The San Francisco call. [volume], March 18, 1910, Page 6, Image 6

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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6
THE MISCHIEVOUS ADVENTURES OF NIP AND TUCK
ELIZABETH LYLE MADISON
NIP nnd Tuck were plotting mis
chief! They sat in the sun on tho
back stone wall washing their
faces like kittens and protending to be
demure. But the truth is they were two
as rascally .- little .--coons as ever came
from the wild 'woodlife to scandalize a
peaceful, proper farmyard.
They had furry 'bodies and long,
bushy tails, decorated with five Hugs
of black fur. Of these 'they were very
proud and when they "felt particularly
impertinent they would curve nnd
brandish these about as though saying,
"Well, anyway,. you can't show a' single
,thinff m em- .so ••fine as these handsome
appendages of ours,, so there!"
Dainty ears] were theirs, and little
painted noses, wonderfully keen scent-"
'ed nnd Inquisitive "and cold; Their
snapping eyes werefset each in a patch
of blaak fur ; which extended down the
gray.nose in a funny little point adding
a look : of alertness and drollery to the
1 faces. ' I
Today, between"; the- stages of their
morning face /wash, they would sidle
,vp t to each .other, .exchange- some slde
• splittlng confidence and go scampering
tothe end of -the wall and back, chuck
ling, with glee. Then, eylng'each
other with, grave reprovai; they would
•sit down.and.make^another attempt to
get throughthe bath soberly.' !,-. ;
" Fred, from; a* nearby, stump, watched
, the" chattering- two and felt -decidedly
jealous, for he was himself in a doleful
mood. He had lost the cellar key with
; the: storeroom,? key tied to it.-and his
\u25a0 father.,;, hadPfqrbidden •his "playing or
1 flshing:,or v doing anything really worth
.while; to /a'boy until the keys 'should -be"'
found,--. and'; Fred, after, hunting and
hunting.twaslin' despair. .'.""' "
;^VNip and :Tuok,spyihg;Fred, held an
other : u hasty 'consultation;;, and then
•icameji scampering" across; the 'yard to
'him.-,; One;ran up.his^backiand one up
, h ls arm and then they ; V chased ) round
and round his shoulders, as.though say
ing, •»"Cheer,-upjold!playmate.;' See how
much funlthere-ls in"llfe yet." '\u25a0..;•'.
\ \u25a0; Fred? la'ughed^nfsplte"bf;himself, but
just ;> theni he heard Aunt Mandy' s « voice
from the : kitchen /door, crying. "Fred I
Fred!;: Those>rascally.X;coons: have got
into < the ; screen safe /again and eaten
up the^bacon!. Now; you've ; got to get
; rid- of -them jrlghtfaway,*for:i; won't
: haveithemaround'another.day!". '
v < Fredfrose?: sorrowfully Jandi his pets
followed : him ; into the . wood, like two v
'frolicsome^ dogs.';: Finally, i when they.
,' arri yed? at; a ibroadf pool' Fred; took" both'
, Nip ?and ; Tuck : and i^hrew, them»into the '
water, i running , away I as ) he < did it and
thinking,; "Now- they'll i have/ a hard
swlmto the other side and they'll hate
me t for ; dolrig^ it , and ' will , stay )away !"
; ' But ' do j you : think that >is the .way i t
turned out? , No,: lndeed! N i p Splashed
round in . the cold L watei* like. . a mi 11 -
wheel and finally/ spluttering and"
choking I,^1 ,^ faced the", side -of.; the ; shore
from*- which he had been ; tossed "<• and ,
struck out for shore.;; Tuck followed him,
as; she always did, and the two landed
THE TROUBLES OF A TROUT
CHARLES CRISTADORO
\u25a0 CERTAINLY was a very little f el-
I low, not-much thicker' than a i piece
> of ; cotton thread, but aa I swam
around : I ;. carried a sack with ; - me "; that
grew each) day- until it finally
disappeared. sl first -knew; what it : wa*
to bejhungry and . want; to eat when
, the sack disappeared. Up to the pres
ent: moment; I had been living, as .it
were, \ upon, myself. -.,' . \u0084 '
\I did not gjo ! hungry, long, for a 'man
came-along and ;. with a feather, dropped
; into'" the?, water .".-a ; sort'of. red - paste
which ;wei all -ate^greedily. ';v
'.There %were ; many ..thousands 1 of us
in long troughs .divided by 'small wire 1
partitions, , through which - the' 'cold
spring, water flowed/ night*' and: day,
fresh i from - a gushing spring from un
der the ; hill. \. \u25a0 -. . , \u25a0;,,-,.
