Evening star., 1913-12-17
Chatterer Leaves the Green
Forest.

Chatterer the Red Squirrel was in a
peck of trouble. Yes, sir, he was in a
peck of trouble. There was no doubt
about ii. "Oh, dear, Oh, dear. If only
had kept my tongue still, If only I
had kept my tongue still.' he kept say
ing over and over to himself as he hur-
ried through the Green Forest You
see, Chatterer was just beginning to
realize what lot of trouble an unruly
tongue can get one into Here it was
cold weather, the very edge of winter.
and Chatterer didn't dare stay in the
Green Forest, where he had always made
his home. His storehouses were full of
nuts and seeds and corn, enough and
more than enough to keep him in COM
fort all winter, and now he must turn
his back on them and go, he didn't know
where, and all because of his mean dis
position and bad tongue.
If he hadn't called Bobby Coon names
that morning at the top of his voice,
Shadow the Weasel might not have
found him. Shadow did find him. and
ii was only by great good fortune and
sharp and daring trick that he had
capped. He knew that Shadow has a
| long memory and that he would never
| forget that trick, and SO the only way
| he would ever be able to have a moments
place would be TO leave the Green Forest
| for as long as Shadow the Weasel chose
! to stay there. Chatterer Shivered inside
his warm red fur coat as he thought
OF the long, cold winter and how hard
| II would be to find enough to eat. Was
ever any one else in such a dreadful fix2
Presently he came to the edge of the
Green Forest. He sat down to rest in
the top of tree where he could look
| off over the Green Meadows. Far, far
| away he could see tue Purple Hills, be-
hind which jolly. round, red Mr.. Sun
goes to bed every night He could see
Il he MIR hot
| Browns cornfield from the Green Mead
| ows. He could see Farmer Brown s
| house and barn, and near them the Old
Orchard. where Johnny Chuck had spent
the summer with Polly Chuck and their
/ baby Chucks. He knew every nook and
| corner in the old stone wall and many
/ times he had been to the Old Orchard.
1t was there that he had stolen the eggs
| of Drummer the Woodpecker. He
| groaned at the thought of those eggs,
/ and how he had stolen them, and then
| he shiVered as he remembered how he
had finally been caught and how sharp
the bilis OF Drummer and Mrs. Drum
mer were.
But all that was in the past and think
/ ing about it wasn't going to help him
now. He had got to do something right
away. Perhaps he might find place to
| i've IN the old stone wall, and there might
there just might, be enough grams of
corn scattered over the ground of the
cornfield for him to lay UP a supply H.
ne worked very hard and fast Anyway,
he would have look. So he hurried
down from the tree and out along the
old stone wall His spirits began to rise
as ne whisked along, peering into every
hole and jumping from stone to stone.
1t really seemed if he might find a
snug home somewhere here. Then he
remembered something that made his
, heart sink again. He remembered hav-
ing seen Shadow the Weasel more than
once exploring that very wall. Just as
likely as not he would do it again, for
II was so very near the Green Forest.
No, the old stone wall wouldn't do
| Just then along came Peter Rabbit
Peter saw right away that something
| was wrong with Chatterer and he wanted
| to know what ii was. Chatterer told
| him. He felt that he had just to tell
some one. Peter looked thoughtful. He
scratched his long left ear with his long
right hind foot.
/ You know. there is another old stone
wall up there by the Old Orchard" said
i he. 1T is pretty near Farmer Browns
house and Black Pussy hunts there a
great deal, but you ought to be smart
/ enough to keep out of her clutches
1 Il should hope so!' exclaimed Chat
: terer scornfully. Il have never seen a
I cat yet that / was afraid of, | believe
| I'll go over and have a look at that old
/ wall. Peter Rabbit"
'IIl go with rou,' said Peter. and Off
| they started together.