Not one of his relatives had noticed that nest.
They had been too busy teasing Hooty. This
was just as Blacky had hoped. He didn’t
want them to know about that nest because he was selfish
and wanted to get those eggs just for himself alone.
But now he knew that the only way he could get Mrs.
Hooty off of them would be by teasing her so that
she would lose her temper and try to catch some of
her tormentors. If she did that, there would
be a chance that he might slip in and get at least
one of those eggs.
He would try it.
For a few minutes he listened to the noise of his
relatives growing fainter and fainter, as Hooty led
them farther and farther into the Green Forest.
Then he opened his mouth.
“Caw, caw, caw, caw!” he screamed.
“Caw, caw, caw, caw! Come back, everybody!
Here is Mrs. Hooty on her nest! Caw, caw, caw,
caw!”
Now as soon as they heard that, all Blacky’s
relatives stopped chasing and tormenting Hooty and
started back as fast as they could fly. They
didn’t like the dark part of the Green Forest
into which Hooty was leading them. Besides,
they wanted to see that nest. So back they came,
cawing at the top of their lungs, for they were very
much excited. Some of them never had seen a nest
of Hooty’s. And anyway, it would be just
as much fun to tease Mrs. Hooty as it was to tease
Hooty.
“Where is the nest?” they screamed, as
they came back to where Blacky was cawing and pretending
to be very much excited.
“Why, " exclaimed one, “that is the old
nest of Redtail the Hawk. I know all about that
nest. " And he looked at Blacky as if he thought
Blacky was playing a joke on them.
“It was Redtail’s, but it is Hooty’s
now. If you don’t believe me, just look
in it, " retorted Blacky.
At once they all began to fly over the top of the
tree where they could look down into the nest and
there, sure enough, was Mrs. Hooty, her great, round,
yellow eyes glaring up at them angrily. Such
a racket! Right away Hooty was forgotten, and
the whole crowd at once began to torment Mrs. Hooty.
Only Blacky sat watchful and silent, waiting for
Mrs. Hooty to lose her temper and try to catch one
of her tormentors. He had hope, a great hope,
that he would get one of those eggs.
No one can live just for self alone. A lot of
people think they can, but they are very much mistaken.
They are making one of the greatest mistakes in the
world. Every teeny, weeny act, no matter what
it is, affects somebody else. That is one of
Old Mother Nature’s great laws. And it
is just as true among the little people of the Green
Forest and the Green Meadows as with boys and girls
and grown people. It is Old Mother Nature’s
way of making each of us responsible for the good
of all and of teaching us that always we should help
each other.
