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  THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN

  TUCK-ME-IN TALES(Trademark Registered)

  BYARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

  AUTHOR OFSLEEPY-TIME TALES

  (Trademark Registered)

  The Tale of Jolly RobinThe Tale of Old Mr. CrowThe Tale of Solomon OwlThe Tale of Jasper JayThe Tale of Rusty WrenThe Tale of Daddy LonglegsThe Tale of Kiddie KatydidThe Tale of Buster BumblebeeThe Tale of Freddy FireflyThe Tale of Betsy ButterflyThe Tale of Bobby BobolinkThe Tale or Chirpy CricketThe Tale of Mrs. LadybugThe Tale of Reddy WoodpeckerThe Tale of Grandmother Goose

  Jolly Robin Asks Jasper Jay About The SignFrontispiece--(Page 44)]

  TUCK-ME-IN TALES

  THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN

  BYARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

  Author of"SLEEPY-TIME TALES"(Registered Trademark)

  ILLUSTRATED BYHARRY L. SMITH

  NEW YORKGROSSET & DUNLAPPUBLISHERS

  Made in the United States of America

  Copyright, 1917, byGROSSET & DUNLAP

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE I Nestlings 1 II Learning to Fly 6 III The Wide, Wide World 11 IV What Jolly Did Best 16 V Laughing for Mr. Crow 21 VI Tickling a Nose 26 VII A New Way to Travel 33 VIII Jolly is Left Behind 38 IX Jolly's Mistake 43 X The White Giant 48 XI What a Snowball Did 53 XII Jolly Feels Better 57 XIII The Hermit 64 XIV One or Two Blunders 69 XV Lost--A Cousin! 74 XVI Jealous Jasper Jay 80 XVII Only a Rooster 86 XVIII On Top of the Barn 91 XIX Curious Mr. Crow 96 XX The Four-Armed Man 101 XXI A Doleful Ditty 107 XXII Shocking Manners 112 XXIII A Cold Greeting 117

  THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN

  I

  NESTLINGS

  Of course, there was a time, once, when Jolly Robin was just anestling himself. With two brothers and one sister--all of them, likehim, much spotted with black--he lived in a house in one of FarmerGreen's apple trees.

  The house was made of grass and leaves, plastered on the inside withmud, and lined with softer, finer grass, which his mother had chosenwith the greatest care.

  But Jolly never paid much attention to his first home. Whatinterested him more than anything else was food. From dawn till dark,he was always _cheeping_ for something to eat. And since the otherchildren were just as hungry as he was, those four growing babies kepttheir parents busy finding food for them. It was then that Jolly Robinlearned to like angleworms. And though he ate greedily of insects andbugs, as well as wild berries, he liked angleworms best.

  Jolly and his sister and his brothers could always tell when theirfather or their mother brought home some dainty, because the momentthe parent lighted upon the limb where the nest was built they couldfeel their home sink slightly, from the added weight upon the branch.

  Then the youngsters would set up a loud squalling, with a greatcraning of necks and stretching of orange-colored mouths.

  Sometimes, when the dainty was specially big, Mr. or Mrs. Robin wouldsay, "_Cuck! cuck!_" That meant "Open wide!" But they seldom found itnecessary to give that order.

  Somehow, Jolly Robin managed to eat more than the rest of thenestlings. And so he grew faster than the others. He soon learned afew tricks, too. For instance, if Mrs. Robin happened to be sitting onthe nest, to keep her family warm, when Mr. Robin returned with alunch for the children, Jolly had a trick that he played on hismother, in case she didn't move off the nest fast enough to suit him.

  He would whisper to the rest of the children. And then they wouldjostle their fond parent, lifting her up above them, and sometimesalmost upsetting her, so that she had hard work to keep from fallingoff the nest.

  Mrs. Robin did not like that trick very well. But she knew that Jollywould not annoy her with it long. Indeed, he was only eleven days oldwhen he left his birthplace and went out into the wide world.

