Peep-Chick Mountain
Over in that funny state called New Jersey there is a mountain called Peep-Chick Mountain, or something like that, and this is the story of how it got the name:
There was once a band of robbers who lived in a cave on the side of this big mountain. They stole sheep and pigs and chickens from the farmers who lived in the valley. Once they had no bread, and the chief robber said: “Go and steal all the eggs you can find and we will trade them for bread at the store.” So they all went out to steal eggs except one. He was a red-headed robber and he said: “I think I am for Direct Action. I don’t believe in this roundabout business of stealing eggs and then trading them for bread. Besides I should like to have some pie and cake also.” So he went down to the road and hid in some bushes.
Pretty soon a big automobile came whishing by. “Go along whisher!” said the robber, “I can’t eat you.” Then a truck came rumbling by. “Get along, rumble bumble,” said Red Head. Then along came a baker’s cart. “Hi!” said Reddy, “Here’s the Staff of Life!” So saying, he pulled out his pistol and fired at the tire. There was a bang and rattle, just as if a pane of glass had fallen on the sidewalk, and the baker’s cart began to wabble and pound on the road. “Ho!” said the baker’sboy who was driving, “there goes a tire.” He got down and went around the car. Just then Reddy came rushing up.
“Hands up for pie!” said he.
The baker’s boy was so frightened that he ran and jumped into the canal, swam across and hid behind some trees. The robber fired several shots after him but they only splashed the water and scared the boy. Then Reddy unfastened a bag which had been wrapped around him and shoved in pies, cakes, loaves of bread and doughnuts as fast as he could. When this was full he filled another bag. Then he tied the two together, flung them over his back and made off as fast as he could.
Presently the watchman spied Red Head coming up the hill with his bags of pies, bread, cake and doughnuts. It was misty and he loomed through the fog like a donkey carrying sacks.
“Hey, Jack!” called the watch, “Ohe, Ohe!”
“Ohe yourself!” said Red Head fetching him a slap over the head. But he struck hard and lost his balance, fell and rolled down the hill. The other robbers rushed out and grabbed him, but soon discovered that it was Red Head and let him go.
“I know what your eggs will look like,” said the chief.
When they turned the bags inside out they found the pies, cake, doughnuts and bread all mashed together.There was blackberry pie making a red streak and lemon custard making a yellow streak, with doughnuts flattened out and loaves ofbread between. The juice of the pies had been soaked up by the bread and cake.
“Hey!” said the chief, “What have we here?”
“That,” said Reddy, “is pie-cake-doughnut-bread.”
“It looks it,” said the chief, “but I believe we can eat it.”
So they sat down and ate some; and, sure enough, it was good.
In the meantime the other robbers who had gone out had stolen all the eggs they could find and put them in another cave near by. There were 503 dozen in all. Now it happened that there was a hot spring in one corner of the cave where the eggs were stored and after they had lain there long enough they began to hatch out. One morning when the robbers came out of their cave they heard a great rustling and peeping all over the hillside. There were 5798 peeps moving through the grass and among the trees and crying: “peep! peep!”
“Goodness!” said the robber chief, “look at our eggs! they are hungry.”
That night they stole a feed grinder from a farmer in the valley and several bags of corn. Three robbers shelled corn, three drove the mill, three fed the corn and three made mush of the meal and fed it to the peeps.The other robbers stole the corn and carried it up the mountain. In about two weeks they were tired out. “We are not robbers any longer,” they said, “this is work!” so they all ran away. By this time the peeps had become chicks and begun to eat grasshoppers and crickets and were able to take some care of themselves; but the foxes, weasels, skunks and minks had a fine time eating them as they scattered over the mountain side. Bye and bye the farmers caught them until there were no more left; but the mountain is called Peep-Chick, or something like that, to this day.