Now all the time that Johnny Chuck was teaching these things, he was
keeping the sharpest kind of a watch for danger, and there were many
times when he would give the danger signal. Then they would all lie flat
down in the grass and keep perfectly still, or else scamper as fast as
they could along the little paths which Johnny had made, to the safety
of the snug home under the old apple-tree. But even the most watchful
are surprised sometimes.
One morning, when Johnny Chuck had led the three little Chucks farther
from home than usual, Farmer Brown's boy took it into his head to visit
the old orchard. Johnny Chuck did not see him coming. You see, the
orchard grass had grown so tall that even when he sat up his very
straightest, Johnny could not always see over the top of it. So this
morning he failed to see Farmer Brown's boy coming.
But Sammy Jay, sitting in his snug hiding-place in the top of one of
the old apple-trees, saw him. At first Sammy Jay's sharp eyes twinkled.
There would be some fun now! Perhaps Farmer Brown's boy would catch one
of the little Chucks! Sammy Jay could picture to himself the fright of
Johnny Chuck and the three little Chucks. He fairly hugged himself in
delight, for you know Sammy Jay dearly loves to see other people in
trouble.
Then he thought of all the fun he had had watching those three little
Chucks learn their lessons, and suddenly the thought of anything
happening to them made Sammy Jay feel uncomfortable. Almost without
stopping to think, he screamed at the top of his lungs:
“Run, Johnny Chuck, run! Here comes Farmer Brown's boy!”
And Johnny Chuck ran. He didn't wait to ask questions or even to look.
He started the three little Chucks ahead of him, and he nipped their
heels to make them run faster. And just in time they reached the snug
house under the old apple-tree in the far corner.
Farmer Brown's boy was just in time to see them disappear. He watched
Sammy Jay flying over to the Green Forest and screaming “Thief! thief!”
as he flew.
“I wonder now if that jay warned those chucks purposely,” said he, as he
scratched his head thoughtfully.
If Peter Rabbit had been there, he could have told him that Sammy Jay
did, for he knows all about Sammy Jay and his tricks. But Peter wasn't
there. The fact is, Peter was very busy doing the most foolish of all
the foolish things he has ever done--trying to change his name. You
may read all about it in The Adventures of Peter Cottontail. You see it
takes a whole book to tell all about Peter and his doings.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Johnny Chuck, by
Thornton W. Burgess
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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