  You see, the young folk grew so fast that they soon more than filledthe house. So there was nothing their parents could do but persuadethem to leave home and learn to fly.

  One day, therefore, Mr. Robin did not bring his children's food to theedge of the nest and drop it into their mouths. Instead, he stood onthe limb a little distance away from them and showed them a plumpangleworm.

  The sight of that dainty was more than Jolly Robin could resist. Hescrambled boldly out of the nest; and tottering up to his father onhis wobbling legs, he snatched the tempting morsel out of his proudparent's bill.

  Jolly never went back to the nest after that. The next day Mrs. Robincoaxed the other children from home in the same fashion. And though itmay seem a heartless act, it was really the best thing that could havehappened to Jolly and his sister and his brothers.

  You see, they had to learn to fly. And so long as they stayed in thenest they could never learn a difficult feat like flying.

  II

  LEARNING TO FLY

  After Jolly Robin had gulped down the fat angleworm with which hisfather had coaxed him to leave the nest, he clung desperately to thelimb. With no food in sight he had plenty of time to look about himand to be alarmed.

  The day was not gone before he had a great fright. He tumbled out ofthe apple tree and fell squawking and fluttering upon the ground.

  Luckily, his mother happened to be at home. She went to Jolly at onceand told him not to be afraid.

  "Nothing will hurt you," she said, "if you'll only keep still. But ifyou squall like that, the cat will find you."

  It may seem strange, but his mother's words frightened Jolly all themore. They scared him so thoroughly that he stopped making a noise,anyhow. And that was how he learned never to talk when he was on theground near a house where a cat might live.

  "Now," said Jolly's mother, as soon as he was still, "I'll teach you anew game. Just watch me!" And spreading her wings, she flapped them,and sprang into the air.

  Soon Jolly was trying to imitate her. And it was not long before hefound himself gliding a short distance, skimming along just off theground.

  But in spite of all his efforts, he couldn't help falling again.Though his mother tried to show him how to fly into a tree-top, JollyRobin seemed unable to learn the trick.

  At last Mr. Robin said to his wife:

  "I'll teach him the rest. You've made a good beginning. But he mustlearn more at once. There's no telling when the cat may come into theorchard to hunt for field-mice. And you know what would happen then."

  His wife shuddered. But Mr. Robin told her not to worry.

  "I'll soon have this youngster so he can fly as well as anybody," hedeclared.

  So he went and hopped about on the ground with Jolly for a littlewhile, showing him how to find worms beneath the grass carpet of theorchard.

  And then, in a loud voice, Mr. Robin suddenly cried:

  "The cat! The cat!" And he flew into an old tree near-by.

  Jolly Robin had never seen Farmer Green's cat. But he had heard thatshe was a dreadful, fierce creature. And when his father shouted hername Jolly was so startled that he forgot he didn't quite know how tofly. Before he knew what he was doing, he followed his father right upinto the old apple tree and perched himself on a low branch.

  That was the way he learned to fly, for he never had the least troubleabout it afterward. And as soon as he realized that he had actuallyflown from the ground to the bough he was so pleased that he began tolaugh merrily.

  As for the cat, she was not in the orchard at all. Indeed, Jolly'sfather had not said that she was. You see, he had played a joke on hisson.

  Now, up to that time Jolly Robin had not been named. You mustremember that he was not two weeks old. And having three otherchildren of the same age, his parents had not been able to think ofnames for all of them.

  But this big youngster laughed so heartily that his father named him"Jolly," on the spot. And "Jolly" he remained ever afterward.

  III

  THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD

  After he learned to fly, Jolly Robin's father took him into the woodsto spend each night in a roost where there were many other youngrobins, whose fathers had likewise brought them there.

  Jolly learned a great deal from being with so many new friends. It wasnot long before he could find plenty of food for himself, without helpfrom anyone.

  He discovered, too, that there was safety in numbers. For example, ifJasper Jay made too great a nuisance of himself by bullying a youngrobin, a mob of robins could easily put Jasper to flight.

