produced by david newman and the online distributed proofreading team . the adventures of mr . mocker by thornton w burgess author of " the adventures of reddy fox , " " old mother west wind , " etc with illustrations by harrison cady @number@ contents i the lone traveler ii . unc ' billy possum grows excited iii . unc ' billy's vain search iv . unc ' billy comes home v sammy jay is indignant vi . sammy jay thinks he's going crazy vii . sammy jay sits up all night viii . sammy jay is glad he sat up all night ix . the mystery grows x sammy jay seeks advice xi . how blacky the crow's plan worked out xii . no one believes peter rabbit xiii . sticky-toes the tree toad pours out his troubles xiv . peter rabbit meets unc ' billy possum xv . peter rabbit and unc ' billy possum keep watch xvi . unc ' billy possum does a little surprising himself xvii . the meeting of two old friends xviii . the mischief-makers xix . bobby coon makes a discovery xx . bobby coon and ol ' mistah buzzard have a talk xxi . bobby coon has a busy day xxii . unc ' billy possum sees many backs xxiii . unc ' billy possum consults ol ' mistah buzzard xxiv . unc ' billy possum gives a party xxv . unc ' billy possum's surprise xxvi . mr . mocker makes himself at home list of illustrations " i don't know that it's any of your business ! " said sticky-toes . such a thing as unc ' billy forgetting to say good-by had never happened before blacky's eyes twinkled as he listened to sammy jay's tale of woe . " good mo'ning , brer coon , " said ol ' mistah buzzard there sat the three little scamps on the big rock sometimes he woke up in the night and would sing for very joy the adventures of mistah mocker i the lone traveler winsome bluebird goes just a little way ahead of her , for winsome is the herald of mistress spring . and with her come little friend the song sparrow , and cheerful robin and mr and mrs. redwing . then follow other travelers , ever so many of them , all eager to get back to the beautiful green forest and green meadows . ol ' mistah buzzard used to think that way . but he was . yes , sir , he was . he was so much interested that he began to wish he could see for himself all these things ol ' mistah buzzard was telling about . but he didn't say a word , not a word . he just listened and listened and then went on about his business . he didn't say anything about it to any one , but he just started off by himself . " all ah done got to do is to keep on going till ah see brer buzzard , " thought he . so he traveled and traveled without speaking to any one , and always looking up in the blue , blue sky . finally it dropped down , down , down until it disappeared among the trees . " ah reckon ah 'll give unc ' billy a surprise . yes , sah , ah reckon so . " ii unc ' billy possum grows excited unc ' billy possum sat at the foot of the great hollow tree in which his home is . unc ' billy felt very fine that morning . he could hear old mrs possum cleaning house and scolding the little possums who kept climbing up on her back . as he listened , unc ' billy grinned and began to sing in a queer cracked voice : " mah ol ' woman am a plain ol ' dame ' deed she am ! ' deed she am ! quick with her broom , with her tongue the same ' deed she am ! ' deed she am ! ' deed she am ! " just then out tumbled his eight children , making such a racket that unc ' billy clapped both hands over his ears . " mah goodness gracious sakes alive ! " he exclaimed . one pulled unc ' billy 's tail . two scrambled up on his back . right in the midst of it unc ' billy sprang to his feet . his eyes were shining , and his funny little ears were pricked up . " hush , yo'alls ! " he commanded . " how do yo'alls think ah can hear anything with yo'alls making such a racket ? " " ah cert'nly thought ah heard the voice of an ol ' friend from way down souf ! iii unc ' billy's vain search unc ' billy possum was excited . any one would have known it just to look at him . he hurried off up the lone little path through the green forest without even saying good-by to old mrs possum and all the little possums . yes , indeed , unc ' billy certainly was excited . old mrs possum sat in the doorway of their home in the great hollow tree and watched unc ' billy out of sight . her sharp little eyes seemed to grow sharper as she watched . no , sah ! then she started out to hunt for their dinner , still muttering as she went . old mrs possum was quite right . unc ' billy had forgotten all about that dinner . you see he had something else on his mind . he had listened and listened but didn't hear it again , and yet he was sure he had heard it that once . he just had to go look for him . but nowhere did he catch a glimpse of his old friend . the longer he looked , the more excited he grew . " nuffin , nuffin , sah ! ah 'm just walking fo ' mah health , " replied unc ' billy over his shoulder , as he hurried on . his neck ached from looking up in the tree-tops , and his feet were sore from walking . and just then unc ' billy for the first time