diff options
Diffstat (limited to '4979-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 4979-0.txt | 2668 |
1 files changed, 2668 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/4979-0.txt b/4979-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7299e3c --- /dev/null +++ b/4979-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2668 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blacky the Crow, by Thornton W. Burgess + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blacky the Crow + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4979] +Posting Date: March 24, 2009 +Last Updated: March 10, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKY THE CROW *** + + + + +Produced by Kent Fielden + + + + + + +BLACKY THE CROW + +By Thornton W. Burgess + + + +CHAPTER I: Blacky The Crow Makes A Discovery + +Blacky the Crow is always watching for things not intended for his sharp +eyes. The result is that he gets into no end of trouble which he could +avoid. In this respect he is just like his cousin, Sammy Jay. Between +them they see a great deal with which they have no business and which it +would be better for them not to see. + +Now Blacky the Crow finds it no easy matter to pick up a living when +snow covers the Green Meadows and the Green Forest, and ice binds the +Big River and the Smiling Pool. He has to use his sharp eyes for all +they are worth in order to find enough to fill his stomach, and he will +eat anything in the way of food that he can swallow. Often he travels +long distances looking for food, but at night he always comes back to +the same place in the Green Forest, to sleep in company with others of +his family. + +Blacky dearly loves company, particularly at night, and about the time +jolly, round, red Mr. Sun is beginning to think about his bed behind +the Purple Hills, you will find Blacky heading for a certain part of +the Green Forest where he knows he will have neighbors of his own kind. +Peter Rabbit says that it is because Blacky's conscience troubles him +so that he doesn't dare sleep alone, but Happy Jack Squirrel says that +Blacky hasn't any conscience. You can believe just which you please, +though I suspect that neither of them really knows. + +As I have said, Blacky is quite a traveler at this time of year, and +sometimes his search for food takes him to out-of-the-way places. One +day toward the very last of winter, the notion entered his black head +that he would have a look in a certain lonesome corner of the Green +Forest where once upon a time Redtail the Hawk had lived. Blacky knew +well enough that Redtail wasn't there now; he had gone south in the fell +and wouldn't be back until he was sure that Mistress Spring had arrived +on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest. + +Like the black imp he is, Blacky flew over the tree-tops, his sharp eyes +watching for something interesting below. Presently he saw ahead of him +the old nest of Red-tail. He knew all about that nest. He had visited +it before when Red-tail was away. Still it might be worth another visit. +You never can tell what you may find in old houses. Now, of course, +Blacky knew perfectly well that Redtail was miles and miles, hundreds +of miles away, and so there was nothing to fear from him. But Blacky +learned ever so long ago that there is nothing like making sure that +there is no danger. So, instead of flying straight to that old nest, he +first flew over the tree so that he could look down into it. + +Right away he saw something that made him gasp and blink his eyes. It +was quite large and white, and it looked--it looked very much indeed +like an egg! Do you wonder that Blacky gasped and blinked? Here was snow +on the ground, and Rough Brother North Wind and Jack Frost had given no +hint that they were even thinking of going back to the Far North. The +idea of any one laying an egg at this time of year! Blacky flew over to +a tall pine-tree to think it over. + +“Must be it was a little lump of snow,” thought he. “Yet if ever I saw +an egg, that looked like one. Jumping grasshoppers, how good an egg +would taste right now!” You know Blacky has a weakness for eggs. The +more he thought about it, the hungrier he grew. Several times he almost +made up his mind to fly straight over there and make sure, but he didn't +quite dare. If it were an egg, it must belong to somebody, and perhaps +it would be best to find out who. Suddenly Blacky shook himself. “I must +be dreaming,” said he. “There couldn't, there just couldn't be an egg at +this time of year, or in that old tumble-down nest! I'll just fly away +and forget it.” + +So he flew away, but he couldn't forget it. He kept thinking of it all +day, and when he went to sleep that night he made up his mind to have +another look at that old nest. + + + +CHAPTER II: Blacky Makes Sure + + “As true as ever I've cawed a caw + That was a new-laid egg I saw.” + +“What are you talking about?” demanded Sammy Jay, coming up just in time +to hear the last part of what Blacky the Crow was mumbling to himself. + +“Oh nothing, Cousin, nothing at all,” replied Blacky. “I was just +talking foolishness to myself.” Sammy looked at him sharply. “You aren't +feeling sick, are you, Cousin Blacky?” he asked. “Must be something +the matter with you when you begin talking about new-laid eggs, when +everything's covered with snow and ice. Foolishness is no name for it. +Whoever heard of such a thing as a new-laid egg this time of year.” + +“Nobody, I guess,” replied Blacky. “I told you I was just talking +foolishness. You see, I'm so hungry that I just got to thinking what I'd +have if I could have anything I wanted. That made me think of eggs, and +I tried to think just how I would feel if I should suddenly see a great +big egg right in front of me. I guess I must have said something about +it.” + +“I guess you must have. It isn't egg time yet, and it won't be for a +long time. Take my advice and just forget about impossible things. I'm +going over to Farmer Brown's corncrib. Corn may not be as good as eggs, +but it is very good and very filling. Better come along,” said Sammy. + +“Not this morning, thank you. Some other time, perhaps,” replied +Blacky. + +He watched Sammy disappear through the trees. Then he flew to the top +of the tallest pine-tree to make sure that no one was about. When he was +quite sure that no one was watching him, he spread his wings and headed +for the most lonesome corner of the Green Forest. + +“I'm foolish. I know I'm foolish,” he muttered. “But I've just got to +have another look in that old nest of Redtail the Hawk. I just can't get +it out of my head that that was an egg, a great, big, white egg, that I +saw there yesterday. It won't do any harm to have another look, anyway.” + +Straight toward the tree in which was the great tumble-down nest of +Redtail the Hawk he flew, and as he drew near, he flew high, for Blacky +is too shrewd and smart to take any chances. Not that he thought that +there could be any danger there; but you never can tell, and it is +always the part of wisdom to be on the safe side. As he passed over the +top of the tree, he looked down eagerly. Just imagine how he felt when +instead of one, he saw two white things in the old nest--two white +things that looked for all the world like eggs! The day before there had +been but one; now there were two. That settled it in Blacky's mind; they +were eggs! They couldn't be anything else. + +Blacky kept right on flying. Somehow he didn't dare stop just then. He +was too much excited by what he had discovered to think clearly. He had +got to have time to get his wits together. Whoever had laid those eggs +was big and strong. He felt sure of that. It must be some one a great +deal bigger than himself, and he was of no mind to get into trouble, +even for a dinner of fresh eggs. He must first find out whose they were; +then he would know better what to do. He felt sure that no one else knew +about them, and he knew that they couldn't run away. So he kept right on +flying until he reached a certain tall pine-tree where he could sit and +think without being disturbed. + +“Eggs!” he muttered. “Real eggs! Now who under the sun can have moved +into Redtail's old house? And what can they mean by laying eggs before +Mistress Spring has even sent word that she has started? It's too much +for me. It certainly is too much for me.” + + + +CHAPTER III: Blacky Finds Out Who Owns The Eggs + +Two big white eggs in a tumbledown nest, and snow and ice everywhere! +Did ever anybody hear of such a thing before? + +“Wouldn't believe it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes,” muttered +Blacky the Crow. “Have to believe them. If I can't believe them, it's of +no use to try to believe anything in this world. As sure as I sit here, +that old nest has two eggs in it. Whoever laid them must be crazy to +start housekeeping at this time of year. I must find out whose eggs they +are and then--” + +Blacky didn't finish, but there was a hungry look in his eyes that would +have told any who saw it, had there been any to see it, that he had +a use for those eggs. But there was none to see it, and he took the +greatest care that there should be none to see him when he once again +started for a certain lonesome corner of the Green Forest. + +“First I'll make sure that the eggs are still there,” thought he, and +flew high above the tree tops, so that as he passed over the tree in +which was the old nest of Red-tail the Hawk, he might look down into it. +To have seen him, you would never have guessed that he was looking for +anything in particular. He seemed to be just flying over on his way to +some distant place. If the eggs were still there, he meant to come back +and hide in the top of a near-by pine-tree to watch until he was sure +that he might safely steal those eggs, or to find out whose they were. + +Blacky's heart beat fast with excitement as he drew near that old +tumble-down nest. Would those two big white eggs be there? Perhaps +there would be three! The very