When people lose their tempers

Oh what a sorry sight!

They call each other dreadful¹ names,

And sometimes scratch and bite.

The Merry Little Breezes ran

And hid themselves away

When Chatterer his temper lost,

And so did Sammy Jay.

 

It really was too dreadful! It quite spoiled the day for all the little people who were within sound of their voices. You see, when Sammy Jay discovered that it was Chatterer and not a trap set by Farmer Brown's boy that had given him such a fright at Farmer Brown's corn-crib, right away Sammy's temper just boiled right over. Chatterer had his mouth so full of corn that he couldn't say a word, but he could run; and run he did, scampering² across Farmer Brown's dooryard to the shelter of the old stone wall at the edge of the Old Orchard³ with Sammy after him, screaming "Thief! thief! thief!" at the top of his lungs.

 

"My gracious⁴, what a racket!" exclaimed Farmer Brown's boy, as he opened the door. "That Jay is making such a fuss⁵ that I should think there was a fox about." He put his milk-pails down and stepped back into the house. In a minute he was out again, with his terrible gun in his hands. He went straight to the old stone wall where only a few minutes before Reddy Fox had been hiding, and it was well for Reddy that he had slipped away the minute Sammy Jay began to scream at Chatterer. Farmer Brown's boy looked disappointed when he saw no signs of Reddy. Then he went over to the little house of Bowser the Hound⁶ and unchained Bowser.

 

Bowser wagged⁷ his tail and yelped⁸ with delight when he saw the gun, for he dearly loves to hunt. He ran ahead back to the Old Orchard, and almost at once his great, deep voice told all within hearing that his wonderful nose had found the tracks of Reddy Fox.

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