Zodiac Town Part 2

"It fronts the clean white nursery wall, With no look on its face at all.

"But when in front of it I go, Why, there I am, from top to toe.

"Oh, just suppose I hurried there Some day to brush my tousled hair,

"And stood and stared, and could not see One single, single sign of me!"

When it was nearly time to leave the February house, Ann remarked that Amos had talked in prose straight along ever since they came.

Amos smiled proudly. "So I have," he said. He was about to go on to say that he wondered if he would be caught at all, when--whiz! with a scramble and a scuffle a cuckoo rushed out of a clock just above his head and bobbed intently up and down twelve times. Amos had got only as far as "wonder." "Wonder--wonder--" he stammered, as he heard the clock.

"Wonder--wonder--

"Wonder if George Was.h.i.+ngton Did just the way we do?

Wonder if he slid on ice, And now and then broke through; Slid on ice, and fought with snow, And whittled hickory sticks, Called his brother 'April Fool!'

And played him April tricks?

"Wonder if he shed his s.h.i.+rt Down beneath the beeches, Kicked his buckled slippers off, And his buckled breeches, Jumped into the swimming-pool, And gave a splendid shout, Glad and wiggly, clean and cool, Splas.h.i.+ng like a trout?

"Wonder did he sit in school, And try to work a sum, With b.u.mblebees all mumbling, 'Summer's come, summer's come!'

If he used to count the days, And give a sort of sigh, Because--how queer!--there couldn't be A Fourth in his July!

"Wonder if he ever took His history and read Tales of mighty generals, Glorious and dead; Turned the leaves and wished that he Could be a hero, too?

Wonder if George Was.h.i.+ngton Felt the way we do?"

MARCH

_III_

_MARCH_

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Aries_]

The March house, strangely, was built in a tree, With a fluttering roof of leaves, And strong, straight boughs for the walls of the house, And an apple or two in the eaves.

A pair of fun-loving twins lived there, Who romped on the roof all day, And flew great kites when the weather was fair, In a most remarkable way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The March house, strangely, was built in a tree_]

Amos and Ann were very curious to know why the twins lived in a tree.

"Well, it saves time," the black-haired twin explained. "There are one or two days in the year when we're bound to be up here anyhow."

The children looked puzzled.

"You see," said the yellow-haired twin, "we never have the slightest idea how March is going to come in. If he comes in like a lion--"

"Then, of course, you want to be out of the way," interrupted Ann, delighted with herself for knowing.

"Exactly," said the twin. "And if he comes in like a lamb, then we know how he's going out, of course. So we simply get up here and stay. Listen to our song."

Then they sang in duet:

"When March comes in roaring, growling, Winds swoop over the hilltop howling; Bushes toss in the las.h.i.+ng gale, Right and left, like a lion's tail; Branches shake in the road and lane, Tawny and wild, like a lion's mane.

Fierce and furious, he-- But he's going out like a lamb; You watch and see!

"When March comes in gentle, easy, Waggy and warm and mild and breezy, Little buds bob all down the trail, Short and white as a lambkin's tail; Hedges and ledges with blooms are full, Fluffy and fair as a lambkin's wool.

Mighty switchy and sweet, and all that-- But he's going out like a lion.

_Hold on to your hat_!"

"There's not a single solitary clock at this place, anyway," Amos remarked.

"Don't be too sure," J. M. told him. "It may be, you see, that the tree keeps a clock in its trunk. First thing you know, the clock may speak up and tell on itself, the way Tom Tuttle used to do."

"We never heard of Tom Tuttle," said little Ann.

"Never heard of Tom Tuttle?" echoed the Journeying Man. "Then you shall hear of him, as soon as--"

From a hole in the tree came the sound of a clock striking loudly. J. M.

was bound to go on, then, just as he had begun, and so he said:--

"As soon as ever spring drew near, and brooks and winds were loose, Tom Tuttle would be late to school with never an excuse.

"So little and so very late! And when the teacher said That he must take his punishment, he merely hung his head.

"She'd ask him all the hardest things in all the hardest books; And queerly he would answer her, with absent-minded looks.

"'How many yards make twenty rods?' And Tommy said, 'Oh, dear, Twelve rods I've cut for fis.h.i.+ng poles in our own yard this year.'

"'How many perches make a mile? Now think before you speak.'

'Perches?' he said, 'There's millions in the upper sawmill creek.'

"'What grows in southern Hindustan?' Said Tom, 'I do not know; But I can take you to a tree where blackheart cherries grow.'

"'Name Christopher Columbus's boats.' 'I can't remember, quite; But mine, that lies below the falls, is named the Water Sprite.'

"'Now what is "whistle"--noun or verb?' 'I do not know indeed; But just the other day I made a whistle from a reed.'

"Then all the little listening boys would wiggle in their places, And all the little watching girls would have to hide their faces;

"And, 'Thomas, Thomas!' teacher'd say, and shake her head in doubt, And make him write a hundred words before the day was out.

"'T was always so when gra.s.s turned green and blue was in the sky-- Tom Tuttle coming late to school and never telling why."

They had a good laugh at Tom Tuttle; but presently the thoughts of Amos turned to March hares.