Daniel Goose and Davy Crocodile

The Adventures of Daniel Goose and Davy Crocodile


Daniel Goose had had enough! Davy was late again. It was bad enough that the fort had been nearly destroyed by that group of renegade Indians, but Davy Crocodile had been out all night playing cards. It looked like just a handful of men would be rebuilding the broken down timbers and fallen cabins of the fort.
“Hey Daniel, Daniel Goose, gimmie a hand with this fence post”, yelled Harry Hippo. A whole section of the forts wall had smashed into Harry Hippos cottage. He and his two boys, Barry and Larry were struggling to put the wall back in place... As Daniel heaved and hoed the wall up against the post, Harry smacked a few 10 inch nails home and they leaned back. It was an hour before breakfast and already Daniel Goose was as hungry as a hog.
“Have you seen Davy, Harry?” he asked.
Larry spoke up from behind the fence and said, “Here he comes, Daniel.” and the boys were laughing pretty hard.
Daniel goose went around the fence and there he was. Slogging slowly up toward them, his eyes a strong red contrast to his natural green crocodile hue, but the worst of it was, he was covered from tooth filled head to claw covered toe with swamp mud.
“Daniel, I guess I got carried away last night after that Indian attack and got lost out there. If it weren’t for that mud hole, I’d have never gotten any rest.”
Davy Crocodile shook the drying mud from his back and Daniel remembered that sometimes Davy Crocodile liked to sleep in the mud. Old habits die hard.
Harry laughed, but then grew serious as he told them the news from down the mountain. It seems they were at war over land with the British. Harry and his two boys felt like they might join up!
“They were already fighting in a town way up north, New England way, Daniel, and it’s bad. They need us.”
Davy and Daniel looked at each other, Goose to Gator, and they knew what they had to do. Colonel Brown Bear and his Jug Mountain Boys were always backing their play against the meanest of the renegade tribes. Many Indians were peaceful and friendly, but Daniel knew without Colonel Brown Bears boys they would have lost many a fort along this ridge.
“Well, let’s fix this fort up and we’ll head out to see old, Colonel Brown Bear”
Davy looked at Daniel Goose and said, “You’ve got a wife and a few babies to look after, and I think they need you here to put up with Stalefeather and his tribe. You should stay, Daniel Goose. I’ll go fight those Redcoats. It won’t take long.”
So it was settled, Harry, Larry, Barry, and Davy and a few others left the fort for Colonel Brown Bears camp down in Wilkes County, while Daniel and his wife stayed behind waving and cheering them on.
The war lasted several winters, and Davy and Harry fought hard. Barry and Larry were fine young soldiers and Davy Crocodile had become more than a leader to them. He had guided their father and them through many a British ambush and they had survived every hardship.
It was late in the winter of 1776 when they were in a forest along the Potomac. They knew the enemy lay across the river and their British General Cornswallow was a tough old bird.
Larry came into their small camp to tell Davy and Harry that the great leader of the revolution, Eagle Washington had crossed the Potomac and caught many of the British by surprise. They all ran to the rivers edge and through the snow and across the icy surface they could see rockets explode and there were cheers all around, but the war wasn’t over yet. General Cornswallow sent his men in a last ditch attack on Davy Crocodiles small group.
The muskets roared and zing came the musket balls, but Davy Crocodile and Harry Hippo drove them back. A few days later, Davy, Harry, Larry, and Barry saw General Washington and Cornswallow in a fierce battle, and the British surrendered.
Davy looked at Harry and his boys and shouted at his men, “I believe it’s time we went along home, supper’s getting cold.”
The cheers and singing lasted the week it took to walk back home. Daniel and his wife were there to welcome them back. They were all having a meal with Chief Stalefeather.
“We’ve smoked the peace pipe and no more attacks on the fort, Chief Stalefeather will camp nearby and take on any renegades who come by.” Davy Crocodile could see that Daniel Goose had taken care of things well.
He hoped he could pry his friend from Fort Goose, because Davy Crocodile wanted to explore this land he’d fought for. A few days later, Davy Crocodile and Daniel Goose left for the unexplored lands of the west. Chief Stalefeather’s son, Little Wing was allowed to join the small party.
They traveled until the snows came down and then waited. Little Wing sat high atop Davy Crocodile’s shoulder and as the sun set into the distant mountain range, he asked, “Daniel, what’s that big blue mountain called?”
“The Rockies, Little Wing, we’ll be there by next Spring, then we’ll build a Fort.”
Davy spoke as the sun went down slowly behind the snow covered mountains, “Sure is beautiful, this country.”
“Yes, Davy, well worth fighting for, A land where everyone can be free if they want to be.”
Daniel Goose looked at his friend Davy Crocodile and they smiled as Little Wing began to softly snore, asleep on Davy’s Shoulder.
“Well, Daniel, let’s go to bed. We got us a big day comin’ tomorrow.”
“That we do, Davy, a big day is always coming tomorrow. We’ll try and make it a better one somehow”
Daniel Goose gave one more look at the beautiful sunset and fell asleep, a smile still on his face.