thought of that dinner that old mrs possum had sent him to get . unc ' billy sat down and mopped his brow in dismay . " ah ' specks ah'm in fo ' it this time , sho ' enough ! " he said . iv unc ' billy comes home " ah ' specks ah'm in fo ' it . ah ' specks ah sho'ly am in fo ' it this time , " he kept muttering . so unc ' billy crept along in the black shadows until he got where he could look up and see his own doorway . then he sat down and watched a while . all was still . there wasn't a sound in the great hollow tree . but at the first scratch of his toe-nails on the bark the sharp face of old mrs possum appeared in the doorway . " good evening , mah dear , " said unc ' billy , in the mildest kind of a voice . old mrs possum said nothing , but unc ' billy felt as if her sharp black eyes were looking right through him . unc ' billy grinned a sickly kind of grin as he said : " ah hopes yo'alls are feeling good tonight . " " where 's that dinner ah sent yo ' fo ' ? " demanded old mrs possum sharply . unc ' billy fidgeted uneasily . " ah done brought yo ' two eggs from farmer brown 's hen-house , " he replied meekly . " two eggs ! two eggs ! how do yo ' think ah am going to feed eight hungry mouths on two eggs ? " snapped old mrs . possum . unc ' billy hung his head . he hadn't a word to say . no , sir , unc ' billy hadn't a word to say . unc ' billy knew that he deserved every bit of it . he felt very miserable , and he was too tired to have a bit of spirit left . all the time she was looking at unc ' billy with those sharp eyes of hers . when she had finished the egg , she pushed the other over to him . " yo ' eat that ! " she said shortly . " yo ' look as if yo ' hadn't had anything to eat to-day " ( which was true ) . " then yo ' hustle up to bed ; it 's all ready fo ' yo ' . " unc ' billy did as he was bid , and as he tucked himself into his snug , warm bed he murmured sleepily : " ol ' mrs possum has a sharp , sharp tongue , but her bark is worse than her bite . for ol ' mrs possum has a soft , soft heart though she hides it way out of sight . " v sammy jay is indignant sammy jay was indignant . yes , sir , sammy jay was very much put out . in fact , sammy was just plain downright mad ! it had begun when he met jimmy skunk early in the morning . " hello , sammy jay ! what were you doing up so late last night ? " said jimmy skunk . " oh , come , sammy jay , be honest for once in your life ! what was it all about ? " sammy jay stamped one foot . he was beginning to lose his temper . you know he loses it very easily . " i am honest ! " he screamed . " i tell you i went to bed just as i always do , and i didn't wake up until this morning . " when he did , he flew off screaming at the top of his lungs . he was still screaming when he flew over the old briar-patch where peter rabbit was just beginning to doze off . peter was sleepy . he didn't like to have his morning nap disturbed . " hi , sammy jay ! didn't you make racket enough last night to give honest folks a little peace and quiet to-day ? " shouted peter rabbit . " what 's the joke , peter rabbit ? " then it 's a funny way you have of sleeping , " replied peter rabbit . " peter rabbit , you and jimmy skunk are crazy , just as crazy as loons ! " sputtered sammy jay . " i tell you i was asleep , and i guess i ought to know ! " " and i guess i know your voice when i hear it ! " replied peter rabbit . " it 's bad enough in daytime , but if i was you , i 'd quit yelling in the night . some one of these times hooty the owl will hear you , and that will be the end of you and your noise . now go away ; i want to sleep . " sammy went . he was mad clear through , and yet he didn't know what to make of it . were they just trying to make him mad , or had he really been screaming in his sleep ? he flew over to the smiling pool . jerry muskrat looked up and saw him . " what were you yelling about in the night , sammy jay ? " asked jerry . this was too much . sammy jay let his wings and his tail droop dejectedly and hung his head . " i don't know . i really don't know anything about it , " he said . vi sammy jay thinks he's going crazy " sammy jay screams all day long , and now what do you think ? why , sammy sits and yells all night and doesn't sleep a wink ! " everywhere he went sammy jay heard that shouted after him . dozens and dozens of times a day he heard it . at first he lost his temper and was the very maddest jaybird ever seen on the green meadows or in the green forest . " it isn't true ! it isn't true ! it isn't true ! " he would scream at the top of his lungs . and then everybody within hearing would shout : " it is true ! " sammy would just dance up and down and scream and scream and scream , he was so angry . and then he was sure to hear some one pipe up : " sammy 's mad and we are glad , and we know how to tease him ! but some dark night he 'll get a fright , for hooty 'll come and seize him ! " that really began to worry him . then he began to think that it might be true that he did talk in his