“The woods are on fire,” he said, “and it’s coming this way. I was up on Bald Mountain when it broke out, and I flew as fast as I could to warn everybody.”
“Bald Mountain!” exclaimed Bumper. “Why, Rusty, that’s miles and miles away from here. That isn’t anything to get excited about. I’m surprised that you should get frightened.”
Now Rusty liked to carry important news, especially exciting news, and he had felt very big in being the first to tell of the fire; but Bumper’s words made him think that he had exaggerated it, and he felt quite crest-fallen. However, in the next story you will read of how the fire spread and raced down Bald Mountain.
STORY VI
The Fire in the Woods
Bumper felt that he had performed a real act of kindness in quieting the fright of the birds, especially of Rusty the Blackbird, whose excitement was likely to stir up general fear throughout the woods. Of course, a fire in the woods would be a dreadful thing. They couldn’t think of anything worse. But it was unwise to give a false alarm and scare all the young ones.
At the same time Bumper felt a little uneasy. Bald Mountain was a long way off, but the wind was blowing straight from it, and he began to think that perhaps this accounted for the uneasiness of Hermit, Black Cap, Mrs. Oven-Bird and Whip-Poor-Will. Fuzzy Wuzz might have sniffed the odor of smoke on the air, and the frightened birds had sensed the danger in the same way. Also it would account for the blood-red sun.
But Bumper continued to make light of the danger, laughing good-naturedly, and saying that Rusty must have had his wings singed in flying so fast through the air. “I shouldn’t worry about it,” he said finally, as he hopped away. “Now go back to your nest Whip-Poor-Will, and you, too, Mrs. Oven-Bird. If anything happens we’ll give the alarm.”