* .So in-?our shady pond indoors «we
swam about and fed heartily and grew 1
apace. ;' It was . not -long before ; a . man
came along ; and with a net scooped
out . numbers of, our companions to
give the rest more room,' because we
were growing and thriving.
, And then • came the day when' we
wore, all scooped out by that net and
put ' 'outdoors into lqrger ponds/
screened in, yet giving us ample room
to .• dart about here and there. Thfc
ponds" had clean, white, sandy bot
toms ' and were free, from disturbing 1
enemies of any kind.- There was no
food in the , pond for, us to eat and
we continued to live on the foods pro
vided .'for us.
We- grew apace and the day came
when w$ were again scooped into cans
and sent awuy to bo emptied into a
tiny brook into which a cool spring:
emptied.
k There were no more screens to keep
us within limits and we never saw the
man utrain .who was In the habit of
feeding us. And when meal time came
and went, without our food being
thrown to us, hunger pinched us and
we sought here and there for some
thing; to fill our stomachs. Bits of
bark and leaves floating on the sur
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL', FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1910.-TTIE JUNIOR CALTJ
sleek and dripping and raced " after
Fred, squealing. They crawled upon
him and .nosed at his sweater bosom,'
whimpering "like : ;t wo ; /wet .: babies,'
pleading for shelter and caresses. Of
course, Fred wiped them .off— how'
couldv he , help it? •As * soon, as they
found, that; he had;relented they cocked
their .saucy eyes up at him, and soon
scuttled 'down, dry and s reassured and
scampered home txhead of' him! "That's
the \u25a0\u25a0> way they. always save themselves
Just >by the skin of their teeth. 'I
suppose that's the, reason father' first .
.named':. them- Nip and : Tuck!'' , •'\u25a0\u25a0••'\u25a0. ; ' ...
\": That' night all. the, cream was gone
from Aunt Mandy's milkparis. r
; "Who In the world ever gets into the
milkhouse?!" ,; cried '\u25a0'•; the .«: exasperated
housekeeper. ; "The> door's always
locked and the window screen is never
taken off.* Now, who do; you think—";
As ; she \u25a0 spoke she o, was \u25a0 peering in
through; the; aforementioned - window
and a minute later she cried out
sharply: . "Frederick Anderson! You
come,: here! t Look! Just look!" ; ':
, Fred tiptoed' up besisle her and he ;
also':, exclaimed uin surprise. Inside
were Nip 'and Tuck .demonstrating as
fast as they could just>what had hap
pened: to the . milk. They ; sat one on
each;?side of a shining earthen bowl
scooping up' the cream with their bare
forepaws \u25a0 and \ deftly slapping: each
handful into .•; their mouths. Bank
presidents -at, a 17 course dinner never
enjoyed themselves more. ..
"Scat! You gi-eat villains!" cried.
face of the 'water ''we jumped at and,
spat out. We gulped down flies and
insects' and liked them and when very
hungry the larger ones ' among ua
ate, the smaller ones. But we soon
learned that there were other things
to .eat in' the brook and, in a measure,
left each other alone. \u25a0
We loved the. flies better than alt
else, it was such fun to leap after
them even ns they flew over the sur- ,
face of the water. It, was our custom
to hido behind a stone in the brook
where the water flowed .swiftly, and
as the tired and . half drowned insects
floated down, dart out and seize them.
We found we had many enemies, not
only in the brook, but in the air. After
the ; largo trout from ' below, in deep
water, had run 1 up against us and de
voured'many of us we, learned to keep
in shallow water, where the larger, fish
could not follow. . The larger chub per
secuted us as did the squirming eels
who hugged the bottom.
Then came the herons, who had a
way of standing like images, still- and.
motionless, until we forgot they were
around, and they snapped us up in their
long, razorlike bills.