  "_Always help other people!_" That was a motto that all the youngstershad to learn. And another was this: "_Follow your father's lead!_"

  Later in the season, in October, when the robin cousins and uncles andaunts and sisters and brothers and all the rest of the relations madetheir long journey to their winter homes in the South, Jolly foundthat there was a good reason for such rules. If he hadn't followed hisfather then he might have lost his way, because--since it was thefirst time he had ever been out of Pleasant Valley--he knew nothingwhatever about travelling.

  He looked forward with much interest to the journey, for as the daysgrew shorter he heard a great deal of talk about the trip among hiselders. And while he was waiting for the day when they should leave hebecame acquainted with many new and delicious morsels to eat. Her
oamed about picking wild grapes, mulberries and elderberries. And hedid not scorn a large, green katydid when he chanced to find one.

  There was always some new dainty to be sampled; though as the weathergrew colder Jolly began to understand that in winter Pleasant Valleywould not be so fine a place to live.

  However, he managed to find food enough so that he continued to growrapidly. The night after he found a mountain ash on a hillside, fullof bright red berries, his father said that he seemed much taller thanhe had been that morning.

  "You must have eaten a great many of those berries," said Mr. Robin.

  "Well, I notice one thing," Jolly observed. "My waistcoat is fastlosing its black spots. And it's redder than it was. The red berriescertainly colored it in some way."

  Mr. Robin replied that he had never heard of such a thing happening.He looked curiously at his son's waistcoat.

  "It _does_ seem to look different," he said. "It's brighter than itwas."

  Really, that was only because Jolly was fast growing up. But neitherhe nor his father stopped to think of that. And since Jolly hadlearned that motto, "_Follow your father's lead_," he thought hiswaistcoat ought to be just as red as old Mr. Robin's was.

  So Jolly visited the mountain ash each day and fairly stuffed himselfwith the bright red fruit.

  It did him no harm, anyhow. And he enjoyed eating it.

  And the next spring, when Jolly Robin returned to Pleasant Valley,after spending the winter in the South, there was not a redderwaistcoat than his in all the neighborhood.

  IV

  WHAT JOLLY DID BEST

  Jolly Robin had something on his mind. For several days he had beenturning a certain matter over in his head. But in spite of all histhinking, he seemed unable to find any answer to the question that wastroubling him. So at last he decided he would have to ask somebody tohelp him.

  And that was why Jolly stopped Jimmy Rabbit near the garden one day.

  "I want your advice," he told Jimmy Rabbit.

  "Certainly!" that young gentleman replied. And he sat himself downupon his wheelbarrow and looked very earnest. "If it's anything aboutgardening," he said, "I should advise you to raise cabbages, by allmeans."

  But Jolly Robin said he wasn't thinking of planting a garden.

  "In fact," he explained, "the trouble is, I don't know what to do. I'dlike to have some regular work, you know. And since you've had a gooddeal of experience, having run a tooth-pulling parlor, a barber-shop,and a shoe-store, I thought you might be able to tell me what would bea good business for me to take up."

  For a few minutes Jimmy Rabbit did not speak. But he nodded his headwisely.

  "Let me see!" he said at last. "What's the thing you do best?"

  Jolly Robin replied at once that he thought he could fly better thanhe could do anything else. And he felt so happy, because he was sureJimmy Rabbit was going to help him, that he began to laugh gaily. Andhe couldn't help singing a snatch of a new song he had heard thatmorning. And then he laughed again.

  "You're mistaken," Jimmy Rabbit said to him. "You fly well enough, Idare say. But there are others who can beat you at flying.... No!" hedeclared. "What you can do better than anybody I know is to _laugh_.And if I were you I should make laughing my regular business."

  That idea struck Jolly Robin as being so funny that he laughed harderthan ever. And Jimmy Rabbit nodded his head again, as if to say, "I'mright and I know it!"

  At last Jolly Robin stopped laughing long enough to ask Jimmy toexplain how anyone could make a business of laughing. "I don't see howit could be done," said Jolly Robin.

