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Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel (Dramatic Reading)

<h2>THE ADVENTURES OF CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL</h2> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/icover.jpg" width-obs="300" height-obs="475" alt="" title=""></div> <h3>THE ADVENTURES OF CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL</h3> <div class="bbox"> BOOKS BY THORNTON W. BURGESS <div class="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center">________________</td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center"></td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center">THE BEDTIME STORY-BOOKS</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">1. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Reddy Fox</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">2. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Johnny Chuck</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">3. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Peter Cottontail</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">4. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">5. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Mr. Mocker</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">6. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">7. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">8. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Grandfather Frog</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">9. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Chatterer, the Red Squirrel</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">10. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Sammy Jay</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">11. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Buster Bear</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">12. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">13. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Prickly Porky</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">14. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Old Man Coyote</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">15. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">16. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">17. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Bobby Coon</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">18. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">19. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Bob White</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">20. </td><td align="left">The Adventures of Ol' Mistah Buzzard</td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center">________________</td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center"></td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center">MOTHER WEST WIND SERIES</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">1. </td><td align="left">Old Mother West Wind</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">2. </td><td align="left">Mother West Wind's Children</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">3. </td><td align="left">Mother West Wind's Animal Friends</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">4. </td><td align="left">Mother West Wind's Neighbors</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">5. </td><td align="left">Mother West Wind "Why" Stories</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">6. </td><td align="left">Mother West Wind "How" Stories</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">7. </td><td align="left">Mother West Wind "When" Stories</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">8. </td><td align="left">Mother West Wind "Where" Stories</td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center">________________</td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center"></td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center">GREEN MEADOW SERIES</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">1. </td><td align="left">Happy Jack</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">2. </td><td align="left">Mrs. Peter Rabbit</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">3. </td><td align="left">Bowser the Hound</td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center">______________</td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="center"></td></tr> <tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left">THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN</td></tr> </table></div> </div> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i004.jpg" width-obs="300" height-obs="409" alt="It seemed as if that little voice inside had fairly shouted in his ears: "I am afraid." Frontispiece. See Page 118." title=""> It seemed as if that little voice inside had fairly shouted in his ears: "I am afraid." Frontispiece. See Page 118.</div> BURGESS QUADDIES (TRADE MARK) The Bedtime Story-Books <hr style="width: 95%;"> <h1>THE ADVENTURES OF CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL</h1> BY THORNTON W. BURGESS Author of "Old Mother West Wind," "The Adventures of Johnny Chuck," "Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories," etc. With Illustrations by HARRISON CADY <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/decal.jpg" width-obs="101" height-obs="141" alt="" title=""></div> BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1920 Copyright, 1915 By Little, Brown, and Company. <hr style="width: 15%;"> All rights reserved <hr style="width: 65%;"> <h2>CONTENTS</h2> <div class="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align="right">CHAPTER</td><td align="left"></td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">I. </td><td align="left">Chatterer the Red Squirrel Runs for His Life</td><td align="right">1</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">II. </td><td align="left">Chatterer's Last Chance</td><td align="right">6</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">III. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Tells Sammy Jay about Shadow the Weasel</td><td align="right">11</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">IV. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Leaves the Green Forest</td><td align="right">17</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">V. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Finds a Home</td><td align="right">23</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">VI. </td><td align="left">Peter Rabbit Listens to the Wrong Voice</td><td align="right">28</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">VII. </td><td align="left">How Chatterer Had Fooled Peter Rabbit</td><td align="right">33</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">VIII. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Grows Careless</td><td align="right">38</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">IX. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Grows too Curious</td><td align="right">43</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">X. </td><td align="left">Old Mr. Trouble Gets Chatterer at Last</td><td align="right">49</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XI. </td><td align="left">What Happened next to Chatterer</td><td align="right">53</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XII. </td><td align="left">Chatterer is Sure that this is His Last Day</td><td align="right">57</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XIII. </td><td align="left">Chatterer is Put in Prison</td><td align="right">62</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XIV. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Decides to Live</td><td align="right">68</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XV. </td><td align="left">Farmer Brown's Boy Tries to Make Friends</td><td align="right">73</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XVI. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Has a Pleasant Surprise</td><td align="right">78</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XVII. </td><td align="left">Sammy Jay's Sharp Eyes</td><td align="right">83</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XVIII. </td><td align="left">Chatterer is Made Fun of</td><td align="right">88</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XIX. </td><td align="left">Peter Rabbit Tries to Help</td><td align="right">93</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XX. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Has Another Great Surprise</td><td align="right">99</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XXI. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Hears the Small Voice</td><td align="right">104</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XXII. </td><td align="left">Tommy Tit Makes Good His Boast</td><td align="right">110</td></tr> <tr><td align="right">XXIII. </td><td align="left">Chatterer Grows very, very Bold</td><td align="right">116</td></tr> </table></div> <hr style="width: 65%;"> <h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> <div class="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> <tr><td align="left">It seemed as if that little voice inside had fairly shouted in his ears, "I am afraid"</td><td align="left">Frontispiece</td></tr> <tr><td align="left">"What's that?" Sammy Jay asked sharply</td><td align="right">12</td></tr> <tr><td align="left">"Have you found a new home yet?" asked Peter</td><td align="right">26</td></tr> <tr><td align="left">Very cautiously Chatterer peeped inside the hole</td><td align="right">67</td></tr> <tr><td align="left">"You tell Chatterer that I'll get him yet!" snarled Shadow</td><td align="right">84</td></tr> <tr><td align="left">"I'd be willing to try it if it was of any use. But it isn't," said Prickly Porky</td><td align="right">97</td></tr> </table></div> <hr style="width: 65%;">[Pg 1] <h2>THE ADVENTURES OF CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL</h2> <h3>I</h3> <h3>CHATTERER THE RED SQUIRREL RUNS FOR HIS LIFE</h3> Chatterer the Red Squirrel had been scolding because there was no excitement. He had even tried to make some excitement by waking Bobby Coon and making him so angry that Bobby had threatened to eat him alive. It had been great fun to dance around and call Bobby names and make fun of him. Oh, yes, it had been great fun. You see, he knew all the time that Bobby couldn't catch him if he should try. But now things were[Pg 2] different. Chatterer had all the excitement that he wanted. Indeed, he had more than he wanted. The truth is, Chatterer was running for his life, and he knew it. It is a terrible thing, a very terrible thing to have to run for one's life. Peter Rabbit knows all about it. He has run for his life often. Sometimes it has been Reddy Fox behind him, sometimes Bowser the Hound, and once or twice Old Man Coyote. Peter has known that on his long legs his life has depended, and more than once a terrible fear has filled his heart. But Peter has also known that if he could reach the old stone wall or the dear Old Briar-patch first, he would be safe, and he always has reached it. So when he has been running with that terrible fear in his heart, there has always been hope there, too. [Pg 3]But Chatterer the Red Squirrel was running without hope. Yes, Sir, there was nothing but fear, terrible fear, in his heart, for he knew not where to go. The hollow tree or the holes in the old stone wall where he would be safe from any one else, even Farmer Brown's boy, offered him no safety now, for the one who was following him with hunger in his anger-red eyes could go anywhere that he could go—could go into any hole big enough for him to squeeze into. You see, it was Shadow the Weasel from whom Chatterer was running, and Shadow is so slim that he can slip in and out of places that even Chatterer cannot get through. Chatterer knew all this, and so, because it was of no use to run to his usual safe hiding places, he ran in just the other direction. He didn't know where he was going. He had just one thought: [Pg 4]to run and run as long as he could and then, well, he would try to fight, though he knew it would be of no use. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" he sobbed, as he ran out on the branch of a tree and leaped across to the next tree, "I wish I had minded my own business! I wish I had kept my tongue still. Shadow the Weasel wouldn't have known where I was if he hadn't heard my voice. Oh, dear! oh, dear me! What can I do? What can I do?" Now in his great fright Chatterer had run and jumped so hard that he was beginning to grow very tired. Presently he found that he must make a very long jump to reach the next tree. He had often made as long a jump as this and thought nothing of it, but now he was so tired that the distance looked twice as great as it really was. He [Pg 5]didn't dare stop to run down the tree and scamper across. So he took a long breath, ran swiftly along the branch, and leaped. His hands just touched the tip of the nearest branch of the other tree. He tried his very best to hold on, but he couldn't. Then down, down, down he fell. He spread himself out as flat as he could, and that saved him a little, but still it was a dreadful fall, and when he landed, it seemed for just a minute as if all the breath was gone from his body. But it wasn't quite, and in another minute he was scrambling up the tree. <hr style="width: 65%;"> [Pg 6] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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