sleep , and this worried him a whole lot . the more he thought about it , the more worried sammy jay became . he lost his appetite and began to grow thin . he kept out of sight whenever possible and no longer screamed " thief ! thief ! " through the green forest . in fact his voice was rarely heard during the day . but it seemed that he must be talking just as much as ever in the night . at least everybody said that he was . worse still , different ones said that they heard him in different places in the green forest and even down on the green meadows . could it be that he was flying about as well as talking in his sleep ? and nobody believed him when he said that he was asleep all night . they thought that he was awake and doing it purposely . " if they are not all crazy , then i must be , " said . sammy jay to himself , as he turned away from the breakfast which he could not eat . then he had a happy idea . " why didn't i think of it before ? i 'll sleep all day , and then i 'll keep awake all night and see what happens then ! " he exclaimed . so sammy jay hurried away to the darkest part of the green forest and tried to sleep through the day . vii sammy jay sits up all night sammy jay sat in the dark and shivered . sammy was lonely , more lonely than he had ever supposed anybody could be . and to tell the truth sammy jay was scared . yes , sir , that was just the way sammy jay felt scared . every time a leaf rustled , sammy jumped almost out of his skin . his heart went pit-a-pat , pit-a-pat , pit-a-pat . but to-night sammy sat in the darkest , thickest part of a big pine-tree and kept blinking his eyes to keep from going to sleep . he just would keep his eyes and his ears wide open . what was he doing it for ? now sammy knew better . he never in his life had screamed in the night unless well , unless he did it in his sleep and didn't know it . he had watched the black shadows creep through the green forest and grow blacker and blacker . the blacker they grew , the lonesomer he became . by and by it was so dark that he couldn't see anything at all , and every little noise made him shiver . sammy jay had it now . he felt so creepy that it seemed as if he would crawl right out of his skin . he kept saying over and over to himself : " there 's nothing to be afraid of . there 's nothing to be afraid of . i 'm just as safe as if i was fast asleep . " but still he shivered and shook . by and by , looking up through the top of the big pine-tree , he saw the little stars come out one by one . they seemed to be looking right down at him and winking at him in the jolliest way . somehow , he didn't feel quite so lonely then , and he tried to wink back . then little , soft , silvery bars of light began to creep through the branches of the trees and along the ground . they were moonbeams , and sammy could see just a little , a very little . he began to feel better . " whooo-hoo-hoo , whooo-hoo ! " it was a terrible sound , fierce and hungry . sammy jay nearly fell from his perch . he opened his mouth to scream with fright . then he remembered just in time and closed it without a sound . it was the hunting-cry of hooty the owl . sammy jay sat huddled in a little , forlorn , shivering heap , while twice more that fierce cry rang through the green forest . then a shadow floated over the big pine-tree . hooty the owl had flown away without seeing him , and sammy breathed easier . viii sammy jay is glad he sat up all night sammy jay was having no trouble in keeping awake now . not a bit ! he was too frightened and shivery and creepy to sleep . but he didn't want to , anyway . so he sat in the thickest part of the big pine-tree , shivering and creepy and miserable . out in a patch of bright moonlight he saw peter rabbit jumping and dancing and having the greatest kind of a time all by himself . pretty soon peter was joined by his cousin , jumper the hare . such antics as they did cut up ! sammy jay almost laughed aloud as he watched . it was less lonely with them there , and he did want to call to them dreadfully . but that would never , never do , for no one must know that he was sitting up awake all night . by and by along came jimmy skunk , walking out into the patch of bright moonlight . he touched noses with peter rabbit and jumper the hare , which is one way of saying " good evening " in the green forest . " isn't it most time for sammy jay to scream in his sleep ? " asked peter rabbit . sammy pricked up his ears . " scream in his sleep ! nonsense ! sammy jay isn't any more asleep than i am . he just screams out of pure meanness to wake up and frighten good honest folks who want to sleep . for my part , i don't see what any one wants to sleep for on such a fine night as this , anyway . it serves ' em right if they do get waked up , " replied jimmy skunk . " but sammy jay says that he doesn't do it and doesn't know anything about it , " said peter rabbit . " have you ever seen him scream in the night , jimmy skunk ? " " no , i don't have to , " replied jimmy skunk . peter shook his head . " i guess you 're right , jimmy skunk . i guess you 're right , " he said . " of course i 'm right . there , now ! " jimmy held up one hand to warn peter to keep still . they all heard it . sammy jay heard it , too , and scratched himself to be sure that he was awake and sitting there in the big pine-tree . " i 'm glad i kept awake , but " maybe i 'm going crazy ! my wits are getting hazy ! that 's surely me , yet here i be ! oh , dear , i sure am crazy ! " ix the mystery grows " can a body be a body , yet not a body be ? tell a body , anybody , didst such a body see ? " of course it was sammy jay who was humming such a foolish-sounding rhyme as that . but really , it wasn't so foolish in sammy 's case , after all . now he knew . did ever a jaybird have anything so queer as that to puzzle him ? anyway , sammy jay knew that he didn't scream in his sleep , and there was a whole lot of comfort in that . he could eat with a better appetite now . now he knew that he could go to sleep in peace , just as he always had . sammy jay brushed and smoothed out his handsome blue coat and made himself as pert and smart-appearing as possible . he had been so worried lately that he hadn't taken much care of himself , which is very unusual for sammy jay . now , however , he felt so much better that he began to think about his looks . when he had finished dressing , he started for the alders beside the laughing brook just to have a look around . of course he didn't expect to find his voice down there , for who ever saw a voice ? still he thought that he might find something that would explain the mystery . he hunted all around in the thicket of alders beside the laughing brook , but nothing unusual did he find . then for a long time he sat as still as still can be , studying and thinking . " thief ! thief ! thief ! " then out popped jenny wren , and she was so mad that she couldn't sit still a second . my , my , my , how she did scold ! " you ought to be ashamed of yourself , sammy jay ! you ought to be ashamed of yourself ! " she sputtered . " isn't it enough to keep us awake half the night without coming down and screaming all day ? " " i haven't been down here in the night , and i haven't kept anybody awake ! " replied sammy jay indignantly . jenny wren came right up in front of sammy jay and hopped up and down . she was so mad that with every word she jerked her funny little tail so that sammy jay almost had to laugh . " don't tell that to me , sammy jay ! don't tell that to me ! " she cried . " didn't i see you with my own eyes sitting in that alder over there ? don't tell that to me ! you ought to be ashamed of yourself ! " x sammy jay seeks advice sammy jay had a headache , such a headache ! he had thought and thought and thought , until now it seemed to him that the world surely had turned topsy-turvy . his poor little head was all in a whirl , and that was what made it ache . first he had been accused of screaming in the night to waken and scare the little meadow and forest people who wanted to sleep . it was no wonder that his head ached . hardly any of the little meadow and forest people would speak to him now . they just turned their backs to him whenever he met them . he didn't mind this so much , because he knew that none of them had ever liked him very well . you see he had played too many mean tricks for any one to really like him . but he did hate to have them blame him for something that he hadn't done . " it 's too much for me ! " said sammy jay . " it 's too much for me ! i must get help somewhere . now , who can i go to , so few will have anything to do with me ? " " caw , caw , caw ! " sammy jay pricked up his ears and spread his wings . " my cousin , blacky the crow ! " he cried . " why didn't i think of him before ? he 's very smart , is blacky the crow , and perhaps he can tell me what to do . " so sammy jay hurried as fast as he could to lay his troubles before blacky the crow . blacky 's eyes twinkled as he listened to sammy jay 's tale of woe . when sammy had finished and had asked for blacky 's advice , blacky went into a black study . sammy sat and waited patiently , for he felt certain that blacky 's shrewd head would find some plan to solve the mystery . " how ? " asked sammy jay eagerly . " go away from the green meadows and the green forest and stay away for a week , " replied blacky the crow . " go up to the far-away old pasture on the edge of the mountain , where reddy and granny fox are living . " the very thing ! " cried sammy jay . " i 'll move at once ! " and off he hurried to prepare to move up to the old pasture . xi how blacky the crow's plan worked out " thief ! thief ! thief ! " old granny fox , trotting along a cow-path in the old pasture on the edge of the mountain , heard it and grinned . pretty soon he caught sight of a wonderful coat of bright blue with white trimmings . " hi , sammy jay ! what are you doing up here ? " shouted reddy fox . sammy jay heard him and hurried over to where reddy fox was