  "Why--it's simple enough!" Jimmy told him. "All you need do is to findsomebody who will hire you to laugh for him. There are people, youknow, who find it very difficult to laugh. I should think they'd beglad to pay somebody to do their laughing for them."

  "Name someone!" Jolly Robin urged him.

  And Jimmy Rabbit did.

  "There's old Mr. Crow!" he said. "You know how solemn he is. It'spositively painful to hear him try to laugh at a joke. I'm sure hewould be delighted with this idea. And if I were you I'd see himbefore somebody else does."

  Jolly Robin looked puzzled.

  "Who would ever think of such a thing but you?" he asked.

  "Nobody!" Jimmy Rabbit replied. "But I like the scheme so well that Ialmost wish I hadn't mentioned it. And unless you make your bargainwith old Mr. Crow at once I may decide to go into the laughingbusiness myself.... My advice to you," he said, "is to hurry!"

  So Jolly Robin thanked him. And then he flew away to find old Mr.Crow.

  Of course, he went to the cornfield first.

  V

  LAUGHING FOR MR. CROW

  Sure enough! old Mr. Crow was in the cornfield. And though he wasfeeling somewhat peevish that morning, because a coon had disturbedhis rest the night before, he listened to what Jolly Robin had tosay.

  "I've come to ask you a question," Jolly told him. "I've decided to gointo business--the laughing business. And I want to inquire if youwouldn't like to engage me to do your laughing for you."

  Well, that struck old Mr. Crow as being very funny. He forgot allabout his loss of sleep. And his eye twinkled quite merrily. He triedto laugh, too; but it was a pitiful attempt--no more than a hoarsecackle, which was, as Jimmy Rabbit had said, positively painful. OldMr. Crow seemed to realize that he was making a very queer sound. Hehastily turned his laugh into a cough and pretended that he had akernel of corn stuck in his throat.

  "What are your prices?" he asked Jolly Robin. "Are you going to chargeby the day or by the laugh?"

  "Just as you prefer!" Jolly answered.

  "Well, I'll have to think about it," old Mr. Crow told him. "It's aquestion that I wouldn't care to decide in a hurry. If I paid you bythe day you might not laugh at all. And if I paid you by the laugh youmight laugh all the time.... It would be pretty expensive, either way.And I don't believe I'd like that."

  "I'll tell you what I'll do," said Jolly Robin then. "I'll stay withyou one day for nothing. And we'll see how the arrangement suits us."

  That suggestion pleased Mr. Crow.

  "Agreed!" he said quickly. "And now," he added, "you may laugh for me,because I am quite delighted."

  So Jolly Robin laughed happily. And old Mr. Crow remarked that it wasa _fair_ laugh, though not so loud as he would have liked.

  "I'll do better next time," Jolly assured him.

  "Good!" said Mr. Crow. "And now, since I've finished my breakfast,we'll go over to the woods and see what's going on there thismorning."

  The first person they saw in the woods was Peter Mink. He was fishingfor trout in Broad Brook. And old Mr. Crow, as soon as he spied him,sang out:

  "How many of Farmer Green's fish have you eaten this morning?"

  Peter Mink was just crawling out of the water, with a fish in hismouth. When he heard Mr. Crow calling to him, he dropped his troutupon a rock and looked up quickly.

  "How much of Farmer Green's corn have you stolen for your breakfast?"he cried.

  At that Jolly Robin began to laugh. But Mr. Crow stopped him quickly.

  "Don't laugh!" the old gentleman squawked. "There's nothing to laughat, so far as I can see."

  So Jolly managed to smother his laughter, for he noticed that Mr. Crowwas angry.

  "You'll have to be careful," Mr. Crow warned him. "You mustn't laughat the wrong time, you know."

  "I'll do my best," Jolly Robin promised. And he could see already thatold Mr. Crow was going to be hard to please.

  VI

  TICKLING A NOSE

  Old Mr. Crow did not want to stay near the brook to talk with PeterMink. Calling to Jolly Robin to follow him, he flapped his way to theedge of the woods and sat in a tree overlooking the pasture.