thought made him flap his wings a little +faster. A few more wing strokes and he would be right over the tree. How +he did hope to see those eggs! He could almost see into the nest now. +One stroke! Two strokes! Three strokes! Blacky bit his tongue to keep +from giving a sharp caw of disappointment and surprise. + +There were no eggs to be seen. No, Sir, there wasn't a sign of eggs in +that old nest. There wasn't because--why, do you think? There wasn't +because Blacky looked straight down on a great mass of feathers which +quite covered them from sight, and he didn't have to look twice to know +that that great mass of feathers was really a great bird, the bird to +whom those eggs belonged. + +Blacky didn't turn to come back as he had planned. He kept right on, +just as if he hadn't seen anything, and as he flew he shivered a little. +He shivered at the thought of what might have happened to him if he had +tried to steal those eggs the day before and had been caught doing it. + +“I'm thankful I knew enough to leave them alone,” said he. “Funny I +never once guessed whose eggs they are. I might have known that no one +but Hooty the Horned Owl would think of nesting at this time of year. +And that was Mrs. Hooty I saw on the nest just now. My, but she's big! +She's bigger than Hooty himself! Yes, Sir, it's a lucky thing I didn't +try to get those eggs yesterday. Probably both Hooty and Mrs. Hooty were +sitting close by, only they were sitting so still that I thought they +were parts of the tree they were in. Blacky, Blacky, the sooner you +forget those eggs the better.” + +Some things are best forgotten As soon as they are learned. Who never +plays with fire Will surely not get burned. + + + +CHAPTER IV: The Cunning Of Blacky + +Now when Blacky the Crow discovered that the eggs in the old tumble-down +nest of Redtail the Hawk in a lonesome corner of the Green Forest +belonged to Hooty the Owl, he straightway made the best of resolutions; +he would simply forget all about those eggs. He would forget that he +ever had seen them, and he would stay away from that corner of the Green +Forest. That was a very wise resolution. Of all the people who live in +the Green Forest, none is fiercer or more savage than Hooty the Owl, +unless it is Mrs. Hooty. She is bigger than Hooty and certainly quite as +much to be feared by the little people. + +All this Blacky knows. No one knows it better. And Blacky is not one +to poke his head into trouble with his eyes open. So he very wisely +resolved to forget all about those eggs. Now it is one thing to make a +resolution and quite another thing to live up to it, as you all know. +It was easy enough to say that he would forget, but not at all easy +to forget. It would have been different if it had been spring or early +summer, when there were plenty of other eggs to be had by any one smart +enough to find them and steal them. But now, when it was still winter +(such an unheard-of time for any one to have eggs!), and it was hard +work to find enough to keep a hungry Crow's stomach filled, the thought +of those eggs would keep popping into his head. He just couldn't seem to +forget them. After a little, he didn't try. + +Now Blacky the Crow is very, very cunning. He is one of the smartest +of all the little people who fly. No one can get into more mischief and +still keep out of trouble than can Blacky the Crow. That is because he +uses the wits in that black head of his. In fact, some people are unkind +enough to say that he spends all his spare time in planning mischief. +The more he thought of those eggs, the more he wanted them, and it +wasn't long before he began to try to plan some way to get them without +risking his own precious skin. + +“I can't do it alone,” thought he, “and yet if I take any one into my +secret, I'll have to share those eggs. That won't do at all, because +I want them myself. I found them, and I ought to have them.” He quite +forgot or overlooked the fact that those eggs really belonged to Hooty +and Mrs. Hooty and to no one else. “Now let me see, what can I do?” + +He thought and he thought and he thought and he thought, and little by +little a plan worked out in his little black head. Then he chuckled. He +chuckled right out loud, then hurriedly looked around to see if any one +had heard him. No one had, so he chuckled again. He cocked his head +on one side and half closed his eyes, as if that plan was something he +could see and he was looking at it very hard. Then he cocked his head on +the other side and did the same thing. + +“It's all right,” said he at last. “It'll give my relatives a lot of +fun, and of course they will be very grateful to me for that. It won't +hurt Hooty or Mrs. Hooty a bit, but it will make them very angry. They +have very short tempers, and people with short tempers usually forget +everything else when they are angry. We'll pay them a visit while the +sun is bright, because then perhaps they cannot see well enough to catch +us, and we'll tease them until they lose their tempers and forget all +about keeping guard over those eggs. Then I'll slip in and get one and +perhaps both of them. Without knowing that they are doing anything of +the kind, my friends and relatives will help me to get a good meal. My, +how good those eggs will taste!” + +It was a very clever and cunning plan, for Blacky is a very clever and +cunning rascal, but of course it didn't deserve success because nothing +that means needless worry and trouble for others deserves to succeed. + + + +CHAPTER V: Blacky Calls His Friends + +When Blacky cries “Caw, caw, caw, caw!” As if he'd dislocate his jaw, +His relatives all hasten where He waits them with a crafty air. They +know that there is mischief afoot, and the Crow family is always ready +for mischief. So on this particular morning when they heard Blacky +cawing at the top of his lungs from the tallest pine-tree in the Green +Forest, they hastened over there as fast as they could fly, calling to +each other excitedly and sure that they were going to have a good time +of some kind. + +Blacky chuckled as he saw them coming. “Come on! Come on! Caw, caw, caw! +Hurry up and flap your wings faster. I know where Hooty the Owl is, and +we'll have no end of fun with him,” he cried. + +“Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!” shouted all his relatives in great glee. +“Where is he? Lead us to him. We'll drive him out of the Green Forest!” + +So Blacky led the way over to the most lonesome corner of the Green +Forest, straight to the tree in which Hooty the Owl was comfortably +sleeping. Blacky had taken pains to slip over early that morning and +make sure just where he was. He had discovered Hooty fast asleep, and +he knew that he would remain right where he was until dark. You know +Hooty's eyes are not meant for much use in bright light, and the +brighter the light, the more uncomfortable his eyes feel. Blacky knows +this, too, and he had chosen the very brightest part of the morning to +call his relatives over to torment poor Hooty. Jolly, round, bright Mr. +Sun was shining his very brightest, and the white snow on the ground +made it seem brighter still. Even Blacky had to blink, and he knew that +poor Hooty would find it harder still. + +But one thing Blacky was very careful not to even hint of, and that was +that Mrs. Hooty was right close at hand. Mrs. Hooty is bigger and even +more fierce than Hooty, and Blacky didn't want to frighten any of the +more timid of his relatives. What he hoped down deep in his crafty heart +was that when they got to teasing and tormenting Hooty and making the +great racket which he knew they would, Mrs. Hooty would lose her temper +and fly over to join Hooty in trying to drive away the black tormentors. +Then Blacky would slip over to the nest which she had left unguarded and +steal one and perhaps both of the eggs he knew were there. + +When they reached the tree where Hooty was, he was blinking his great +yellow eyes and had fluffed out all his feathers, which is a way he has +when he is angry, to make himself look twice as big as he really is. Of +course, he had heard the noisy crew coming, and he knew well enough what +to expect. As soon as they saw him, they began to scream as loud as +ever they could and to call him all manner of names. The boldest of them +would dart at him as if to pull out a mouthful of feathers, but took +the greatest care not to get too near. You see, the way Hooty hissed and +snapped his great bill was very threatening, and they knew that if once +he got hold of one of them with those big cruel claws of his, that would +be the end. + +So they were content to simply scold and scream at him and fly around +him, just out of reach, and make him generally uncomfortable, and they +were so busy doing this that no one noticed that Blacky was not joining +in the fun, and no one paid any attention to the old tumble-down nest +of Redtail the Hawk only a few trees distant. So far Blacky's plans were +working out just as he had hoped. + + + +CHAPTER VI: Hooty The Owl Doesn't Stay Still + + Now what's the good of being smart + When others do not do their part? + +If Blacky the Crow didn't say this to himself, he thought it. He knew +that he had made a very cunning plan to get the eggs of Hooty the Owl, +a plan so shrewd and cunning that no one else in the Green Forest or on +the Green Meadows would have thought of it. There was only one weakness +in it, and that was that it depended for success on having Hooty the +Owl do as he usually did when tormented by a crowd of noisy Crows,--stay +where he was until they got tired and flew away. + +Now Blacky sometimes makes a mistake that smart people are very apt to +make; he thinks that because he is so smart, other people are stupid. +That is where he proves that smart as he is, he isn't as smart as he +thinks he is. He always thought of Hooty the Owl as stupid. That is, he +always thought of him that way in daytime. At night, when he was waked +out of a sound sleep by the fierce hunting cry of Hooty, he wasn't