He lifted one black wing and began to set in order
the feathers beneath it. Suddenly he made a
funny little hop straight up.
“Well, I never!” he exclaimed, as he spread
his wings to regain his balance. “I never
did!”
“Is that so?” piped a squeaky little voice.
“If you say you never did, I suppose you never
did, though I want the word of some one else before
I will believe it. What is it you never did?”
Blacky looked down. Peeping up at him from the
brown grass were two bright little eyes.
“Hello, Danny Meadow Mouse!” exclaimed
Blacky. “I haven’t seen you for
a long time. I’ve looked for you several
times lately.”
“I don’t doubt it. I don’t
doubt it at all,” squeaked Danny. “You’ll
never see me when you are looking for me. That
is, you won’t if I can help it. You won’t
if I see you first.”
Blacky chuckled. He knew what Danny meant.
When Blacky goes looking for Danny Meadow Mouse,
it usually is in hope of having a Meadow Mouse dinner,
and he knew that Danny knew this. “I’ve
had my breakfast,” said Blacky, “and it
isn’t dinner time yet.”
“What is it you never did?” persisted
Danny, in his squeaky voice.
“That was just an exclamation,” explained
Blacky. “I made a discovery that surprised
me so I exclaimed right out.”
“What was it?” demanded Danny.
“It was that the feathers of my coat are coming
in thicker than I ever knew them to before.
I hadn’t noticed it until I started to set them
in order a minute ago.” He buried his bill
in the feathers of his breast. “Yes, sir,”
said he in a muffled voice, “they are coming
in thicker than I ever knew them to before. There
is a lot of down around the roots of them. I
am going to have the warmest coat I’ve ever
had.”
“Well, don’t think you are the only one,”
retorted Danny. “My fur never was so thick
at this time of year as it is now, and it is the same
way with Nanny Meadow Mouse and all our children.
I suppose you know what it means.”
“What does it mean?” asked Blacky, just
as if he didn’t have the least idea, although
he had guessed the instant he discovered those extra
feathers.
“It means we are going to have a long, hard,
cold winter, and Old Mother Nature is preparing us
for it,” replied Danny, quite as if he knew
all about it. “You’ll find that everybody
who doesn’t go south or sleep all winter has
a thicker coat than usual. Hello! There
is old Roughleg the Hawk! He has come extra early
this year. I think I’ll go back to warn
Nanny.” Without another word Danny disappeared
in the brown grass. Again Blacky chuckled.
“More signs,” said he to himself.
“More signs. There isn’t a doubt
that we are going to have a hard winter. I wonder
if I can stand it or if I’d better go a little
way south, where it will be warmer.”