sitting . " hello , reddy fox ! how are you feeling ? " said sammy jay . " better , thank you . what are you doing way up here in this lonely place ? " replied reddy . " it 's a long story , " said sammy jay . " tell it to me , " begged reddy fox . then he told about blacky the crow 's plan , which was that sammy should come to the old pasture and live for a week . reddy fox chuckled as he listened . that night sammy jay found a comfortable place which seemed quite safe in which to go to sleep . sammy screamed twice . boomer heard him and down he came with a rush . " why , sammy jay , what under the sun are you doing way off here ? " exclaimed boomer . " going to bed , " replied sammy . " say , boomer , will you do something for me ? " " that depends upon what it is , " replied boomer . boomer promised that he would , and off he started . he found peter and told him . xii no one believes peter rabbit peter rabbit sat in his secret place in the middle of the old briar-patch . peter was doing some very hard thinking . he ought to have been asleep , for he had been out the whole night long . but instead of sleeping , he was wide awake and thinking and thinking . you see early the night before boomer the nighthawk had told peter that sammy jay was up in the far-away old pasture . boomer had seen him going to bed there and had come straight down to tell peter . so he had hurried this way and that way , telling every one he met how sammy jay had moved away to the old pasture . but no one believed him . " wait and see ! wait and see ! " said jimmy skunk . " it 's just a trick , " said bobby coon . " but boomer the nighthawk saw him up there going to bed and talked with him ! " cried peter rabbit . " but that would be a wrong story , and i don't believe that boomer would do anything like that ! " cried peter . just then there was a shrill scream of " thief ! thief ! thief ! " over in the alder bushes . it certainly sounded like sammy jay 's voice . " what did i tell you ? now what do you think ? " cried bobby coon . peter didn't know what to think , and he said so . so now peter sat in the old briar-patch thinking and thinking , when he should have been asleep . finally he yawned and stretched and then started along one of his private little paths . " i 'll just run up to the green forest and try to find sammy jay , " he said . so peter hunted and hunted all through the green forest for sammy jay , and asked everybody he met if they had seen sammy . but no one had , though every one took pains to tell peter that they had heard sammy in the night . at last peter found sticky-toes the tree toad . he was muttering and grumbling to himself , and he didn't see peter . xiii sticky-toes the tree toad pours out his troubles sticky-toes was quite upset . there was no doubt about it . " don't know what it means ! don't know what it means ! don't know what it means ! " croaked sticky-toes the tree toad , over and over again . " don't know what what means ? " asked peter rabbit , whose curiosity would not let him keep still . " hello , long-ears ! i don't know that it 's any of your business ! " said sticky-toes . sticky-toes nodded his head . " i heard it , " said he . " but how could sammy jay be down here if he went to bed way off there in the old pasture ? tell me that , sticky-toes ? " said peter rabbit . sticky-toes shook his head . " don't ask me ! don't ask me ! just tell me how it is that i hear my own voice when i don't speak a word , " said sticky-toes the tree toad . " what 's that ? " exclaimed peter rabbit . then sticky-toes poured out all his troubles to peter rabbit . they were very much like the troubles of sammy jay . he was getting so worried that he couldn't eat . peter rabbit listened with his mouth wide open . it was just the same kind of a story that sammy jay had told . what under the sun could be going on ? peter couldn't understand it at all . it certainly was very , very curious . he just must find out about it ! xiv peter rabbit meets unc ' billy possum after sticky-toes the tree toad had poured out his troubles , peter went back to the old briar-patch , more puzzled than ever . wasn't it enough to drive any one crazy ? the more peter studied over it , the more puzzled he grew . the next night he started out for the green forest with a new plan in his head . he would hide down among the alders by the laughing brook . he would see for himself who was screaming with the voice of sammy jay and talking with the voice of sticky-toes the tree toad . he just had to know ! he was hurrying so that he almost ran into unc ' billy possum . " yo ' seem to be in a powerful hurry , brer rabbit , " said unc ' billy . " i am , " replied peter . " i must get down to the laughing brook before dark . " " ' pears to me it must be mighty impo'tant to make yo ' hurry this way , " said unc ' billy possum . " it is , " replied peter rabbit . " it 's to keep me from going crazy . " unc ' billy looked at peter very hard for a few minutes , just as if he thought that peter