The Tale of Jasper Jay | Page 7

was always sport of some sort to be had.
One day when Jasper was on his way to Farmer Green's place, he
happened to meet a blue jay friend of his known as Noisy Jake, because
he was not very quiet. In fact, one could almost always hear his voice
ringing through the woods.
"You seem to be in a hurry," Noisy Jake bawled. "Where are you
going?"
"S-sh!" said Jasper. "I'm going to the farmyard to have some fun
scaring the hens. But I don't want everybody to know it. Do you want
to come along?"

Noisy Jake promptly said he did. So the two rascals hurried across the
pasture and over the meadow toward the farm buildings.
"Now----" said Jasper Jay, when they had reached the farmyard--"now
I'll hide in this oak here and you can hide in that one there." He pointed
to a tree a little further from the chicken house than the one where he
intended to perch. Naturally, it was not like Jasper Jay to give the best
seat to anybody else.
"What'll we do then?" Noisy Jake asked.
"You see those hens," said Jasper. "I'm going to scream like Mr.
Red-shouldered Hawk. And you'll laugh when the hens hurry their
chicks out of the way.... If you want to, you may scream too--but not
till after I have."
Noisy Jake agreed to Jasper's plan. And he quickly disappeared among
the branches of the oak to which Jasper had sent him.
Then Jasper just had to stop and laugh to himself over the fright he was
going to give the old hens. He was about to open his mouth to imitate
the cry of Mr. Hawk when something happened that made him terrible
angry.
"Kee-you! kee-you!" The fierce scream rang out over the farmyard. And
immediately the mother-hens called to their children, with frantic
clucks, to run for their lives into the chicken house.
Jasper Jay did not laugh at all over the way the chicks scurried out of
sight.
"Noisy Jake has played a mean trick on me!" he said to himself. "He
went and screamed before it was his turn!"
Since he didn't want to miss all the fun, Jasper let out a blood-curdling
"Kee-you! kee-you!" himself, just to hurry the last hen under cover. But,
somehow, he had to confess to himself--though he wouldn't have
admitted it to anybody else--he had to confess that Noisy Jake's cry

sounded far more like Mr. Hawk's than did his own.
Of course, that did not make Jasper feel any pleasanter. He wished he
had not told Noisy Jake where he was going.
"I'll punish him for his meddling!" Jasper exclaimed. And he flew
straight for the tree where Noisy Jake had hidden.
But Jasper did not reach the tree.
"Kee-you! kee-you!" The cry came from above his head. And looking
up, Jasper Jay saw Mr. Red-shouldered Hawk himself, dropping down
like lightning out of the sky.
Mr. Hawk paid not the slightest attention to the frightened hens and
their chicks. He seemed to have eyes only for Jasper Jay. And on his
proud, cruel face there was a look of anger that made Jasper wish he
had never, never imitated Mr. Hawk's cry.
He was sorry now, that he had not heeded Mr. Crow's warning. But his
cousin, old Mr. Crow, was always looking solemn and croaking loudly
about "trouble." It was no wonder that people paid little attention to
what he said.

IX
JASPER HAS TO HIDE
WHEN Jasper Jay looked up and saw Mr. Red-shouldered Hawk
darting down upon him from above, he dodged to one side and
screamed loudly for help.
His friend Noisy Jake was known as a great fighter. And Jasper hoped
that together they might be able to drive Mr. Hawk away.
But he was disappointed. Noisy Jake did not appear. And there was a
good reason why he did not. At that very moment he was flying off

across the meadow as fast as his beautiful wings could carry him. He
had seen Mr. Hawk circling above the barnyard. And he had lost no
time in making his escape.
But Jasper Jay knew nothing of all that. And when he found that there
was no one to help him he was just as frightened as the hens had been.
He knew that he was no match for Mr. Hawk. And he had no wish to
make a meal for him. Jasper was quite willing to leave that pleasure to
the frogs that splashed their time away along the banks of Black Creek.
For a few moments Jasper ducked first one way and then another. He
had several narrow escapes. And there's no telling what might have
happened if he hadn't suddenly decided that he would follow the hens'
example.