“Oh!  I wish some of the boys would come over,” he said.  “We could do something, even if it is wet.  I’m lonesome.”

Just then he heard a voice singing in the woods, and he heard the branches of the trees moving about, and bits of bark falling off.  And this is the song he heard:  you have to sing it quite slowly to get the full effect: 

    “Oh! it is such fun if you see the sun
      When the rain has gone away. 
     If you’ll come with me you may climb a tree,
      And in the top we’ll play.

    “Oh! the winds may blow and the cows may crow,
      But what care we for that? 
     As you scamper high, near the bright, blue sky,
      Look out, or you’ll lose your hat.”

And with that who should come scampering out of a tree but Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel brothers.  No, Sister Sallie wasn’t with them this time, having stayed at home to wheel her corncob doll in the carriage her brothers had made for her.

“Hello!” cried Billie and Johnnie.  “Hello, Jimmie!”

“Aw, why didn’t you chaps come over to play ball?” asked the little boy duck.

“Oh! it was too wet,” replied Johnnie.  “But say, Jimmie, did you hear us singing?”

“Sure,” answered Jimmie.  “But say; cows don’t crow!”

“I know it,” replied Johnnie.  “Billie made up that verse, and I made the first one.  He said he had to have something like that in it or it wouldn’t be right.  But no matter.  Did you like it?”

“Yes, pretty well.”

“Shall we sing it again?” asked Johnnie.

“No, don’t!” begged his brother.  “He’s been singing it all the morning, and I’m getting tired of it, even if I did make up one verse,” he explained.  “But say, Jimmie, don’t you wish you could climb a tall tree, like this?” and before you could say Salimagundy or maybe incomprehensibility or even disproportionability, why Billie had run to the top of the tree and down again.  “Don’t you wish you could?” he asked again.

“Yes,” answered Jimmie, looking up, “I wish I could climb a tree, but I guess ducks weren’t made for that.  I once tried to fly, and I didn’t succeed very well.  I’ll stay on the ground, I think.  Come on, let’s have a catch.  I’ve got a ball.”

“No,” spoke Johnnie, “I have an idea.  Billie, why can’t you and I teach Jimmie to climb a tree?  If we pick out one with branches close together I’m sure he could get up it.  We can help him, and he can take hold of some limbs in his bill, like a parrot takes hold of the wires in his cage.”

“Fine!” cried Billie.  “Will you do it, Jimmie?”

“Sure,” answered the little boy duck, but he didn’t know what was going to happen, or, maybe, he wouldn’t have tried to climb up.  Well, the squirrels selected quite a tall tree, but rather an easy one, and Jimmie managed to scramble up to the first low limbs, with Billie and Johnnie boosting him.

After that it wasn’t quite so hard, and he was able to get up quite a distance, pulling himself with his yellow bill.  He was not very graceful, and I’m sure if you ever saw a duck climb a tree you would agree with me, but finally, after a great deal of hard work, Jimmie was right on the top branch where the two squirrels sat blinking their eyes.