby, told him to keep his
temper.

"Certainly you are not a squirrel," he said. "It is nonsense to say
that a ground hog is the same as a squirrel----"

Billy Woodchuck's voice broke into a shrill scream. A _ground hog_!
He was terribly angry.

"Why, yes!" Mr. Crow said, nodding his head with a knowing air.
"You're a marmot, you know."

"No, I'm not!" Billy cried. "I'm a woodchuck! That's what I am. And
I'm going home and tell my mother what horrid names you've been
calling me."

Mr. Crow laughed. He said nothing more. But as Billy hurried away
he could hear the young hedgehog calling:

"Ground hog! Marmot! Ground hog! Marmot!" over and over again.

Billy Woodchuck was surprised to see how calm his mother was when
he told her those horrid names. He had rather expected that she
would hurry over to the woods and say a few things to that young
hedgehog, and to old Mr. Crow as well. But she only said:

"Don't be silly! Of course you're a ground hog. You're an American
marmot, too. Though our family has been known in this neighborhood
for many years as the Woodchuck family, you needn't be ashamed of
either of those other names. Isn't 'ground hog' every bit as good a
name as 'hedgehog?'"

Billy Woodchuck began to think it was. And as for "marmot"--that
began to have quite a fine sound in his ears.

"Why can't we change our name to that?" he asked his mother.

But Mrs. Woodchuck shook her head.

"We are plain country people," she said. "Woodchuck is the best
name for us."

[Illustration: "Just Crawl Inside that Old Stump!" Mr. Fox Said]




III

MAGIC


One of the first things Mrs. Woodchuck taught her children was to
beware of dogs and foxes, minks and weasels, skunks and great
horned owls. She often made them say the names of those enemies
over and over again.

For some time Billy Woodchuck was almost afraid to stir out of
doors, for fear he might meet one of those creatures. But at last
as he grew bigger he grew bolder, too. And he began to think that
his mother was just a nervous old lady. Still, when he met a fox
one day at the further end of the pasture Billy was somewhat
frightened. But Mr. Fox seemed very friendly. They talked together
for a while. And then Mr. Fox said:

"Do you like surprises?

"I see you _do_ like them," Mr. Fox continued. "Well, you just
crawl inside that old stump over there. There's a hole in it, as
you see. And in there you'll find something to surprise you." Mr.
Fox stretched himself then. "I must go home now," he said. "I was
out late last night and I feel like taking a nap." So off he
trotted, with never a look behind him.

He was hardly out of sight before Billy Woodchuck hurried to the
old stump and crawled inside. But so far as he could see, it was
quite empty. And he was just about to leave when all at once it
grew dark. That was because Mr. Fox had come back and thrust his
head through the hole.

"Did you find it?" Mr. Fox asked him.

"No!" said Billy in a faint voice.

"Well, well!" said Mr. Fox. "I must be mistaken.... Yes, I know I
am. It was in another stump. Just step outside and I'll show you
which one." The hole was too small for him to squeeze through. If
it had been bigger he would not have bothered to ask Billy to come
out.

Mr. Fox pulled his head back and waited. But Billy Woodchuck did
not appear.

Soon Mr. Fox took another look inside the hollow stump.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Aren't you coming?"

Then _he_ had a surprise. For Billy Woodchuck was gone. Mr. Fox saw
that the old stump was empty.

He thought that Billy must have used magic, to leave that place and
run away under his very eyes. For you may be sure that Mr. Fox had
kept a close watch on the hole all the time. And he told all his
friends that Billy Woodchuck knew a way to make himself
invisible--a word which means that _nobody could see him_.

Later, when Billy heard what people were saying about him, he only
looked wise and said nothing.

But he had been sadly frightened when Mr. Fox peeped inside the old
stump. And he had made up his mind at once that he would not come
out and be caught. He knew better than that. For now he believed
everything his mother had told him about foxes.

As his bright eyes looked about his prison they soon spied a small
hole which seemed to lead down into the ground. It was large enough
for him to enter. And so he went right down out of sight.

Billy found himself in a long tunnel, which made him think of one
that led to his own home. At the other end of it he came out into
daylight again; and he knew then that it was an old woodchuck's
burrow, in which nobody lived any longer. And it was the back door
that opened into the hollow stump.

Billy Woodchuck hurried home. He thought that Mr. Fox would stay
near the old stump for some time, waiting for him to come out.

Although he had been so frightened, it was a good lesson for him.
For he had learned that no matter how pleasant a fox might be, it
was wise to have nothing to do with him.




