The Adventures of Johnny Chuck | Page 7

like the looks of them so well that I
think I will stay. So run along, little boaster! There isn't room for both
of us here, and the sooner you trot along the better." The stranger
suddenly showed all his teeth and gritted them unpleasantly.
Now when Johnny Chuck heard this, great anger filled his heart. A

stranger had ordered him to leave the Green Meadows where he had
been born and always lived! He could hardly believe his own ears. He,
Johnny Chuck, would show this stranger who was master here!
With a squeal of rage, Johnny sprang at the gray old Chuck. Then
began such a fight as the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West
Wind had never seen before. They danced around excitedly and cried:
"How dreadful!" and hoped that Johnny Chuck would win, for you
know they loved him very much.
Over and over the two little fighters rolled, biting and scratching and
tearing and growling and snarling. Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun hid his
face behind a cloud, so as not to see such a dreadful sight. The stranger
had been in many fights and he was very crafty. For a while Johnny felt
that he was getting the worst of it, and he began to wonder if he really
would have to leave the Green Meadows. The very thought filled him
with new rage and he fought harder than ever.
Now the stranger was old and his teeth were worn, while Johnny was
young and his teeth were very sharp. After a long, long time, Johnny
felt the stranger growing weaker. Johnny fought harder than ever. At
last the stranger cried "Enough!" and when he could break away,
started back towards the Old Pasture. Johnny Chuck had won!

VIII
JOHNNY HAS ANOTHER ADVENTURE
Johnny Chuck lay stretched out on the cool, soft grass of the Green
Meadows, panting for breath. He was very tired and very sore. His face
was scratched and bitten. His clothes were torn, and he smarted
dreadfully in a dozen places. But still Johnny Chuck was happy. When
he raised his head to look, he could see a gray old Chuck limping off
towards the Old Pasture. Once in a while the gray old Chuck would
turn his head and show his teeth, but he kept right on towards the Old
Pasture. Johnny Chuck smiled.
It had been a great fight, and more than once Johnny Chuck had
thought that he should have to give up. He thought of this now, and
then he thought with shame of how he had bragged and boasted just
before the fight. What if he had lost? He resolved that he would never
again brag or boast. But he also made up his mind that if any one
should pick a quarrel with him, he would show that he wasn't afraid.

It was getting late in the afternoon when Johnny finally felt rested
enough to go on. He had got to find a place to spend the night. He
hobbled along, for he was very stiff and sore, until he came to the edge
of the Green Meadows, where they meet the Green Forest.
Jolly, round, red Mr. Sun was almost ready to go down to his bed
behind the Purple Hills. Shadows were already beginning to creep
through the Green Forest. Somehow they gave Johnny Chuck that same
lonesome feeling that he had had when he first left his old home. You
see he had always lived out in the Green Meadows and somehow he
was afraid of the Green Forest in the night.
So, instead of going into the Green Forest, he wandered along the edge
of it, looking for a place in which to spend the night. At last he came to
a hollow log lying just out on the edge of the Green Meadows. Very
carefully Johnny Chuck examined it, to be sure that no one else was
using it.
"It's just the place I'm looking for!" he said aloud.
Just then there was a sharp hiss, a very fierce hiss. Johnny Chuck felt
the hair on his neck rise as it always did when he heard that hiss, and he
wasn't at all surprised, when he turned his head, to find Mr. Blacksnake
close by. Mr. Blacksnake glided swiftly up to the old log and coiled
himself in front of the opening. Then he raised his head and ran out his
tongue in the most impudent way.
"Run along, Johnny Chuck! I've decided to sleep here myself to-night!"
he said sharply.
Now when Johnny Chuck was a very little fellow, he had been in great
fear of Mr. Blacksnake, as he had had reason to be. And because he
didn't know any better, he had been afraid ever since.