so +sure about Hooty being stupid, and he always took care to sit perfectly +still in the darkness, lest Hooty's great ears should hear him and +Hooty's great eyes, made for seeing in the dark, should find him. No, +in the night Blacky was not at all sure that Hooty was stupid. + +But in the daytime he was sure. You see, he quite forgot the fact that +the brightness of day is to Hooty what the blackness of night is to him. +So, because Hooty would simply sit still and hiss and snap his bill, +instead of trying to catch his tormentors or flying away, Blacky called +him stupid. He felt sure that Hooty would stay right where he was now, +and he hoped that Mrs. Hooty would lose her temper and leave the nest +where she was sitting on those two eggs and join Hooty to help him try +to drive away that noisy crew. + +But Hooty isn't stupid. Not a bit of it. The minute he found out that +Blacky and his friends had discovered him, he thought of Mrs. Hooty and +the two precious eggs in the old nest of Redtail the Hawk close by. + +“Mrs. Hooty mustn't be disturbed,” thought he. “That will never do at +all. I must lead these black rascals away where they won't discover Mrs. +Hooty. I certainly must.” + +So he spread his broad wings and blundered away among the trees a little +way. He didn't fly far because the instant he started to fly that whole +noisy crew with the exception of Blacky were after him. Because he +couldn't use his claws or bill while flying, they grew bold enough to +pull a few feathers out of his back. So he flew only a little way to a +thick hemlock-tree, where it wasn't easy for the Crows to get at him, +and where the light didn't hurt his eyes so much. There he rested a few +minutes and then did the same thing over again. He meant to lead +those bothersome Crows into the darkest part of the Green Forest and +there--well, he could see better there, and it might be that one of them +would be careless enough to come within reach. No, Hooty wasn't stupid. +Certainly not. + +Blacky awoke to that fact as he sat in the top of a tall pine-tree +silently watching. He could see Mrs. Hooty on the nest, and as the noise +of Hooty's tormentors sounded from farther and farther away, she settled +herself more comfortably and closed her eyes. Blacky could imagine that +she was smiling to herself. It was clear that she had no intention of +going to help Hooty. His splendid plan had failed just because stupid +Hooty, who wasn't stupid at all, had flown away when he ought to have +sat still. It was very provoking. + + + +CHAPTER VII: Blacky Tries Another Plan + + When one plan fails, just try another; + Declare you'll win some way or other. + +People who succeed are those who do not give up because they fail the +first time they try. They are the ones who, as soon as one plan fails, +get busy right away and think of another plan and try that. If the thing +they are trying to do is a good thing, sooner or later they succeed. If +they are trying to do a wrong thing, very likely all their plans fail, +as they should. + +Now Blacky the Crow knows all about the value of trying and trying. He +isn't easily discouraged. Sometimes it is a pity that he isn't, because +he plans so much mischief. But the fact remains that he isn't, and he +tries and tries until he cannot think of another plan and just has to +give up. When he invited all his relatives to join him in tormenting +Hooty the Owl, he thought he had a plan that just couldn't fail. He felt +sure that Mrs. Hooty would leave her nest and help Hooty try to drive +away his tormentors. But Mrs. Hooty didn't do anything of the kind, +because Hooty was smart enough and thoughtful enough to lead his +tormentors away from the nest into the darkest part of the Green Forest +where their noise wouldn't bother Mrs. Hooty. So she just settled +herself more comfortably than ever on those eggs which Blacky had hoped +she would give him a chance to steal, and his fine plan was quite upset. + +Not one of his relatives had noticed that nest. They had been too busy +teasing Hooty. This was just as Blacky had hoped. He didn't want them to +know about that nest because he was selfish and wanted to get those eggs +just for himself alone. But now he knew that the only way he could get +Mrs. Hooty off of them would be by teasing her so that she would lose +her temper and try to catch some of her tormentors. If she did that, +there would be a chance that he might slip in and get at least one of +those eggs. + +He would try it. + +For a few minutes he listened to the noise of his relatives growing +fainter and fainter, as Hooty led them farther and farther into the +Green Forest. Then he opened his mouth. + +“Caw, caw, caw, caw!” he screamed. “Caw, caw, caw, caw! Come back, +everybody! Here is Mrs. Hooty on her nest! Caw, caw, caw, caw!” + +Now as soon as they heard that, all Blacky's relatives stopped chasing +and tormenting Hooty and started back as fast as they could fly. They +didn't like the dark part of the Green Forest into which Hooty was +leading them. Besides, they wanted to see that nest. So back they came, +cawing at the top of their lungs, for they were very much excited. Some +of them never had seen a nest of Hooty's. And anyway, it would be just +as much fun to tease Mrs. Hooty as it was to tease Hooty. + +“Where is the nest?” they screamed, as they came back to where Blacky +was cawing and pretending to be very much excited. + +“Why,” exclaimed one, “that is the old nest of Redtail the Hawk. I know +all about that nest.” And he looked at Blacky as if he thought Blacky +was playing a joke on them. + +“It was Redtail's, but it is Hooty's now. If you don't believe me, just +look in it,” retorted Blacky. + +At once they all began to fly over the top of the tree where they could +look down into the nest and there, sure enough, was Mrs. Hooty, her +great, round, yellow eyes glaring up at them angrily. Such a racket! +Right away Hooty was forgotten, and the whole crowd at once began to +torment Mrs. Hooty. Only Blacky sat watchful and silent, waiting for +Mrs. Hooty to lose her temper and try to catch one of her tormentors. He +had hope, a great hope, that he would get one of those eggs. + + + +CHAPTER VIII: Hooty Comes To Mrs. Hooty's Aid + +No one can live just for self alone. A lot of people think they can, +but they are very much mistaken. They are making one of the greatest +mistakes in the world. Every teeny, weeny act, no matter what it is, +affects somebody else. That is one of Old Mother Nature's great laws. +And it is just as true among the little people of the Green Forest and +the Green Meadows as with boys and girls and grown people. It is Old +Mother Nature's way of making each of us responsible for the good of all +and of teaching us that always we should help each other. + +As you know, when Blacky the Crow called all his relatives over to the +nest where Mrs. Hooty was sitting on her eggs, they at once stopped +tormenting Hooty and left him alone in a thick hemlock-tree in the +darkest part of the Green Forest. Of course Hooty was very, very glad +to be left in peace, and he might have spent the rest of the day there +sleeping in comfort. But he didn't. No, Sir, he didn't. At first he gave +a great sigh of relief and settled himself as if he meant to stay. He +listened to the voices of those noisy Crows growing fainter and fainter +and was glad. But it was only for a few minutes. + +Presently those voices stopped growing fainter. They grew more +excited-sounding than ever, and they came right from one place. Hooty +knew then that his tormentors had found the nest where Mrs. Hooty was, +and that they were tormenting her just as they had tormented him. He +snapped his bill angrily and then more angrily. + +“I guess Mrs. Hooty is quite able to take care of herself,” he +grumbled, “but she ought not to be disturbed while she is sitting on +those eggs. I hate to go back there in that bright sunshine. It hurts my +eyes, and I don't like it, but I guess I'll have to go back there. Mrs. +Hooty needs my help. I'd rather stay here, but--” + +He didn't finish. Instead, he spread his broad wings and flew back +towards the nest and Mrs. Hooty. His great wings made no noise, for they +are made so that he can fly without making a sound. “If I once get hold +of one of those Crows!” he muttered to himself. “If I once get hold of +one of those Crows, I'll--” He didn't say what he would do, but if +you had been near enough to hear the snap of his bill, you could have +guessed the rest. + +All this time the Crows were having what they called fun with Mrs. +Hooty. Nothing is true fun which makes others uncomfortable, but somehow +a great many people seem to forget this. So, while Blacky sat watching, +his relatives made a tremendous racket around Mrs. Hooty, and the more +angry she grew, the more they screamed and called her names and darted +down almost in her face, as they pretended that they were going to fight +her. They were so busy doing this, and Blacky was so busy watching them, +hoping that Mrs. Hooty would leave her nest and give him a chance to +steal the eggs he knew were under her, that no one gave Hooty a thought. + +All of a sudden he was there, right in the tree close to the nest! No +one had heard a sound, but there he was, and in the claws of one foot he +held the tail feathers of one of Blacky's relatives. It was lucky, very +lucky indeed for that one that the sun was in Hooty's eyes and so he had +missed his aim. Otherwise there would have been one less Crow. + +Now it is one thing to tease one lone Owl and quite another to tease two +together. Besides, there were those black tail feathers floating down +to the snow-covered ground. Quite suddenly those Crows decided that they +had had fun enough for one day, and in spite of all Blacky could do +to stop them, away they flew, cawing loudly and talking it all over +noisily. Blacky was the last to go, and his heart was sorrowful. However +could he get those eggs? + + + +CHAPTER IX: Blacky Thinks Of Farmer Brown's Boy + +“Such