The Tale of Nimble Deer

Tale of Nimble Deer, by Arthur
Scott Bailey

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Title: The Tale of Nimble Deer Sleepy-Time Tales
Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
Illustrator: Harry L. Smith
Release Date: May 26, 2007 [EBook #21619]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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OF NIMBLE DEER ***

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THE TALE OF NIMBLE DEER

SLEEPY-TIME TALES
(Trademark Registered)
BY
ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
AUTHOR OF
TUCK-ME-IN TALES
(Trademark Registered)
THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR THE TALE OF FRISKY SQUIRREL
THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX THE TALE OF FATTY COON THE
TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK THE TALE OF JIMMY RABBIT
THE TALE OF PETER MINK THE TALE OF SANDY CHIPMUNK
THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER THE TALE OF PADDY
MUSKRAT THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG THE TALE OF
DICKIE DEER MOUSE THE TALE OF TIMOTHY TURTLE THE
TALE OF MAJOR MONKEY THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER
[Illustration: Nimble Told Everybody He Met. Frontispiece--(Page
27)]

SLEEPY-TIME TALES (Trademark Registered)
THE TALE OF NIMBLE DEER
BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
Author of
"TUCK-ME-IN TALES" (Trademark Registered) and
"SLUMBER-TOWN TALES" (Trademark Registered)
ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH

NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS
Made in the United States of America
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I THE SPOTTED FAWN 7
II LEARNING THINGS 13
III AN INTERRUPTED NAP 18
IV PLANNING A PICNIC 23
V NIMBLE'S MISTAKE 29
VI AN UNEXPECTED PARTY 35
VII THE STRANGE LIGHT 39
VIII MRS. DEER EXPLAINS 44
IX A SPIKE HORN 49
X AT THE CARROT PATCH 54
XI CUFFY AND THE CAVE 60
XII CUFFY IS MISSING 65
XIII CUFFY BEAR WAKENS 70
XIV ANTLERS 75

XV A MOCK BATTLE 79
XVI MR. CROW LOOKS ON 84
XVII WHAT BROWNIE WANTED 90
XVIII THE MULEY COW 96
XIX THE JUMPING CONTEST 100
XX SOLVING A PROBLEM 104
XXI AN UNTOLD SECRET 109
XXII THE NEW HAT-RACK 113
XXIII HOW NIMBLE HELPED 118
XXIV UNCLE JERRY CHUCK 123

THE TALE OF NIMBLE DEER

I
THE SPOTTED FAWN
When Nimble's mother first looked at him she couldn't believe she
would ever be able to raise him. He was such a tiny, frail, spotted thing
that he seemed too delicate for a life of adventure on the wooded ridges
and in the tangled swamps under the shadow of Blue Mountain.
"Bless me!" cried the good lady. "This child's not much taller than an
overgrown beet top and he can't be any heavier than one of Farmer
Green's prize cabbages. And his legs--" she exclaimed--"his legs are no
thicker than pea pods.... They'll be ready to eat in another month," she
added, meaning not her child's legs, as you might have supposed, but

Farmer Green's early June peas. For Nimble's mother was very fond of
certain vegetables that did not grow wild in the woods.
Of course young Nimble did not know what she was talking about. He
had a great deal to learn. And he would have to wait until he was a
good deal bigger before his mother took him on an excursion, by night,
across the fields to Farmer Green's garden patch.
All at once Nimble leaped quickly upon his slightly wobbly legs. He
trembled and gazed up at his mother with a look of fear in his great
eyes. At the same time his mother, too, lifted her head and listened for
a few moments. "Don't be afraid!" she said then, to Nimble. "That's old
Spot--Farmer Green's dog--barking. But he's down near the barns, so
we don't need to worry."
That was the first time Nimble had ever heard a dog's voice. Yet no one
needed to tell him that it wasn't a pleasant sound.
Even his mother couldn't help feeling that she had better put a wide
stretch of rough country between her new youngster and old Spot's
home. So in a little while she led the way slowly along the pine grown
ridge which bent around a shoulder of the mountain. She was headed
for the spring which marked the beginning of Broad Brook.
Her little spotted fawn, Nimble, kept close beside her. Slowly as his
mother moved, he found the traveling none too easy. And he was glad
when she stopped in a pocket-like clearing. There she spoke to a proud
speckled bird who was sitting on a log and amusing himself by
spreading his tail