IV

THE GREAT HORNED OWL


Billy Woodchuck knew that the Great Horned Owl was a dangerous
person. His mother had often told him that. But he had never yet
seen the Great Horned Owl; and Billy wondered how he should know
him if he should ever happen to meet him. So Billy Woodchuck went
indoors and asked his mother to tell him how the Great Horned Owl
looked.

"He's a big fellow," said Mrs. Woodchuck--"almost as big as the
Great Gray Owl and the Snowy Owl. But you can tell him from them by
his ear-tufts, which stick up from his head like horns."

"What color is he?" Billy inquired.

"Buff and black," Mrs. Woodchuck answered. "He's mottled--that
means about the same as spotted," she explained. "I've heard him
called the 'tiger among birds.' But whether it's because of the
spots, or because he's so fierce, I really don't know."

"Maybe it's _both_," Billy suggested.

"Perhaps!" his mother said. "He has a deep voice," she continued.
"And he calls '_Whoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, whoo, whoo!_' If you heard him
in the woods you might almost think it was old dog Spot barking.
But when he screams"--Mrs. Woodchuck shuddered--"_then_ you'll know
him. For his scream is the most dreadful sound that was ever
heard."

"I wish you would scream like him once," said Billy.

"Bless your heart!" said his mother. "My voice may not be very
sweet, but I never could screech like him."

"Why doesn't Johnnie Green shoot him?" Billy asked. "If he only
would, the Great Horned Owl could never trouble us any more."

"Why, there's more than just _one_!" his mother exclaimed. "When I
say 'the Great Horned Owl,' I don't mean just _one_!"

"Oh!" said Billy. That was different. And then he went out to play
again.

For a long time he couldn't get the Great Horned Owl out of his
mind. Every time he heard the leaves rustle in the trees he jumped
as if forty Great Horned Owls were after him. But since nothing of
the sort happened, at last he forgot all about that danger. It was
late in the afternoon when a horrid call sent him scurrying off:

"_Whoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, whoo, whoo!_"

Billy Woodchuck was sure that the Great Horned Owl had found him at
last. He ran a little way as fast as he could; and then he crouched
down in the grass.

Again came that deep, long-drawn call. It sent Billy off on another
short run.

And after that had happened three times, he was so scared that he
thrust his head under a heap of dried leaves. So long as he
couldn't see the Great Horned Owl, he thought that the Great Horned
Owl couldn't see him.

Then Billy heard his mother's voice. She was calling him. And he
looked up quickly. There she was, right beside him!

"Did you drive him away, Mother?" he asked.

"Whom do you mean?" she inquired.

"Why, the Great Horned Owl!" Billy said.

"I was the only one that called," she told him. "I wanted to see
what you would do. And I must say, you behaved very foolishly.
Don't ever cover up your head like that. First, you must try to get
away. And if you should get caught, remember that your teeth are
sharp. But they won't be of any use to you with your head buried
under a pile of leaves."

Billy Woodchuck saw that he had a great deal to learn. But he was
glad that his mother had taught him that much, though he was
ashamed that he had been so silly.




V

BILLY STANDS GUARD


Old Mr. Woodchuck had a great deal of time on his paws. He was
always telling people how a stone once rolled off a wall on top of
him and hurt his back, so he was not strong enough to do much work.
On pleasant days he was usually to be found sunning himself. And
often when he leaned his lame back against a tree where the sun
fell squarely upon him he would fall asleep and stay there for
hours at a time.

Though he did no work at all, his appetite was always good. And
when he heard that there were ripe apples, or lettuce, or some
other dainty to be had, he always managed to get to the feast about
as early as anybody else. At such times he seemed to forget how
much his back hurt him.

There came a day when Mr. Woodchuck dashed home on a run. At first
his wife thought there must be a fox chasing him. But as soon as he
caught his breath (he was so fat that running always made him
puff), he told Mrs. Woodchuck that a party of his friends was going
to make a raid on Farmer Green's clover-field.

"I'm going with them," he said.

"Do you think you ought to?" she asked. "Isn't it too far? Isn't
your back too lame?"

Mr. Woodchuck clapped his hands to his back and groaned a bit.

"They say there's nothing better for my trouble than tender young
clover-heads," he replied. "So I think I ought to go.... What I
came home for is this: We want some spry young fellow to come along
with us and be a sentinel. And I'm going to take Billy. He's old
enough now to make himself of some use."

"I don't want him to go," Mrs. Woodchuck said. "He's only a child."

"He has ears, hasn't he? And eyes?" her husband replied. "It's time
he helped me a little, after all