luck!” grumbled Blacky, as he flew over to his favorite tree to do +a little thinking. “Such luck! Now all my neighbors know about the nest +of Hooty the Owl, and sooner or later one of them will find out that +there are eggs in it. There is one thing about it, though, and that +is that if I can't get them, nobody can. That is to say, none of my +relatives can. I've tried every way I can think of, and those eggs are +still there. My, my, my, how I would like one of them right now!” + +Then Blacky the Crow did a thing which disappointed scamps often +do,--began to blame the ones he was trying to wrong because his plans +had failed. To have heard him talking to himself, you would have +supposed that those eggs really belonged to him and that Hooty and Mrs. +Hooty had cheated him out of them. Yes, Sir, that is what you would have +thought if you could have heard him muttering to himself there in the +tree-top. In his disappointment over not getting those eggs, he was +so sorry for himself that he actually did feel that he was the one +wronged,--that Hooty and Mrs. Hooty should have let him have those eggs. + +Of course, that was absolute foolishness, but he made himself believe +it just the same. At least, he pretended to believe it. And the more he +pretended, the angrier he grew. This is often the way with people who +try to wrong others. They grow angry with the ones they have tried to +wrong. When at last Blacky had to confess to himself that he could think +of no other way to get those eggs, he began to wonder if there was some +way to make trouble for Hooty and Mrs. Hooty. It was right then that he +thought of Farmer Brown's boy. Blacky's eyes snapped. He remembered how, +once upon a time, Farmer Brown's boy had delighted to rob nests. Blacky +had seen him take the eggs from the nests of Blacky's own relatives and +from many other feathered people. What he did with the eggs, Blacky had +no idea. Just now he didn't care. If Farmer Brown's boy would just +happen to find Hooty's nest, he would be sure to take those eggs, and +then he, Blacky, would feel better. He would feel that he was even with +Hooty. + +Right away he began to try to think of some way to bring Farmer Brown's +boy over to the lonesome corner of the Green Forest where Hooty's nest +was. If he could once get him there, he felt sure that Farmer Brown's +boy would see the nest and climb up to it, and then of course he would +take the eggs. If he couldn't have those eggs himself, the next best +thing would be to see some one else get them. + +Dear me, dear me, such dreadful thoughts! I am afraid that Blacky's +heart was as black as his coat. And the worst of it was, he seemed to +get a lot of pleasure in his wicked plans. Now right down in his heart +he knew that they were wicked plans, but he tried to make excuses to +himself. + +“Hooty the Owl is a robber,” said he. “Everybody is afraid of him. +He lives on other people, and so far as I know he does no good in the +world. He is big and fierce, and no one loves him. The Green Forest +would be better off without him. If those eggs hatch, there will be +little Owls to be fed, and they will grow up into big fierce Owls, like +their father and mother. So if I show Farmer Brown's boy that nest and +he takes those eggs, I will be doing a kindness to my neighbors.” + +So Blacky talked to himself and tried to hush the still, small voice +down inside that tried to tell him that what he was planning to do was +really a dreadful thing. And all the time he watched for Farmer Brown's +boy. + + + +CHAPTER X: Farmer Brown's Boy And Hooty + +Farmer Brown's boy had taken it into his head to visit the Green Forest. +It was partly because he hadn't anything else to do, and it was partly +because now that it was very near the end of winter he wanted to see how +things were there and if there were any signs of the coming of spring. +Blacky the Crow saw him coming, and Blacky chuckled to himself. He had +watched every day for a week for just this thing. Now he would tell +Farmer Brown's boy about that nest of Hooty the Owl. + +He flew over to the lonesome corner of the Green Forest where Hooty and +Mrs. Hooty had made their home and at once began to caw at the top of +his voice and pretend that he was terribly excited over something. + +“Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!” shouted Blacky. At once all his relatives +within hearing hurried over to join him. They knew that he was +tormenting Hooty, and they wanted to join in the fun. It wasn't long +before there was a great racket going on over in that lonesome corner of +the Green Forest. + +Of course Farmer Brown's boy heard it. He stopped and listened. “Now +I wonder what Blacky and his friends have found this time,” said he. +“Whenever they make a fuss like that, there is usually something to see +there. I believe I'll so over and have a look.” + +So he turned in the direction of the lonesome corner of the Green +Forest, and as he drew near, he moved very carefully, so as to see all +that he could without frightening the Crows. He knew that as soon as +they saw him, they would fly away, and that might alarm the one they +were tormenting, for he knew enough of Crow ways to know that when they +were making such a noise as they were now making, they were plaguing +some one. + +Blacky was the first to see him because he was watching for him. But +he didn't say anything until Farmer Brown's boy was so near that he +couldn't help but see that nest and Hooty himself, sitting up very +straight and snapping his bill angrily at his tormentors. Then Blacky +gave the alarm, and at once all the Crows rose in the air and headed for +the Green Meadows, cawing at the top of their lungs. Blacky went with +them a little way. The first chance he got he dropped out of the flock +and silently flew back to a place where he could see all that might +happen at the nest of Hooty the Owl. + +When Farmer Brown's boy first caught sight of the nest and saw the Crows +darting down toward it and acting so excited, he was puzzled. + +“That's an old nest of Red-tail the Hawk,” thought he. “I found that +last spring. Now what can there be there to excite those Crows so?” + +Then he caught sight of Hooty the Owl. “Ha, so that's it!” he exclaimed. +“Those scamps have discovered Hooty and have been having no end of fun +tormenting him. I wonder what he's doing there.” + +He no longer tried to keep out of sight, but walked right up to the +foot of the tree, all the time looking up. Hooty saw him, but instead of +flying away, he snapped his bill just as he had at the Crows and hissed. + +“That's funny,” thought Farmer Brown's boy. “If I didn't know that +to be the old nest of Redtail the Hawk, and if it weren't still the +tail-end of winter, I would think that was Hooty's nest.” + +He walked in a circle around the tree, looking up. Suddenly he gave a +little start. Was that a tail sticking over the edge of the nest? He +found a stick and threw it up. It struck the bottom of the nest, and out +flew a great bird. It was Mrs. Hooty! Blacky the Crow chuckled. + + + +CHAPTER XI: Farmer Brown's Boy Is Tempted + + When you're tempted to do wrong + Is the time to prove you're strong. + Shut your eyes and clench each fist; + It will help you to resist. + +When a bird is found sitting on a nest, it is a pretty sure sign that +that nest holds something worth while. It is a sign that that bird has +set up housekeeping. So when Farmer Brown's boy discovered Mrs. Hooty +sitting so close on the old nest of Redtail the Hawk, in the most +lonesome corner of the Green Forest, he knew what it meant. Perhaps I +should say that he knew what it ought to mean. + +It ought to mean that there were eggs in that nest. + +But it was hard for Farmer Brown's boy to believe that. Why, spring +had not come yet! There was still snow, and the Smiling Pool was still +covered with ice. Who ever heard of birds nesting at this time of year? +Certainly not Farmer Brown's boy. And yet Hooty the Owl and Mrs. Hooty +were acting for all the world as feathered folks do act when they have +eggs and are afraid that something is going to happen to them. It was +very puzzling. + +“That nest was built by Red-tail the Hawk, and it hasn't even been +repaired,” muttered Farmer Brown's boy, as he stared up at it. “If +Hooty and his wife have taken it for their home, they are mighty poor +housekeepers. And if Mrs. Hooty has laid eggs this time of year, she +must be crazy. I suppose the way to find out is to climb up there. It +seems foolish, but I'm going to do it. Those Owls certainly act as if +they are mighty anxious about something, and I'm going to find out what +it is.” + +He looked at Hooty and Mrs. Hooty, at their hooked bills and great +claws, and decided that he would take a stout stick along with him. He +had no desire to feel these great claws. When he had found a stick to +suit him, he began to climb the tree. Hooty and Mrs. Hooty snapped their +bills and hissed fiercely. They drew nearer. Farmer Brown's boy kept a +watchful eye on them. They looked so big and fierce that he was almost +tempted to give up and leave them in peace. But he just had to find out +if there was anything in that nest, so he kept on. As he drew near it, +Mrs. Hooty swooped very near to him, and the snap of her bill made an +ugly sound. He held his stick ready to strike and kept on. + +The nest was simply a great platform of sticks. When Farmer Brown's boy +reached it, he found that he could not get where he could look into it, +so he reached over and felt inside. Almost at once his fingers touched +something that made him tingle all over. It was an egg, a great big egg! +There was no doubt about it. It was just as hard for him to believe +as it had been for Blacky the Crow to believe, when he first saw those +eggs. Farmer Brown's boy's fingers closed over that egg and took it +out of the nest. Mrs. Hooty swooped very close, and Farmer Brown's boy +nearly dropped the egg as he struck at her with his stick. Then Mrs. +Hooty and Hooty seemed to lose courage and withdrew to a tree near by, +where they snapped their bills and hissed. + +Then Farmer Brown's boy looked at the prize in his hand. It was a big, +dirty-white egg. His eyes shone. What a splendid prize to add to his +collection of birds' eggs! It was the first egg of the Great Horned Owl, +the largest of all Owls, that he ever had seen. + +Once more he felt in the nest and found there was another egg there. +“I'll take both of them,” said he. “It's the first nest of Hooty's that +I've ever found, and perhaps I'll never find another. Gee, I'm glad +I came over here to find out what those Crows were making such a fuss +about. I wonder if I can get these down without breaking them.” + +Just at that very minute he remembered something. He remembered that he +had stopped collecting eggs. He remembered that he had resolved never to +take another bird's egg. + +“But this is different,” whispered the tempter. “This isn't like taking +the eggs of the little song birds.” + + + +CHAPTER XII: A Tree-Top Battle + + As black is black and white is white, + So wrong is wrong and right is right. + +There isn't any half way about it. A thing is wrong or it is right, and +that is all there is to it. But most people have hard work to see this +when they want very much to do a thing that the still small voice +way down inside tells them isn't right. They try to compromise. To +compromise is to do neither one thing nor the other but a little of +both. But you can't do that with right and wrong. It is a queer thing, +but a half right never is as good as a whole right, while a half wrong +often, very often, is as bad as a whole wrong. + +Farmer Brown's boy, up in the tree by the nest of Hooty the Owl in +the lonesome corner of the Green Forest, was fighting a battle. No, he +wasn't fighting with Hooty or Mrs. Hooty. He was fighting a battle right +inside himself. It was a battle between right and wrong. Once upon a +time he had taken great delight in collecting the eggs of birds, in +trying to see how many kinds he could get. Then as he had come to know +the little forest and meadow people better, he had seen that taking the +eggs of birds is very, very wrong, and he had stopped stealing them. He +bad declared that never again would he steal an egg from a bird. + +But never before had he found a nest of Hooty the Owl. Those two big +eggs would add ever so much to his collection. “Take 'em,” said a +little voice inside. “Hooty is a robber. You will be doing a kindness to +the other birds by taking them.” + +“Don't do it,” said another little voice. “Hooty may be a robber, but +he has a place in the Green Forest, or Old Mother Nature never would +have put him here. It is just as much stealing to take his eggs as to +take the eggs of any other bird. He has just as much right to them as +Jenny Wren has to hers.” + +“Take one and leave one,” said the first voice. + +“That will be just as much stealing as if you took both,” said the +second voice. “Besides, you will be breaking your own word. You said +that you never would take another egg.” + +“I didn't promise anybody but myself,” declared Farmer Brown's boy +right out loud. At the sound of his voice, Hooty and Mrs. Hooty, sitting +in the next tree, snapped their bills and hissed louder than ever. + +“A promise to yourself ought to be just as good as a promise to any one +else. I don't wonder Hooty hisses at you,” said the good little voice. + +“Think how fine those eggs will look in your collection and how proud +you will be to show them to the other fellows who never have found a +nest of Hooty's,” said the first little voice. + +“And think how mean and small and cheap you'll feel every time you look +at them,” added the good little voice. “You'll get a lot more fun if +you leave them to hatch out and then watch the little Owls grow up and +learn all about their ways. Just think what a stout, brave fellow Hooty +is to start housekeeping at this time of year, and how wonderful it is +that Mrs. Hooty can keep these eggs warm and when they have hatched +take care of the baby Owls before others have even begun to build their +nests. Besides, wrong is wrong and right is right, always.” + +Slowly Farmer Brown's boy reached over the edge of the nest and put +back the egg. Then he began to climb down the tree. When he reached the +ground he went off a little way and watched. Almost at once Mrs. Hooty +flew to the nest and settled down on the eggs, while Hooty mounted guard +close by. + +“I'm glad I didn't take 'em,” said Farmer Brown's boy. “Yes, Sir, I'm +glad I didn't take 'em.” + +As he turned back toward home, he saw Blacky the Crow flying over the +Green Forest, and little did he guess how he had upset Blacky's plans. + + + +CHAPTER XIII: Blacky Has A Change Of Heart + +Blacky The Crow isn't all black. No, indeed. His coat is black, and +sometimes it seems as if his heart is all black, but this isn't so. It +certainly seemed as if his heart was all black when he tried so hard to +make trouble for Hooty the Owl. It would seem as if only a black heart +could have urged him to try so hard to steal the eggs of Hooty and Mrs. +Hooty, but this wasn't really so. You see, it didn't seem at all wrong +to try to get those eggs. Blacky was hungry, and those eggs would have +given him a good meal. He knew that Hooty wouldn't hesitate to catch +him and eat him if he had the chance, and so it seemed to him perfectly +right and fair to steal Hooty's eggs if he was smart enough to do so. +And most of the other little people of the Green Forest and the Green +Meadows would have felt the same way about it. You see, it is one of +the laws of Old Mother Nature that each one must learn to look out for +himself. + +But when Blacky showed that nest of Hooty's to Farmer Brown's boy with +the hope that Farmer Brown's boy would steal those eggs, there was +blackness in his heart. He was doing something then which was pure +meanness. He was just trying to make trouble for Hooty, to get even +because Hooty had been too smart for him. He had sat in the top of a +tall pine-tree where he could see all that happened, and he had chuckled +wickedly as he had seen Farmer Brown's boy climb to Hooty's nest and +take out an egg. He felt sure that he would take both eggs. He hoped so, +anyway. + +When he saw Farmer Brown's boy put the eggs back and climb down the tree +without any, he had to blink his eyes to make sure that he saw straight. +He just couldn't believe what he saw. At first he was dreadfully +disappointed and angry. It looked very much as if he weren't going to +get even with Hooty after all. He flew over to his favorite tree to +think things over. Now sometimes it is a good thing to sit by oneself +and think things over. It gives the little small voice deep down inside +a chance to be heard. It was just that way with Blacky now. + +The longer he thought, the meaner his action in calling Farmer Brown's +boy looked. It was one thing to try to steal those eggs himself, but it +was quite another matter to try to have them stolen by some one against +whom Hooty had no protection whatever. + +“If it had been any one but Hooty, you would have done your best to have +kept Farmer Brown's boy away,” said the little voice inside. Blacky +hung his head. He knew that it was true. More than once, in fact many +times, he had warned other feathered folks when Farmer Brown's boy had +been hunting for their nests, and had helped to lead him away. + +At last Blacky threw up his head and chuckled, and this time his chuckle +was good to hear. “I'm glad that Farmer Brown's boy didn't take those +eggs,” said he right out loud. “Yes, sir, I'm glad. I'll never do such +a thing as that again. I'm ashamed of what I did; yet I'm glad I did +it. I'm glad because I've learned some things. I've learned that Farmer +Brown's boy isn't as much to be feared as he used to be. I've learned +that Hooty isn't as stupid as I thought he was. I've learned that while +it may be all right for us people of the Green Forest to try to outwit +each other we ought to protect each other against common dangers. And +I've learned something I didn't know before, and that is that Hooty the +Owl is the very first of us to set up housekeeping. Now I think I'll go +hunt for an honest meal.” And he did. + + + +CHAPTER XIV: Blacky Makes A Call + + Judge no one by his style of dress; + Your ignorance you thus confess. + --Blacky the Crow. + +“Caw, caw, caw, caw.” There was no need of looking to see who that was. +Peter Rabbit knew without looking. Mrs. Quack knew without looking. Just +the same, both looked up. Just alighting in the top of a tall tree was +Blacky the Crow. “Caw, caw, caw, caw,” he repeated, looking down at +Peter and Mrs. Quack and Mr. Quack and the six young Quacks. “I hope I +am not interrupting any secret gossip.” + +“Not at all,” Peter hastened to say. “Mrs. Quack was just telling me +of the troubles and clangers in bringing up a young family in the Far +North. How did you know the Quacks had arrived?” + +Blacky chuckled hoarsely. “I didn't,” said he. “I simply thought there +might be something going on I didn't know about over here in the pond +of Paddy the Beaver, so I came over to find out. Mr. Quack, you and Mrs. +Quack are looking very fine this fall. And those handsome young Quacks, +you don't mean to tell me that they are your children!” + +Mrs. Quack nodded proudly. “They are,” said she. + +“You don't say so!” exclaimed Blacky, as if he were very much surprised, +when all the time he wasn't surprised at all. “They are a credit to +their parents. Yes, indeed, they are a credit to their parents. Never +have I seen finer young Ducks in all my life. How glad the hunters with +terrible guns will be to see them.” + +Mrs. Quack shivered at that, and Blacky saw it. He chuckled softly. You +know he dearly loves to make others uncomfortable. “I saw three hunters +over on the edge of the Big River early this very morning,” said he. + +Mrs. Quack looked more anxious than ever. Blacky's sharp eyes noted +this. + +“That is why I came over