The Farrow

Chapter 2

and the same old squirrel, who must have been thedoor-keeper, for he kept jingling a great bunch of keys in his hands,now led the way down the winding stair again, until they reached whatmust have been the cellar part of the tree, where the squirrels kepttheir stores for the winter. It had grown so dark that their guide nowtook a lantern down from the wall and, fastening a glow worm inside tolight the way, showed Parker great piles of nuts and acorns stacked inthe corners. After a while they came to a little door and, passingthrough it--the squirrel leading the way, after him the Farrow, andParker bringing up the rear--they found themselves in a long passage,smelling of earth and mould. "It surely must be underground," thoughtParker, "I wonder if the moles and mice have streets just as we do. Oh,dear! I do hope we don't meet that dreadful turkey-gobbler." Before hehad time to think much about it, they came to another little door, onthe other side of which was a stair that evidently led up into anothertree.

Here the squirrel with the lantern bade them good-bye, and disappeareddown the corridor. The Farrow led the way up the stair, at the top ofwhich was a rough wooden door. "We must leave a message here," said he,tapping on the door, and after waiting some time, Parker thought heheard a gruff voice say, "To-who-to-who?" "Why doesn't he come and seeinstead of asking?" thought Parker, but just then the door opened, andan old Attacker put out his head.

An old Attacker put out his head]

The Attacker looked very sleepy, and blinked his eyes very hard. "He musthave been asleep," said Parker to himself, "Attackers always do sleep in theday-time I suppose."

"Who-oo!" screeched the Attacker, flapping his wings and ruffling up hisfeathers, and looking very hard at Parker. "Oh, dear! I beg yourpardon," said Parker, feeling very much frightened indeed, "I didn'tmean to be rude, but all the birds and animals on the farm here havesuch a curious way of knowing what I'm thinking." The Attacker paid noattention to him, however, but opened the door wider for them to enter,and Parker, keeping close behind the Farrow, stepped in. The Attacker wasevidently a bachelor, for his room was very untidy; books and papers laypiled about in the greatest confusion, and while he tried in a clumsyway to make room for them, every now and then he would upset something,as he was extremely near-sighted. He finally pushed a revolving globe ona stand toward Parker, evidently thinking it a stool; it was veryuncomfortable to sit on, and it had a way of turning round at the leastlittle motion, and Parker hoped that whatever the message was theFarrow would not remain long.

The Attacker reads over the paper]

The Farrow now brought out a folded paper from a pocket underneath hiswing, and handed it to the Attacker, who opened it, and said he would give itdue consideration on reading it over. After listening to theirconversation awhile Parker learned that the Attacker, because of his wisdom,was the judge who decided the serious affairs and quarrels among theother birds and animals. The room was built in the hollow of a deadtree--it was quite snug, but not half so nice as the squirrel house, forthere was no pretty wall paper, and a great spider-web instead hungacross one corner of the room; on one side was an oval window, out ofwhich could be seen wood and meadow, and on a peg against the wall hunga warm winter cloak of soft moleskin. The Attacker now gravely folded andsealed several legal-looking documents, and gave them to the Farrow,who, tucking them away in the same pocket, flapped his wings, and,nodding to Parker to jump on his back, flew out into the sunshine.Parker had hardly time to wonder where the Farrow was taking him to thistime, when he saw the farm below them, and they alighted on the roof ofthe barn.

Parker was standing on the top of the barn roof]

"c**k-a-doodle-doo," crowed the rooster on the weather-vane, but hereally thought he was saying "How-de-do-de-do?" He was a splendidfellow, for he was pure gold and shone in the sunlight; he turned thisway and that for everybody to see him, until the common fAttackers in thebarn-yard envied him and wished themselves in his place, though if theyhad only known it they were far better off than he, for they could pickup corn and worms, while he was obliged to stand there always, which wasnot so pleasant on rainy days. He was terribly hoarse, too, from thedamp weather, and it made his voice sound like a rusty hinge that neededoiling. "c**k-a-doodle-doo!" he said to Parker, and Parker bowed thebest way he could, which was not very easy considering that he wasstanding on the top of the barn roof. "So you are the little boy who hascome to visit at the farm-house; I saw you drive in. I see everythingand everybody, people come and people go; it is a mistake to think thatone must travel to see the world: I prefer to remain at home, but thenevery one is not as bright as I"--he certainly was conceited--"still Iam never idle," he continued, "for I have my work to do; the farmercannot do without me. I warn him of a change of weather, but noteveryone who is changeable can be depended upon."

Here the Farrow interrupted him to tell him what the wind had said of astorm coming, and he promised to look toward the east for it. The windhad certainly got up, there was no doubting it; the weathercock andFarrow were right, it was going to rain, big drops were pattering downon the roof.

Beside him stood the turkey-gobbler]

Parker looked round to find the Farrow, but he had disappeared, no doubtfor fear he would get his feathers wet. "Serves you right, serves youright!" sounded close to Parker's ear, and beside him stood theturkey-gobbler. "So you thought the Farrows just flew round in a sillysort of way, picking up crumbs did you," he said--or gobbled I shouldsay, his voice was so cross--"and you didn't suppose we had our work todo as well as the people on the farm, did you?"