The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes

The Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter

by Beatrix Potter

Once upon a time there was a
little fat comfortable grey
squirrel,
called Timmy Tiptoes. He had a
nest thatched with
leaves in the
top of a tall tree; and he had a
little
squirrel wife called Goody.

Timmy Tiptoes sat out, enjoying
the breeze; he whisked his
tail and
chuckled--"Little wife Goody, the
nuts are ripe; we
must lay up a
store for winter and spring."
Goody Tiptoes was
busy pushing
moss under the thatch--"The nest
is so snug, we
shall be sound
asleep all winter." "Then we shall
wake up all
the thinner, when
there is nothing to eat in spring-
time,"
replied prudent Timothy.

When Timmy and Goody
Tiptoes came to the nut
thicket,
they found other
squirrels were there already.

Timmy took off his jacket
and hung it on a twig; they

worked away quietly by themselves.

Every day they made several
journeys and picked
quantities
of nuts. They carried them
away in bags, and
stored
them in several hollow
stumps near the tree where

they had built their nest.

When these stumps were full,
they began to empty the bags
into
a hole high up a tree, that had
belonged to a
woodpecker; the nuts
rattled down--down--down inside.

"How shall you ever get them
out again? It is like a money
box!"
said Goody.

"I shall be much thinner before
springtime, my love," said
Timmy
Tiptoes, peeping into the hole.

They did collect quantities--
because they did not lose
them!
Squirrels who bury their nuts in
the ground lose more
than half,
because they cannot remember
the place.

The most forgetful squirrel in
the wood was called
Silvertail. He
began to dig, and he could not
remember. And
then he dug again
and found some nuts that did not
belong to
him; and there was a
fight. And other squirrels began to

dig,--the whole wood was in
commotion!

Unfortunately, just at this time
a flock of little birds
flew by, from
bush to bush, searching for green
caterpillars
and spiders. There
were several sorts of little birds,

twittering different songs.

The first one sang--"Who's bin
digging-up my nuts?
Who's-been-
digging-up my nuts?"

And another sang--"Little bita
bread and-no-cheese! Little
bit-a-
bread an'-no-cheese!"

The squirrels followed and listened.
The first little bird
flew into
the bush where Timmy and Goody
Tiptoes were quietly
tying up their
bags, and it sang--"Who's-bin
digging-up my
nuts? Who's been
digging-up my-nuts?"

Timmy Tiptoes went on with
his work without replying;
indeed,
the little bird did not expect an
answer. It was only
singing its
natural song, and it meant nothing
at all.

But when the other squirrels
heard that song, they rushed
upon
Timmy Tiptoes and cuffed and
scratched him, and upset
his bag
of nuts. The innocent little bird
which had caused
all the mischief,
flew away in a fright!

Timmy rolled over and over,
and then turned tail and fled
to-
wards his nest, followed by a
crowd of squirrels
shouting--
"Who's-been digging-up my-nuts?"

They caught him and dragged
him up the very same tree,
where
there was the little round hole,
and they pushed him
in. The hole
was much too small for Timmy
Tiptoes' figure.
They squeezed
him dreadfully, it was a wonder
they did not
break his ribs. "We
will leave him here till he confesses,"

said Silvertail Squirrel and
he shouted into the
hole--"Who's-
been-digging-up my-nuts?"

Timmy Tiptoes made no
reply; he had tumbled down
inside
the tree, upon half a
peck of nuts belonging to
himself. He
lay quite stunned and
still.

Goody Tiptoes picked up the
nut bags and went home. She

made a cup of tea for Timmy; but
he didn't come and didn't
come.

Goody Tiptoes passed a lonely
and unhappy night. Next
morning
she ventured back to the nut
bushes to look for him;
but the
other unkind squirrels drove her
away.

She wandered all over the
wood, calling--

"Timmy Tiptoes! Timmy Tip-
toes! Oh, where is Timmy
Tiptoes?"

In the meantime Timmy Tiptoes
came to his senses. He
found
himself tucked up in a little moss
bed, very much in
the dark, feeling
sore; it seemed to be under
ground. Timmy
coughed and
groaned, because his ribs hurted
him. There was a
chirpy noise,
and a small striped Chipmunk
appeared with a
night light, and
hoped he felt better?

It was most kind to Timmy Tiptoes;
it lent him its nightcap;
and
the house was full of provisions.

The Chipmunk explained that it
had rained nuts through the
top of
the tree--"Besides, I found a few
buried!" It laughed
and chuckled
when it heard Timmy's story.
While Timmy was
confined to
bed, it 'ticed him to eat quantities
--"But how
shall I ever get out
through that hole unless I thin
myself?
My wife will be anxious!"
"Just another nut--or two nuts;
let
me crack them for you," said
the Chipmunk. Timmy Tiptoes
grew
fatter and fatter!

Now Goody Tiptoes had set to
work again by herself. She did
not
put any more nuts into the woodpecker's
hole, because she
had always
doubted how they could be
got out again. She hid
them under
a tree root; they rattled down,
down, down. Once
when Goody
emptied an extra big bagful, there
was a decided
squeak; and next
time Goody brought another bagful,
a little
striped Chipmunk
scrambled out in a hurry.

"It is getting perfectly full-up
downstairs; the sitting
room is
full, and they are rolling along the
passage; and my
husband, Chippy
Hackee, has run away and left me.
What is the
explanation of these
showers of nuts?"

"I am sure I beg your pardon; I
did not know that anybody
lived
here," said Mrs. Goody Tiptoes;
"but where is Chippy
Hackee? My
husband, Timmy Tiptoes, has run
away too." "I know
where Chippy
is; a little bird told me," said Mrs.
Chippy
Hackee.

She led the way to the woodpecker's
tree, and they listened
at
the hole.

Down below there was a noise
of nutcrackers, and a fat
squirrel
voice and a thin squirrel voice
were singing
together--

"My little old man and I fell out, How shall we bring
this matter about? Bring it about as well as you can, And
get you gone, you little old man!" "You could squeeze in,
through
that little round hole," said Goody
Tiptoes. "Yes, I
could," said the
Chipmunk, "but my husband,
Chippy Hackee,
bites!"

Down below there was a noise
of cracking nuts and nibbling;
and
then the fat squirrel voice and the
thin squirrel voice
sang--

"For the diddlum day Day diddle durn di! Day
diddle diddle dum day!" Then Goody peeped in at the
hole, and
called down--"Timmy
Tiptoes! Oh fie, Timmy Tiptoes!"
And
Timmy replied, "Is that you,
Goody Tiptoes? Why, certainly!"

He came up and kissed Goody
through the hole; but he was so
fat
that he could not get out.

Chippy Hackee was not too fat,
but he did not want to come;
he
stayed down below and chuckled.

And so it went on for a fort-
night; till a big wind blew
off
the top of the tree, and opened
up the hole and let in
the rain.

Then Timmy Tiptoes came
out, and went home with an

umbrella.

But Chippy Hackee continued
to camp out for another

week, although it was
uncomfortable.

At last a large bear came
walking through the wood.

Perhaps he also was looking
for nuts; he seemed to be

sniffing around.

Chippy Hackee went home
in a hurry!

And when Chippy Hackee
got home, he found he had
caught
a cold in his head; and
he was more uncomfortable
still.

And now Timmy and
Goody Tiptoes keep their nut
store
fastened up with a little
padlock.

And whenever that little
bird sees the Chipmunks, he

sings--"Who's-been-digging-
up my-nuts? Who's been dig-

ging-up my-nuts?" But nobody
ever answers!