here,” he added kindly. “I wanted to give you +warning.” + +“But you didn't know the Quacks were here!” spoke up Peter. + +“True enough, Peter. True enough,” replied Blacky, his eyes twinkling. +“But I thought they might be. I had heard a rumor that those who go +south are traveling earlier than usual this fall, so I knew I might find +Mr. and Mrs. Quack over here any time now. Is it true, Mrs. Quack, that +we are going to have a long, hard, cold winter?” + +“That is what they say up in the Far North,” replied Mrs. Quack. “And it +is true that Jack Frost had started down earlier than usual. That is +how it happens we are here now. But about those hunters over by the Big +River, do you suppose they will come over here?” There was an anxious +note in Mrs. Quack's voice. + +“No,” replied Blacky promptly. “Farmer Brown's boy won't let them. I +know. I've been watching him and he has been watching those hunters. As +long as you stay here, you will be safe. What a great world this would +be if all those two-legged creatures were like Farmer Brown's boy.” + +“Wouldn't it!” cried Peter. Then he added, “I wish they were.” + +“You don't wish it half as much as I do,” declared Mrs. Quack. + +“Yet I can remember when he used to hunt with a terrible gun and was as +bad as the worst of them,” said Blacky. + +“What changed him?” asked Mrs. Quack, looking interested. + +“Just getting really acquainted with some of the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows,” replied Blacky. “He found them +ready to meet him more than halfway in friendship and that some of them +really are his best friends.” + +“And now he is their best friend,” spoke up Peter. + +Blacky nodded. “Right, Peter,” said he. “That is why the Quacks are safe +here and will be as long as they stay.” + + + +CHAPTER XV: Blacky Does A Little Looking About + + Do not take the word of others + That things are or are not so + When there is a chance that you may + Find out for yourself and know. + --Blacky the Crow. + +Blacky the Crow is a shrewd fellow. He is one of the smartest and +shrewdest of all the little people in the Green Forest and on the Green +Meadows. Everybody knows it. And because of this, all his neighbors have +a great deal of respect for him, despite his mischievous ways. + +Of course, Blacky had noticed that Johnny Chuck had dug his house deeper +than usual and had stuffed himself until he was fatter than ever before. +He had noticed that Jerry Muskrat was making the walls of his house +thicker than in other years, and that Paddy the Beaver was doing the +same thing to his house. You know there is very little that escapes the +sharp eyes of Blacky the Crow. + +He had guessed what these things meant. “They think we are going to have +a long, hard, cold winter,” muttered Blacky to himself. “Perhaps they +know, but I want to see some signs of it for myself. They may be only +guessing. Anybody can do that, and one guess is as good as another.” + +Then he found Mr. and Mrs. Quack, the Mallard Ducks, and their children +in the pond of Paddy the Beaver and remembered that they never had come +down from their home in the Far North as early in the fall as this. Mrs. +Quack explained that Jack Frost had already started south, and so they +had started earlier to keep well ahead of him. + +“Looks as if there may be something in this idea of a long, hard, cold +winter,” thought Blacky, “but perhaps the Quacks are only guessing, +too. I wouldn't take their word for it any more than I would the word +of Johnny Chuck or Jerry Muskrat or Paddy the Beaver. I'll look about a +little.” + +So after warning the Quacks to remain in the pond of Paddy the Beaver +if they would be safe, Blacky bade them good-by and flew away. He headed +straight for the Green Meadows and Farmer Brown's cornfield. A little of +that yellow corn would make a good breakfast. + +When he reached the cornfield, Blacky perched on top of a shock of corn, +for it already had been cut and put in shocks in readiness to be carted +up to Farmer Brown's barn. For a few minutes he sat there silent and +motionless, but all the time his sharp eyes were making sure that no +enemy was hiding behind one of those brown shocks. When he was quite +certain that things were as safe as they seemed, he picked out a plump +ear of corn and began to tear open the husks, so as to get at the yellow +grains. + +“Seems to me these husks are unusually thick,” muttered Blacky, as he +tore at them with his stout bill. “Don't remember ever having seen them +as thick as these. Wonder if it just happens to be so on this ear.” + +Then, as a sudden thought popped into his black head, he left that ear +and went to another. The husks of this were as thick as those on the +first. He flew to another shock and found the husks there just the same. +He tried a third shock with the same result. + +“Huh, they are all alike,” said he. Then he looked thoughtful and for a +few minutes sat perfectly still like a black statue. “They are right,” + said he at last. “Yes, Sir, they are right.” Of course he meant Johnny +Chuck and Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver and the Quacks. “I don't +know how they know it, but they are right; we are going to have a long, +hard, cold winter. I know it myself now. I've found a sign. Old Mother +Nature has wrapped this corn in extra thick husks, and of course she has +done it to protect it. She doesn't do things without a reason. We are +going to have a cold winter, or my name isn't Blacky the Crow.” + + + +CHAPTER XVI: Blacky Finds Other Signs + + A single fact may fail to prove you either right or wrong; + Confirm it with another and your proof will then be strong. + --Blacky the Crow. + +After his discovery that Old Mother Nature had wrapped all the ears +of corn in extra thick husks, Blacky had no doubt in his own mind that +Johnny Chuck and Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver and the Quacks were +quite right in feeling that the coming winter would be long, hard and +cold. But Blacky long ago learned that it isn't wise or wholly safe to +depend altogether on one thing. + +“Old Mother Nature never does things by halves,” thought Blacky, as he +sat on the fence post on the Green Meadows, thinking over his discovery +of the thick husks on the corn. “She wouldn't take care to protect the +corn that way and not do as much for other things. There must be other +signs, if I am smart enough to find them.” + +He lifted one black wing and began to set in order the feathers beneath +it. Suddenly he made a funny little hop straight up. + +“Well, I never!” he exclaimed, as he spread his wings to regain his +balance. “I never did!” + +“Is that so?” piped a squeaky little voice. “If you say you never did, I +suppose you never did, though I want the word of some one else before I +will believe it. What is it you never did?” + +Blacky looked down. Peeping up at him from the brown grass were two +bright little eyes. + +“Hello, Danny Meadow Mouse!” exclaimed Blacky. “I haven't seen you for a +long time. I've looked for you several times lately.” + +“I don't doubt it. I don't doubt it at all,” squeaked Danny. “You'll +never see me when you are looking for me. That is, you won't if I can +help it. You won't if I see you first.” + +Blacky chuckled. He knew what Danny meant. When Blacky goes looking +for Danny Meadow Mouse, it usually is in hope of having a Meadow Mouse +dinner, and he knew that Danny knew this. “I've had my breakfast,” said +Blacky, “and it isn't dinner time yet.” + +“What is it you never did?” persisted Danny, in his squeaky voice. + +“That was just an exclamation,” explained Blacky. “I made a discovery +that surprised me so I exclaimed right out.” + +“What was it?” demanded Danny. + +“It was that the feathers of my coat are coming in thicker than I ever +knew them to before. I hadn't noticed it until I started to set them in +order a minute ago.” He buried his bill in the feathers of his breast. +“Yes, sir,” said he in a muffled voice, “they are coming in thicker than +I ever knew them to before. There is a lot of down around the roots of +them. I am going to have the warmest coat I've ever had.” + +“Well, don't think you are the only one,” retorted Danny. “My fur never +was so thick at this time of year as it is now, and it is the same way +with Nanny Meadow Mouse and all our children. I suppose you know what it +means.” + +“What does it mean?” asked Blacky, just as if he didn't have the least +idea, although he had guessed the instant he discovered those extra +feathers. + +“It means we are going to have a long, hard, cold winter, and Old Mother +Nature is preparing us for it,” replied Danny, quite as if he knew all +about it. “You'll find that everybody who doesn't go south or sleep all +winter has a thicker coat than usual. Hello! There is old Roughleg the +Hawk! He has come extra early this year. I think I'll go back to warn +Nanny.” Without another word Danny disappeared in the brown grass. Again +Blacky chuckled. “More signs,” said he to himself. “More signs. There +isn't a doubt that we are going to have a hard winter. I wonder if I +can stand it or if I'd better go a little way south, where it will be +warmer.” + + + +CHAPTER XVII: Blacky Watches A Queer Performance + + This much to me is very clear: + A thing not understood is queer. + --Blacky the Crow. + +Blacky the Crow may be right. Again he may not be. If he is right, it +will account for a lot of the queer people in the world. They are not +understood, and so they are queer. At least, that is what other people +say, and never once think that perhaps they are the queer ones for not +understanding. + +But Blacky isn't like those people who are satisfied not to understand +and to think other people and things queer. He does his best to +understand. He waits and watches and uses those sharp eyes of his and +those quick wits of his until at last usually he does understand. + +The day of his discovery of Old Mother Nature's signs that the coming +winter would be long, hard and cold, Blacky paid a visit to the Big +River. Long ago he discovered that many things are to be seen on or +beside the Big River, things not to be seen elsewhere. So there are few +clays in which he does not get over there. + +As he drew near the Big River, he was very watchful and careful, was +Blacky, for this was the season when hunters with terrible guns were +abroad, and he had discovered that they were likely to be hiding along +the Big River, hoping to shoot Mr. or Mrs. Quack or some of their +relatives. So he was very watchful as he drew near the Big River, for +he had learned that it was dangerous to pass too near a hunter with a +terrible gun. More than once he had been shot at. But he had learned by +these experiences. Oh, yes, Blacky had learned. For one thing, he had +learned to know a gun when he saw it. For another thing, he had learned +just how far away one of these dreadful guns could be and still hurt the +one it was pointed at, and to always keep just a little farther away. +Also he had learned that a man or boy without a terrible gun is quite +harmless, and he had learned that hunters with terrible guns are tricky +and sometimes hide from those they seek to kill, so that in the dreadful +hunting season it is best to look sharply before approaching any place. + +On this afternoon, as he drew near the Big River, he saw a man who +seemed to be very busy on the shore of the Big River, at a place where +wild rice and rushes grew for some distance out in the water, for just +there it was shallow far out from the shore. Blacky looked sharply for a +terrible gun. But the man had none with him and therefore was not to be +feared. Blacky boldly drew near until he was able to see what the man +was doing. + +Then Blacky's eyes stretched their widest and he almost cawed right out +with surprise. The man was taking yellow corn from a bag, a handful at +a time, and throwing it out in the water. Yes, Sir, that is what he was +doing, scattering nice yellow corn among the rushes and wild rice in the +water! + +“That's a queer performance,” muttered Blacky, as he watched. “What is +he throwing perfectly good corn out in the water for? He isn't planting +it, for this isn't the planting season. Besides, it wouldn't grow in the +water, anyway. It is a shame to waste nice corn like that. What is he +doing it for?” + +Blacky flew over to a tree some distance away and alighted in the top +of it to watch the queer performance. You know Blacky has very keen eyes +and he can see a long distance. For a while the man continued to scatter +corn and Blacky continued to wonder what he was doing it for. At last +the man went away in a boat. Blacky watched him until he was out of +sight. Then he spread his wings and slowly flew back and forth just +above the rushes and wild rice, at the place where the man had been +scattering the corn. He could see some of the yellow grains on the +bottom. Presently he saw something else. “Ha!” exclaimed Blacky. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII: Blacky Becomes Very Suspicious + + Of things you do not understand, + Beware! + They may be wholly harmless but-- + Beware! + You'll find the older that you grow + That only things and folks you know + Are fully to be trusted, so + Beware! + --Blacky the Crow. + +That is one of Blacky's wise sayings, and he lives up to it. It is one +reason why he has come to be regarded by all his neighbors as one of the +smartest of all who live in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadow. He +seldom gets into any real trouble because he first makes sure there +is no trouble to get into. When he discovers something he does not +understand, he is at once distrustful of it. + +As he watched a man scattering yellow corn in the water from the shore +of the Big River he at once became suspicious. He couldn't understand +why a man should throw good corn among the rushes and wild rice in the +water, and because he couldn't understand, he at once began to suspect +that it was for no good purpose. When the man left in a boat, Blacky +slowly flew over the rushes where the man had thrown the corn, and +presently his sharp eyes made a discovery that caused him to exclaim +right out. + +What was it Blacky had discovered? Only a few feathers. No one with eyes +less sharp than Blacky's would have noticed them. And few would have +given them a thought if they had noticed them. But Blacky knew right +away that those were feathers from a Duck. He knew that a Duck, or +perhaps a flock of Ducks, had been resting or feeding in there among +those rushes, and that in moving about they had left those two or three +downy feathers. + +“Ha!” exclaimed Blacky. “Mr. and Mrs. Quack or some of their relatives +have been here. It is just the kind of a place Ducks like. Also some +Ducks like corn. If they should come back here and find this corn, they +would have a feast, and they would be sure to come again. That man who +scattered the corn here didn't have a terrible gun, but that doesn't +mean that he isn't a hunter. He may come back again, and then he may +have a terrible gun. I'm suspicious of that man. I am so. I believe he +put that corn here for Ducks and I don't believe he did it out of the +kindness of his heart. If it was Farmer Brown's boy I would know that +all is well; that he was thinking of hungry Ducks, with few places where +they can feed in safety, as they make the long journey from the Far +North to the Sunny South. But it wasn't Farmer Brown's boy. I don't like +the looks of it. I don't indeed. I'll keep watch of this place and see +what happens.” + +All the way to his favorite perch in a certain big hemlock-tree in the +Green Forest, Blacky kept thinking about that corn and the man who +had seemed to be generous with it, and the more he thought, the more +suspicious he became. He didn't like the looks of it at all. + +“I'll warn the Quacks to keep away from there. I'll do it the very first +thing in the morning,” he muttered, as he prepared to go to sleep. “If +they have any sense at all, they will stay in the pond of Paddy the +Beaver. But if they should go over to the Big River, they would be +almost sure to find that corn, and if they should once find it, they +would keep going back for more. It may be all right, but I don't like +the looks of it.” + +And still full of suspicions, Blacky went to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER XIX: Blacky Makes More Discoveries + + Little things you fail to see + May important prove to be. + --Blacky the Crow. + +One of the secrets of Blacky's success in life is the fact that he never +fails to take note of little things. Long ago he learned that little +things which in themselves seem harmless and not worth noticing may +together prove the most important things in life. So, no matter how +unimportant a thing may appear, Blacky examines it closely with those +sharp eyes of his and remembers it. + +The very first thing Blacky did, as soon as he was awake the morning +after he discovered the man scattering corn in the rushes at a certain +place on the edge of the Big River, was to fly over to the pond of Paddy +the Beaver and again warn Mr. and Mrs. Quack to keep away from the Big +River, if they and their six children would remain safe. Then he got +some breakfast. He ate it in a hurry and flew straight over to the Big +River to the place where he had seen that yellow corn scattered. + +Blacky wasn't wholly surprised to find Dusky the Black Duck, own cousin +to Mr. and Mrs. Quack the Mallard Ducks, with a number of his relatives +in among the rushes and wild rice at the very place where that corn had +been scattered. They seemed quite contented and in the best of spirits. +Blacky guessed why. Not a single grain of that yellow corn could Blacky +see. He knew the ways of Dusky and his relatives. He knew that they must +have come in there just at dusk the night before and at once had found +that corn. He knew that they would remain hiding there until frightened +out, and that then they would spend the day in some little pond where +they would not be likely to be disturbed or where at least no danger +could approach them without being seen in plenty of time. There they +would rest all day, and when the Black Shadows came creeping out from +the Purple Hills, they would return to that place on the Big River to +feed, for that is the time when they like best to hunt for their food. + +Dusky looked up as Blacky flew over him, but Blacky said nothing, and +Dusky said nothing. But if Blacky didn't use his tongue, he did use his +eyes. He saw just on the edge of the shore what looked like a lot of +small bushes growing close together on the very edge of the water. Mixed +in with them were a lot of the brown rushes. They looked very harmless +and innocent. But Blacky knew every foot of that shore along the Big +River, and he knew that those bushes hadn't been there during the +summer. He knew that they hadn't grown there. + +He flew directly over them. Just back of them were a couple of logs. +Those logs hadn't been there when he passed that way a few days before. +He was sure of it. + +“Ha!” exclaimed Blacky under his breath. “Those look to me as if they +might be very handy, very handy indeed, for a hunter to sit on. Sitting +there behind those bushes, he would be hidden from any Duck who might +come in to look for nice yellow corn scattered out there among the +rushes. It doesn't look right to me. No, Sir, it doesn't look right to +me. I think I'll keep an eye on this place.” + +So Blacky came back to the Big River several times that day. The second +time back he found that Dusky the Black Duck and his relatives had left. +When he returned in the afternoon, he saw the same man he had seen +there the afternoon before, and he was doing the same thing,--scattering +yellow corn out in the rushes. And as before, he went away in a boat. + +“I don't like it,” muttered Blacky, shaking his black head. “I don't +like it.” + + + +CHAPTER XX: Blacky Drops A Hint + + When you see another's danger + Warn him though he be a