BUDDY JIM, OLD RED SQUIRREL AND THE ROBIN BIRD
The summer shower had scurried by
And left the world all new;
And the fleecy clouds were floating
In a sky of clearest blue;
The plants were all so grateful
You could almost see them grow;
Said Buddy Jim, "The Country is
The nicest place I know!"
BUDDY JIM was in the hammock on the porch with a book. But he had not been reading. It was much more fun to watch the zigzag streaks of lightning flash across the world, and to see the tall trees bend and sway in the wind, and to hear the big boom of the thunder-bird's wings. It was all so different from a shower in the city, when you had to rush and close all the windows, and stay indoors until it was over.
Buddy Jim laughed to himself when he thought about how much he had disliked to leave the city, and come to his Father's farm for the summer. His Father had bought it just so that they could have a summer home where the little boy could run and play and be interested. "I 'xpected to be lonesome," said he to himself, "but I'm not. I've never had so much fun before in my life!" And he settled back in the hammock to read his new book.
But he had hardly begun to read, when he sat up with a start. There was a great chattering and scolding from the branches of an old elm tree on the front lawn. And there was a cry that sounded to Buddy Jim like a call for help, so he threw his book aside and running out to the old elm tree peered up into its leafy branches.
Old Dog Sandy got up from the porch steps, shook the rain drops from his shaggy coat, and followed his master.
But the leaves of the old elm tree were very thick and they could see nothing, though the chattering and scolding and calls for help were still going on.