was crazy already . then he put a hand behind one ear just as if he was hard of hearing . peter chuckled in spite of himself , as he once more replied : " it 's to keep me from going crazy . " then peter told unc ' billy all about sammy jay 's troubles and all about the troubles of sticky-toes the tree toad . he listened to all that peter rabbit had to say , and a funny , pleased sort of look came into his eyes . " ah reckon ah will go along with yo'all , " said he . so unc ' billy possum went with peter rabbit to the laughing brook , where they hid underneath the alders . xv peter rabbit and unc ' billy possum keep watch " what 's that ? " asked peter , pricking up his ears . " nothing , nothing , brer rabbit , nothing at all . ah has a habit of just talking foolishness to mahself , " replied unc ' billy . unc ' billy agreed , and side by side they sat as still as if they were made of wood or stone . it grew later and later , and still there was not a sound of the voice of either sammy jay or sticky-toes the tree toad . peter began to get hungry . the more he thought about it , the hungrier he grew . the moonbeams crept farther and farther into the thicket of alder trees and bushes where peter rabbit and unc ' billy possum were hiding . then it was that they heard the voice of sticky-toes the tree toad . peter looked up . there sat sticky-toes himself , but his voice was coming from an alder on the other side of the laughing brook . " do you hear that ? do you hear that ? there 's my voice over there , and here i am here ! what do you make of it ? " whispered sticky-toes . peter didn't know what to make of it . all he could do was to gaze at sticky-toes as if he thought sticky-toes was a ghost . peter turned to ask unc ' billy possum what he thought , but unc ' billy wasn't there . xvi unc ' billy possum does a little surprising himself but when he heard a whisper right over their heads and looked up to see sticky-toes himself , unc ' billy almost chuckled out loud . " yo ' can't fool uncle billy , so don't go fo ' to try ! ah knows yo ' , yes , ah knows yo ' ah knows yo ' , mistah sly . " unc ' billy is very soft-footed , oh , very soft-footed indeed , when he wants to be . you see one must needs be very soft-footed to steal eggs in farmer brown 's hen-house . peter rubbed his eyes and stared all around , this way and that way , but no sign of unc ' billy could he see . this so surprised peter rabbit that he felt queer all over . now here unc ' billy possum had disappeared , just as if the earth had swallowed him up . all this time unc ' billy possum had been crawling along without the tiniest sound . when he came to the laughing brook , he went up a way until he found a big tree with a branch stretching clear across . he was across the laughing brook without even wetting his feet . unc ' billy didn't waste any time . 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 . " ' 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 . 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 . then both little rascals laughed fit to kill themselves . " yo ' come over to my house , " said unc ' billy . she done been laughing at me fo ' a week , because ah was sho ' ah done hear yo ' that day . " 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 . 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 . instead , he went straight over and told johnny chuck the unkind things that he had overheard mrs redwing saying about johnny . 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 . my , my , no , indeed ! 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 ? 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 . this night bobby coon had overslept because he had not gone to bed until the middle of the day . 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 ? 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 . at first he couldn't think where he was . then he remembered . " 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 , " said the voice , " ah done got all mah ol ' tricks and some more . 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 . 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 had watched him until his own neck ached . mistah buzzard hardly ever moved his wings . 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 . " fair to middling well , " said ol ' mistah buzzard , with a twinkle in his eyes . " what can ah do fo ' yo'all ? " 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 . 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 . 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 . he whispered a few words in the ear of one and then hurried on to whisper to the next one . when he got through , he always carried away with him a promise that just what he had asked should be done . 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 . 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 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . " 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 . 