Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-17
Bedtime Stories
BY THORNTON W. BURGESS.
Vacation Days.
He ne'er his strength will oyertax
Who wisely learns how to relax.
-Redshoulder the Hawk.

He lives neither wisely nor well who
| never takes the time to relax; who
| never stops work and puts aside all
| worries and cares to play bit or just
do nothing. The little people Of the
Green Forest and the Green Meadows
| know this. They all have some play
time. The RedShoulders had had a
| long Journey up from the Sunny South
and ever since their arrival In the
Green Forest had worked hard in the
building of a new home. Now that was
! finished. Even Mrs. Redshoulders adj
mitted that she couldn't find another
thing to do to it. Ahead of them were
nearly four weeks of patient sitting on
eggs and then several weeks of ceaseless
/ hunting from dawn to dark to feed a
| growing family. So, as it was not quite
| time for the eggs to be laid, they wisely
| decided on a vacation wherein to rest
and get in condition for the busy weeks
ahead.
We'll look over the ground and find
where the best hunting is likely to be, y
declared Redshoulder. MY, it does
seem good not to have anything in par
ticular TO do"
Sweet Mistress Spring had arrived,
and throughout the Green Forest, all
over the Green Meadows, up in the Old
PASTURE, over in the Old Orchard, along
/ the Laughing Brook and around the
| Smiling Pool there was a general awak-
ening. The sap was running up IN the
| trees. Brown buds were bursting as
tiny green leaves pushed out. The
gray pussies on the willows we're turn
| ing yellow as their tiny blossoms shook
out golden pollen. pepper the Hyla, the
first of the Frog folk to awaken, had
been leading the chorus of the Smiling
Pool for more than a week, and now
| Stickytoes the Tree Toad, his bigger
cousin, had added his thrill to the joy
Gus concert. Reowing the Blackbird
| had arrived and from the top Of an
alder his "oka-chee, quon-ka-ree" told
all the Great World how glad he was to
be back.
Every day there were new arrivals of
| feathered folk. Drummer the Wood
pecker almost forgot to eat in the Joy
of beating out his long roll on favor
tie dead limb. Thunderer the Grouse
was drumming and strutting, as only
he can, for the admiration of Mrs.
Grouse Best of all. from Redshoulder's
point of view, Danny and Nanny
Meadow Mouse already had new fam
| lily. He didn't know this, but he sus-
pected it. The more mice on the Green
Meadows the easier it would be to get
good living.
Joy was in the very air, and Red
shoulder and Mrs. Redshoulder felt it.
They would sail in circles high in the
air with hardly a motion Of their great
wings, now and then screaming for the
sheer Joy of being alive and home. AS
they sailed, their wonderful eyes were
watching all below. Even from way up
there in the air they could see Mouse
running in the Grass of the Green
Meadows. Then would follow a head
! long plunge, to be checked just before
| the ground was reached. They enjoyed
those swift downward rushes, just as
| you enjoy a roller coaster.
| Perhaps the Mouse would hear the
rush of Redshoulder's plunge or his
shadow would give warning. The Mouse
would slip under a tuft of grass and
Redshoulder would turn and glide up
to a tree near by. There he would sit
with his eyes fixed on the spot where
that Mouse had disappeared and when
the latter, thinking danger over, would
move, Redshoulder would dart down
and there would be no more Mouse in
that place.
Much of the time Redshoulder and
Mrs. Redshoulder would sit in the tops
of tall trees summing themselves, ruff
fling their feathers to let the wind
blow through them and all the time
watching for Mice or Frogs or Snakes.
Now and then they would fly back to
look at the new home and sit by it a