The Tale of Major Monkey | Page 5

"I hope you haven't gone and got a hand-organ!"
"No--not that!" said Mr. Crow. "The Woodchuck brothers are going to whistle for us."
"Oh!" said the Major, who appeared much relieved. "I was afraid you had a hand-organ.
And I don't care for that sort of music. I've heard too much of it on my travels."
At a signal from Mr. Crow, the Woodchuck brothers stepped forward and started to
whistle a lively tune, called "Clover Blossoms." Being very fond of clover blossoms, the
musicians began whistling in a most spirited fashion. But they had bad luck.
Though he did not know the tune, Major Monkey insisted on whistling, too. And all the
company stopped up their ears, except Mr. Crow. He stood the noise as long as he could.
And then he ordered the whistlers to stop. "What tune were you whistling?" he asked the
Major.
"It's called 'Banana Blossoms,'" Major Monkey explained. "You see, I'm very fond of
bananas."
Old Mr. Crow laughed.
"The two tunes don't go well together," he said. "So we won't have any more music."
And Fatty Coon cried that he was glad of that, because when people whistled about
things to eat it only made him hungrier than ever.

VI
Too Many Disputes
On the whole, Mr. Crow's party would have been a great success if it hadn't been for
Peter Mink and Tommy Fox.
As soon as Major Monkey showed himself, after throwing the apple at Mr. Crow, those
two began whispering slyly together. And when the Major climbed a tree and hung from
a limb by his tail they both jumped up and said to Mr. Crow:
"We saw Major Monkey before you ever did!"
Mr. Crow promptly flew into a rage.
"You did not!" he squalled.
"Yes, we did!" they declared. "We told people several days ago that we had seen a
stranger hanging by his tail; and nobody believed us because you said it wasn't possible.
You said nobody but a 'possum could do that, and that no 'possum ever came as far north
as Pleasant Valley."

Old Mr. Crow was very angry. Although he knew that Tommy and Peter were speaking
the truth, he did not care to hear it. Certainly there was no use of his denying what they
said. But an idea popped into his head.
"Which of you saw the Major first?" he asked.
"I did!" they both bawled at the same time. And then followed a terrible dispute: "You
didn't! I did! I did! You didn't!"
Now, that was exactly what Mr. Crow wanted. He had started Peter Mink and Tommy
Fox to quarreling. "They'll never agree," Mr. Crow cried. "Let's ask Major Monkey to
settle the dispute! Let's leave it to him!" And turning to his friend, the Major, Mr. Crow
said: "Which of these two sharp-nosed rascals did you see first?"
Major Monkey took a bite out of his apple while he looked closely at Peter Mink and
Tommy Fox.
"I never saw either of them until I came to this party," he declared. "And then I saw both
at the same time, because they were whispering together."
"There!" Mr. Crow shouted to the whole company. "You hear what my old friend the
Major says?"
Tommy Fox and Peter Mink stopped quarreling.
"You didn't ask the Major the proper question!" they objected. "We never said he saw us
at all! We said----"
But Mr. Crow waved them aside.
"If you aren't too hungry," he muttered to Major Monkey, "I'd suggest that you let fly
with that red apple."
The Major was only too willing. With deadly aim he flung the apple at Peter Mink and
Tommy Fox. First it hit Peter on the nose, and then it bounced off and struck Tommy on
his nose.
And then the party came to an end in an awful uproar. For Peter and Tommy were very
angry. Those that could fly flew away in a great hurry. And those that could run
scampered quickly out of sight. As for the soldier, Major Monkey, he climbed a tree and
hung by his tail from a limb, where he swung backwards and forwards and made faces at
Tommy Fox and Peter Mink until their rage was terrible to see.
Mr. Crow did not desert his friend the Major. He remained in a tree near-by, to watch the
fun. And there's no telling how long it would have lasted had not Major Monkey pulled
himself suddenly up on a limb and laid a hand across the front of his red coat. There was
a look of pain upon his face.

"What's the matter?" Mr. Crow asked him. "Are you wounded?" he inquired. Knowing
that the Major was a soldier, he could think of nothing but a wound that would