The Tale of Jasper Jay | Page 3

vain fellow. And it was
not only of his brilliant blue suit that he was proud. He was greatly
pleased with his own voice, though many of the feathered folk thought
it harsh and disagreeable. But, that, perhaps, was because they seldom
or never heard Jasper's sweeter, flute-like notes, or the soft, low chatter
which he kept for his most intimate friends.
What most of his acquaintances knew and disliked was Jasper's noisy
"Jay! jay!" But even that discordant cry suited Jasper very well. And he
often boasted that there wasn't another bird in Pleasant Valley that
could make a greater racket than he.
To be sure, there was Jasper's cousin, old Mr. Crow. His "Caw, caw"
could be heard half a mile away, if the wind was right. But Jasper Jay
always insisted that his own voice was much stronger than Mr. Crow's.
And nobody troubled himself to dispute Jasper's claim.
So Jasper Jay had little to worry about until at last something happened
that made him feel quite uneasy. It was almost noon on a hot summer's
day; and Jasper was resting amid the shade of a big beech tree on the
edge of the woods, where he could look across the meadow and watch
Farmer Green and his boy Johnnie and the hired-man at work in the
hayfield. Jasper was just thinking how much pleasanter was his own
carefree life than theirs when a long, loud call blared across the
meadow. He had never heard that cry before; and he raised himself on
tiptoe, listening intently as the sound echoed back and forth across the
valley.
Though Jasper stayed quite still for some time, waiting to hear the cry
again, it was not repeated.

"I'd like to know what sort of bird that was!" he said to himself at last.
"If he stays in this neighborhood I'll have to drive him away, for his
voice is certainly louder than mine. And I wouldn't let him come here
and insult me like that."
All the afternoon Jasper Jay flew up and down the length of Pleasant
Valley and back and forth across it, hunting for the strange bird with
the loud voice. But he met no newcomer at all.
Jasper had almost decided that the stranger had merely been passing
through the valley. He certainly hoped that such was the case, because
he had no way of telling how big the unknown might be. If he were as
large as his voice, driving him away might prove no joke for Jasper.
By nightfall Jasper began to feel less anxious. To be sure, he dreamed
that he met an enormous bird on the top of Blue Mountain, who chased
him all the way around the world. And when he awoke just before
daybreak he was still frightened, until he remembered that it was only a
dream.
"It must have been that fuzzy caterpillar that I ate just before I went to
bed," he thought.
Jasper was himself again all the morning. He had a good deal of fun
teasing a kitten which had lost itself behind Farmer Green's barn. And
he drove Jolly Robin's wife almost frantic by hiding in the orchard and
whistling like a hawk. And then, at midday, his fun was spoiled. That
strange scream smote his ears once more. And Jasper trembled both
with rage and fear.
He knew then that the stranger was still in the valley.

IV
JASPER'S BOAST
JASPER JAY had said nothing to anyone concerning the horrid call,

which had sounded twice--each time at midday. But now that he felt
sure the strange bird whose cry he had heard must have come to live in
Pleasant Valley, he could no longer keep from mentioning the matter.
Chancing to meet his cousin, Mr. Crow, the next morning, Jasper
stopped to talk with the old gentleman. You see, Mr. Crow was widely
known as a gossip. He usually knew what was going on in the
neighborhood. So Jasper thought it likely that Mr. Crow could tell him
all about the unwelcome stranger. "Perhaps," he thought, "the old
scamp has already seen him."
Of course, Jasper never termed his cousin a scamp to his face. He
always spoke to him very politely, greeting him as "Mr. Crow," in spite
of their close relationship. And there was a reason why Jasper did that.
Mr. Crow had once given him a severe beating because Jasper had
called him something else. And Jasper Jay never forgot it.
Now Jasper first inquired after his cousin's health. He did that to put old
Mr. Crow in a good humor. But Jasper was sorry at once that he had
started Mr. Crow to talking about his ills. It happened that the old
gentleman was then suffering from gout, hay-fever and housemaid's