XI
A STROKE OF LUCK
Jasper's fun would have been spoiled if he hadn't had a stroke of good fortune. Since he was no longer leading the nutting party he wanted to prevent his friends from following Noisy Jake to the place where the oak trees grew, to have an acorn hunt.
It was no more than anybody could expect that Jasper should feel sulky. It had been his party in the first place. So, of course, he didn't enjoy seeing somebody else take the lead away from him. Most unhappy he was, as he hurried along the mountain-side, when he happened, all[p. 58] at once, to catch sight of a huge, grayish-brown figure, half hidden among some hemlock boughs. Jasper Jay knew right away that it was Mr. Solomon Owl.
"Stop! stop!" Jasper cried to his friends. "Wait a bit! Here's some fun!"
So the nutting party checked their flight and returned, while Jasper pointed out Solomon Owl's motionless form to them.
They forgot all about the acorn hunt, for the time being, because there was nothing they liked better than teasing Solomon Owl—when there were enough of them. In case any of the blue-coated rascals met Mr. Owl alone, he was most polite to him, for Solomon was not only big and strong but he had sharp talons and a hooked beak.
Those thirteen blue jays, however, knew that they had little to fear from the solemn old chap, so long as they kept out of reach of his claws.
They began jeering at Solomon Owl. And some of them even tried to mock his queer cry, "Whoo-whoo-too-whoo-too-o-o!" The woods echoed with their hoots. And Noisy Jake shouted: