The Tale of Solomon Owl

The Tale of Solomon Owl by
Arthur Scott

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Scott Bailey

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Title: The Tale of Solomon Owl
Author: Arthur Scott Bailey
Release Date: 2005-09 [Ebook #16663]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO 8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE
OF SOLOMON OWL***

The Tale of Solomon Owl By Arthur Scott Bailey
Author of "The Tale of Sandy Chipmunk," "The Tale of Tommy Fox,"

etc. Illustrated by Harry L. Smith
New York Grosset & Dunlap 1917

[Frontispiece]
Solomon Owl Sat Up And Listened.

CONTENTS
Illustrations I - Scaring Johnny Green II - A Newcomer III - Solomon
Likes Frogs IV - An Odd Bargain V - The Cold Weather Coat VI -
Solomon Needs a Change VII - The Blazing Eyes VIII - Watching The
Chickens IX - Hallowe'en X - A Troublesome Wishbone XI - Cured At
Last XII - Benjamin Bat XIII - The Lucky Guest XIV - Hanging By
The Heels XV - Disputes Settled XVI - Nine Fights XVII - Cousin
Simon Screecher XVIII - A Cousinly Quarrel XIX - The Sleet Storm
XX - A Pair Of Red-Heads XXI - At Home In The Haystack XXII - It
Was Solomon's Fault

ILLUSTRATIONS
Solomon Owl Sat Up And Listened Frontispiece Solomon Found Mr.
Frog's Shop Was Closed Benjamin Bat Asked Solomon's Advice "It's
All Right!" Said Solomon

THE TALE OF SOLOMON OWL

I SCARING JOHNNY GREEN
When Johnnie Green was younger, it always scared him to hear

Solomon Owl's deep-toned voice calling in the woods after dark.
"Whoo-whoo-whoo, whoo-whoo, to-whoo-ah!" That weird cry was
enough to send Johnnie Green hurrying into the farmhouse, though
sometimes he paused in the doorway to listen--especially if Solomon
Owl happened to be laughing. His "haw-haw-hoo-hoo," booming
across the meadow on a crisp fall evening, when the big yellow moon
hung over the fields of corn-shocks and pumpkins, sounded almost as if
Solomon were laughing at the little boy he had frightened. There was
certainly a mocking, jeering note in his laughter.
Of course, as he grew older, Johnnie Green no longer shivered on
hearing Solomon's rolling call. When Solomon laughed, Johnnie Green
would laugh, too. But Solomon Owl never knew that, for often he was
half a mile from the farm buildings.
A "hoot owl," Johnnie Green termed him. And anyone who heard
Solomon hooting of an evening, or just before sunrise, would have
agreed that it was a good name for him. But he was really a barred owl,
for he had bars of white across his feathers.
If you had happened to catch Solomon Owl resting among the thick
hemlocks near the foot of Blue Mountain, where he lived, you would
have thought that he looked strangely like a human being. He had no
"horns," or ear-tufts, such as some of the other owls wore; and his great
pale face, with its black eyes, made him seem very wise and solemn.
In spite of the mild, questioning look upon his face whenever anyone
surprised him in the daytime, Solomon Owl was the noisiest of all the
different families of owls in Pleasant Valley. There were the barn owls,
the long-eared owls, the short-eared owls, the saw-whet owls, the
screech owls--but there! there's no use of naming them all. There wasn't
one of them that could equal Solomon Owl's laughing and hooting and
shrieking and wailing--at night.
During the day, however, Solomon Owl he was quiet about it. One
reason for his silence then was that he generally slept when the sun was
shining. And when most people were sleeping, Solomon Owl was as

wide awake as he could be.
He was a night-prowler--if ever there was one. And he could see a
mouse on the darkest night, even if it stirred ever so slightly.
That was unfortunate for the mice. But luckily for them, Solomon Owl
couldn't be in more than one place at a time. Otherwise, there wouldn't
have been a mouse left in Pleasant Valley--if he could have had his
way.
And though he didn't help the mice, he helped Farmer Green by
catching them. If he did take a fat pullet once in a while, it is certain
that he more than paid for it.
So, on the whole, Farmer Green did not wood-lot. And for a long time
Solomon raised no objection to Farmer Green's living near Swift River.
But later Solomon Owl claimed that it would be a good thing for