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 . there is very little that ol ' mistah buzzard misses . 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 . 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 ' . " nothing ever does bother me . " " 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 . 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 . unc ' billy shook his head doubtfully . " serves yo'alls right ! " 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 . " 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 at first unc ' billy had been afraid that no one would come . of course that meant that unc ' billy must take them around himself . my , but that was hard work ! it took him two whole days . in the first place there were so many to see . then unc ' billy would make another low bow and hurry on to the next one . mistah buzzard had found sammy jay in the far-away old pasture , and sammy had moved back to the green forest that very day . such a good time as everybody did have ! there were heaps and heaps of good things to eat . they danced and played hide and seek . finally unc ' billy climbed up on a stump . he was dressed in his finest suit , and he wore his broadest grin . everybody crowded around to hear what unc ' billy was about to say . " mah friends and neighbors , " said unc ' billy , " ah have a great surprise fo ' yo'alls . " then he stepped down , and everybody began to wonder and to guess what the surprise could be . xxv unc ' billy possum's surprise everybody was asking everybody else what the surprise could be which unc ' billy had said he had for them . after he had made his speech , he had scurried out of sight , and no one could find him . sammy jay became greatly excited . " there ! " he cried ! " you heard that when you was standing right in front of me and talking to me , jerry muskrat . you know that i wasn't making a sound ! i told you that i hadn't been screaming in the night , and this proves it ! " jerry muskrat looked as if he couldn't believe his own ears . just then the voice of sticky-toes the tree toad began to croak " it 's going to rain ! it 's going to rain ! it 's going to rain ! " the voice seemed to come out of that very same hemlock-tree . it was sticky-toes himself , and he had dropped from another tree altogether . " you hear it ! " he shrieked , dancing up and down he was so angry . " you hear it ! it isn't me , is it ? that 's my voice , yet it isn't mine , because i 'm right here ! how can i be here and over there too ? tell me that ! " no one could tell him , and sticky-toes continued to scold and sputter and swell himself up with anger . now no one knew that blacky the crow had come to the party , for blacky never goes abroad at night . " come out , blacky ! " they all shouted . but no blacky appeared . instead out of that magic hemlock-tree poured a beautiful song , so beautiful that when it ended everybody clapped their hands . no one had ever heard anything like it , and when it ended every one shouted for more . even sticky-toes the tree toad forgot his ill temper . instead of more music , out from the hemlock-tree flew a stranger . he was about the size of sammy jay and wore a modest gray suit with white trimmings . unc ' billy wore his broadest grin . we uns is right sorry fo ' the trouble we uns have made . it was all a joke , and now we asks yo ' pardon . mah friend mistah mockah would like to stay here and live , if yo'alls is willing , " said unc ' billy . xxvi mr . mocker makes himself at home while they were talking the matter over , mr mocker began to sing again that wonderful song of his . it was so beautiful that by the time it was ended , every one was ready to grant the pardon . of course they heard all about the party the next morning and were very anxious indeed to see the stranger with the wonderful voice . of course mr mocker had to show off his wonderful voice to each one . so he soon made himself at home and , because he was happy , he would sing all day long . and sometimes , when the moon was shining , he woke up in the night and would sing for very joy . it was great fun . finally he thought of grandfather frog , who is very old and very wise . " he 'll know , " said peter , as off he posted to the smiling pool . now grandfather frog was feeling out of sorts that morning . " chugarum ! " replied grandfather frog crossly . " go ask mr buzzard , " and that was all that peter could get out of him . ol ' mistah buzzard laughed when he heard that some folks said that mr mocker had not come by his voice honestly . " there isn't a word of truth in it , brer rabbit , " he declared . " yo ' go tell all your friends that mistah mockah is the best loved of all the birds way down souf . " and this is all for the present about the adventures of mr mocker the mocking-bird . but others have had adventures , and one is jerry muskrat . the next book will tell all about them . the end end of the project gutenberg ebook of the adventures of mr mocker by thornton w burgess