The kingfishers were in tho habit
of sitting on a dead limb overhead and
dropping In among us like a flash of
lightning, and seldom flying away with
empty bills. , , , • -•\u25a0.<\u25a0
At night the long, sleek furred aaU
piiilH swum in among us and snapped
ua up until we lived in perpetual ter*
ror of our lives. Our numbers grew
less and less. The strong, alert, well
grown fish, quick of motion and ever
on tho watch, alone survived, and aft
they grew swam farther down, streanH
yet were watchful of surrounding
dangers. * i
The months went by, The cold of
winter froze the surfaoe of the proof*,
and although it protected us against
the herons and the kingfishers and
more or less from tho furred fishers, it
on the other, hand, shut oft our. sup
ply of flies and insects.
We went hungry many a day, and
\u25a0when we met one of our kind emalle*
Mandy, her wrath- mounting at tho
sight. : .-..". *
Nip and Tuck R-ave a scared look
round .and spied Jlandy/s face at the
window. : Tuck jumped, to the floor, but
Nip, seeming to realize that this dis
closure marked" the last of his; cream
feasts,, determined to have one I lllng 1
more. He popped his head completely
Into the creamy bowl, thug - carrying 1
away.'. all the booty he possibly could
with Uie greatest possible . dispatch.
Then he followed Tuck to. the floor ami
the two, \u25a0\u25a0marvelously doubling, their
furry backs, squeezed through an open
ing in: the floor made for a little stream
of water from the "brook outside which
cooled the milkhouse. Out Into the sun
light they Scampered, and later Nip
was seen sitting on the stono wall sol
emnly * wlplngjhis face and sucking his
paws, to. dispose of that portion of tho
feast which he had carried away on his
countenance.
Having discovered that cream was
good, Nip and Tuck next discovered that
chicken was better. They haunted the
poultry 'yard, and two or three small
chickens disappeared. Aunt Mandy ac
cused' the coons, but' Fred stuck up for
his pets as long: as possible. \u25a0'. However,
when one 1 morning Speckles, the prize*
winning Plymouth Rock hen,' was miss-
Ing, Fred,: with a heavy heart indeed,
followed "Aunt Mandy to the chicken
yard. Fred's forebodings were not un
warranted. Yes, there at last lay poor
Speckles, cold and bedraggled. It was
evidently the work of the coons! Speck
than ourselves did not hesitate to pur
sue and swallow .him. .
' * How glad |we i were when the j warm
sun began to melt the ice and the trees
began to leaf and the flowers blossom!
Then the,, insects began to fly again
and how -we feasted upon them! A fly
of any kind was most welcome to us, ,
and it was this greediness that cost so
many of us our lives from a new
found enemy quite us dangerous as any
heretofore met. <
.Tempting, beautifully, colored flies
would drop upon the water, generally
.two and sometimes three at a time.
How the trout would dart atfer them!
How strangly they acted!, The. 'very'
small 'ones would leave' the: water tho
very moment their jaws shut upon,
the fly, impelled \by some invisible,
force, while the larger fish were forced^
to go in just the opposite direction to*
which they desired to travel. -
At first when acting this way the fish
would seem to be quite able to seek his
freedom, but as the moments went by.
that something began to overmaster
him until, completely exhausted and
with head out of the water and open
mouthed, he was lifted from among v.4,
We saw the tyrant of tho brook one
evening leap at a moth miller fly and
at once become fast to it. How sur
prised he was! Repeatedly did he leap
out of the brook to free himself, but
without avail. Across, up and down
the brook he darted, but that moth
miller yet remained upon the edge of
his Jaw unswullowed.
If he could only rub it loose against
J atone or run against a snag or under
Sunken log — any place, anywhere, to
set rid of that deceptive moth mlllqr
that £l few moments ago, he was so
greedy to securo.
We are inwardly pleased to watch the
discomfiture of the old tyrant, for we
had no reason to love him, each and
every one of us having only missed by
a chance going down his great throat.
It would be ft relief to us were he to
disappear, as we had seen other smaller
ones, haver to return among us again,
\lq can neither swallow not spit out
thd milk white fly nor overcome tho
force that so persistently holds to him.
tie's free! And is once more back
Into the pool, rubbing his nose against
the sandy bottom to free It from that
lea would never again In clucking prl<le
lead forth another brood of yellow
chicks.
In indignntlon too deep for words
Aunt Mandy marched straight to Speck
les' nest. "I Just want you to see for
yourself, Fred, the beautiful sotting of
eggs that hen was taking caro of," sho
said icily. •';--
But Instead of finding a deserted set
ting they discovered n woll protected
nest. Tuck, himself tho murderer of
poor Biddy Speckles, was carefully sit
ting upon her eggs!
After the severe chastisement meted
out for this offonse, Nip nnd Tuck be
gan to think porhaps they had hotter
move away from tho Anderson ranch.
They wore seriously discussing the mat
ter one night when a fox visited the
ranch and' joined in their deliberations.
Nip conceived a great admiration for
Mr. Reynard's- shrewdness, -and said 'so.
"Of course, I'm smart!" said the fox.
"Now watch me get that hen roosting
on the Hnjb of the tree over thero. I
• tran't climb up the tree, but I'll make
her come down to mo!" So saying ho
began to walk round nnd round In a
circle under the limb on which the hen
was perched.
This soon woke Mrs. Hen up, flustered
and palpitating. Sho gazed down upon
Reynard. Round and round he walked,
always slowly and always looking up,
and poor Gfannlo Hen, whose gaze
seamed fastened upon him, kept turn
ing herself about and about to follow
his motions. Finally tho old feathered
lady became so dizzy that she fell from
the tree, and Mr. Fox made: off«wlth
her. •
This feat decided Nip. He concluded
that wild life must sharpen one's wits
more keenly than ranching. Besides,
the fox had drawn alluring pictures of
wild coons' nests built in hollow logs
and lined with sweet smelling grasses
and seed downs. .He told Tuck that
these must be greatly, more attractive
than the box and old wood sack which
Fred had provided for their sleeping
accommodations.
So that night they moved. But before
they, went they had one more, glorious
raid upon the apple room over the hay
mow, where all the dried fruit was
spread; out on -the .floor. They rifled
this, biting Into some of the best ap
ples and whisking the rest about with
their tails. Suddenly something sharp
rattled on the floor. It-was Fred's lost
bunch of keys. Nip and Tuck nosed;
them about for awhile and then left
them in plain sight in a little circle
where they had brushed the fruit clear
from the floor. Perhaps they said to
each other, "We'll. dolour old playmate
thisone last good turn/anyway." ....
Then, Just as the dawn was coming
up, side by side they slipped down from
the loft and Bcuttled away into the
wood world. Fred found his keys as
they had left them, but never again did
he see Nip and Tuck, though he looked
for them every day oh his way to
school. I secretly bellevo they are lead
ing a happy, and, let us hope not too
mischievous a life in that mossy, nest
in'the tree that Mr. Reynard told them
about. . »\u25a0» \u25a0 ,-.i '...'\u25a0\u25a0
which has 'made 'so' much. trouble. As
he swims around the pool he /drags a
fine, white string, after him. But be
fore many days the end of the string
caught upon a snag, arid with a mighty
tug, the fly, was torn loose, and with a
wounded Jaw, the old tyrant' resumed
sway once more. :-
But it was a great lesson to us all,
and we learned that whether fly, grass
hopper, worm or any .other tempting
thing was attached to a thin white
string,' it meant trouble for the one
who succumbed to the temptation.
In our young days the shadow of our
keeper thrown upon the pond meant
nothing but. good to us,. but ,we \u25a0 now
regarded a shadow upqivthe brook with
greatest of alarm and became wary
and cautious in the extreme."
In time the tyrant of the pool, with
head pierced by a kingfisher, floated
belly up down stream, and instead of
peace and quiet the next largest trout
took his place and the warfare and
tragedies consequent upon a wild life
<jvent on as before, and ever will go on
as long as grass grows and watera
flow.
The Wind
The wind has a , language I would I
could learn;
Sometimes 'tis soothing and sometimes
'tis stern;
Sometimes it comes like a low, sweet
song, •
And all things grow calm as tho
sound floats along;
And the forest is lulled by the dreamy
strain,
And slumber sinks down on tile wan
dering main;
And its crystal arms are folded Ift
rest,
And the tall ship sleeps on its heav
ing breast,
.«- — Letltla Elizabeth Landon.
Tariff Troubles
•'I see that Teddy has sent Into this
country a Jurge consignment of lions,
tigers, etc. I presume he will havo to
pay tariff on them," "Oh, no. They
will come in as free roar materials."