stranger. + --Blacky the Crow. + +Every day for a week a man came in a boat to scatter corn in the rushes +at a certain point along the bank of the Big River, and every day Blacky +the Crow watched him and shook his black head and talked to himself and +told himself that he didn't like it, and that he was sure that it was +for no good purpose. Sometimes Blacky watched from a distance, and +sometimes he flew right over the man. But never once did the man have a +gun with him. + +Every morning, very early, Blacky flew over there, and every morning he +found Dusky the Black Duck and his flock in the rushes and wild rice at +that particular place, and he knew that they had been there all night, +He knew that they had come in there just at dusk the night before, to +feast on the yellow corn the man had scattered there in the afternoon. + +“It is no business of mine what those Ducks do,” muttered Blacky to +himself, “but as surely as my tail feathers are black, something is +going to happen to some of them one of these days. That man may be +fooling them, but he isn't fooling me. Not a bit of it. He hasn't had +a gun with him once when I have seen him, but just the same he is a +hunter. I feel it in my bones. He knows those silly Ducks come in here +every night for that corn he puts out. He knows that after they have +been here a few times and nothing has frightened them, they will be +so sure that it is a safe place that they will not be the least bit +suspicious. Then he will hide behind those bushes he has placed close to +the edge of the water and wait for them with his terrible gun. That is +what he will do, or my name isn't Blacky.” + +Finally Blacky decided to drop a hint to Dusky the Black Duck. So the +next morning he stopped for a call. “Good morning,” said he, as Dusky +swam in just in front of him. “I hope you are feeling as fine as you +look.” + +“Quack, quack,” replied Dusky. “When Blacky the Crow flatters, he hopes +to gain something. What is it this time?” + +“Not a thing,” replied Blacky. “On my honor, not a thing. There is +nothing for me here, though there seems to be plenty for you and your +relatives, to judge by the fact that I find you in this same place every +morning. What is it?” + +“Corn,” replied Dusky in a low voice, as if afraid some one might +overhear him. “Nice yellow corn.” + +“Corn!” exclaimed Blacky, as if very much astonished. “How does corn +happen to be way over here in the water?” + +Dusky shook his head. “Don't ask me, for I can't tell you,” said he. “I +haven't the least idea. All I know is that every evening when we arrive, +we find it here. How it gets here, I don't know, and furthermore I don't +care. It is enough for me that it is here.” + +“I've seen a man over here every afternoon,” said Blacky. “I thought he +might be a hunter.” + +“Did he have a terrible gun?” asked Dusky suspiciously. + +“No-o,” replied Blacky. + +“Then he isn't a hunter,” declared Dusky, looking much relieved. + +“But perhaps one of these days he will have one and will wait for you to +come in for your dinner,” suggested Blacky. “He could hide behind these +bushes, you know.” + +“Nonsense,” retorted Dusky, tossing his head. “There hasn't been a sign +of danger here since we have been here. I know you, Blacky; you are +jealous because we find plenty to eat here, and you find nothing. You +are trying to scare us. But I'll tell you right now, you can't scare us +away from such splendid eating as we have had here. So there!” + + + +CHAPTER XXI: At Last Blacky Is Sure + + Who for another conquers fear + Is truly brave, it is most clear. + --Blacky the Crow. + +It was late in the afternoon, and Blacky the Crow was on his way to the +Green Forest. As usual, he went around by the Big River to see if that +man was scattering corn for the Ducks. He wasn't there. No one was to be +seen along the bank of the Big River. + +“He hasn't come to-day, or else he came early and has left,” thought +Blacky. And then his sharp eyes caught sight of something that made him +turn aside and make straight for a certain tree, from the top of which +he could see all that went on for a long distance. What was it Blacky +saw? It was a boat coming down the Big River. + +Blacky sat still and watched. Presently the boat turned in among the +rushes, and a moment later a man stepped out on the shore. It was the +same man Blacky had watched scatter corn in the rushes every day for a +week. There wasn't the least doubt about it, it was the same man. + +“Ha, ha!” exclaimed Blacky, and nearly lost his balance in his +excitement. “Ha, ha! It is just as I thought!” You see Blacky's sharp +eyes had seen that the man was carrying something, and that something +was a gun, a terrible gun. Blacky knows a terrible gun as far as he can +see it. + +The hunter, for of course that is what he was, tramped along the shore +until he reached the bushes which Blacky had noticed close to the water +and which he knew had not grown there. The hunter looked out over the +Big River. Then he walked along where he had scattered corn the day +before. Not a grain was to be seen. This seemed to please him. Then he +went back to the bushes and sat down on a log behind them, his terrible +gun across his knees. + +“I was sure of it,” muttered Blacky. “He is going to wait there for +those Ducks to come in, and then something dreadful will happen. What +terrible creatures these hunters are! They don't know what fairness is. +No, Sir, they don't know what fairness is. He has put food there day +after day, where Dusky the Black Duck and his flock would be sure to +find it, and has waited until they have become so sure there is no +danger that they are no longer suspicious. He knows they will feel so +sure that all is safe that they will come in without looking for danger. +Then he will fire that terrible gun and kill them without giving them +any chance at all. + +“Reddy Fox is a sly, clever hunter, but he wouldn't do a thing like +that. Neither would Old Man Coyote or anybody else who wears fur or +feathers. They might hide and try to catch some one by surprise. That is +all right, because each of us is supposed to be on the watch for things +of that sort. Oh, dear, what's to be done? It is time I was getting home +to the Green Forest. The Black Shadows will soon come creeping out from +the Purple Hills, and I must be safe in my hemlock-tree by then. I would +be scared to death to be out after dark. Yet those Ducks ought to be +warned. Oh, dear, what shall I do?” + +Blacky peered over at the Green Forest and then over toward the Purple +Hills, behind which jolly, round, red Mr. Sun would go to bed very +shortly. He shivered as he thought of the Black Shadows that soon would +come swiftly out from the Purple Hills across the Big River and over the +Green Meadows. With them might come Hooty the Owl, and Hooty wouldn't +object in the least to a Crow dinner. He wished he was in that +hemlock-tree that very minute. Then Blacky looked at the hunter with his +terrible gun and thought of what might happen, what would be almost sure +to happen, unless those Ducks were warned. “I'll wait a little while +longer,” muttered Blacky, and tried to feel brave. But instead he +shivered. + + + +CHAPTER XXII: Blacky Goes Home Happy + + No greater happiness is won + Than through a deed for others done. + --Blacky the Crow. + +Blacky sat in the top of a tree near the bank of the Big River and +couldn't make up his mind what to do. He wanted to get home to the big, +thick hemlock-tree in the Green Forest before dusk, for Blacky is afraid +of the dark. That is, he is afraid to be out after dark. + +“Go along home,” said a voice inside him, “there is hardly time now for +you to get there before the Black Shadows arrive. Don't waste any more +time here. What may happen to those silly Ducks is no business of yours, +and there is nothing you can do, anyway. Go along home.” + +“Wait a few minutes,” said another little voice down inside him. “Don't +be a coward. You ought to warn Dusky the Black Duck and his flock that a +hunter with a terrible gun is waiting for them. Is it true that it is +no business of yours what happens to those Ducks? Think again, Blacky; +think again. It is the duty of each one who sees a common danger to warn +his neighbors. If something dreadful should happen to Dusky because +you were afraid of the dark, you never would be comfortable in your own +mind. Stay a little while and keep watch.” + +Not five minutes later Blacky saw something that made him, oh, so glad +he had kept watch. It was a swiftly moving black line just above the +water far down the Big River, and it was coming up. He knew what that +black line was. He looked over at the hunter hiding behind some bushes +close to the edge of the water. The hunter was crouching with his +terrible gun in his hands and was peeping over the bushes, watching that +black line. He, too, knew what it was. It was a flock of Ducks flying. + +Blacky was all ashake again, but this time it wasn't with fear of being +caught away from home in the dark; it was with excitement. He knew that +those Ducks had become so eager for more of that corn, that delicious +yellow corn which every night for a week they had found scattered in the +rushes just in front of the place where that hunter was now hiding, that +they couldn't wait for the coming of the Black Shadows. They were so +sure there was no danger that they were coming in to eat without waiting +for the Black Shadows, as they usually did. And Blacky was glad. Perhaps +now he could give them warning. + +Up the middle of the Big River, flying just above the water, swept the +flock with Dusky at its head. How swiftly they flew, those nine big +birds! Blacky envied them their swift wings. On past the hidden hunter +but far out over the Big River they swept. For just a minute Blacky +thought they were going on up the river and not coming in to eat, after +all. Then they turned toward the other shore, swept around in a circle +and headed straight in toward that hidden hunter. Blacky glanced at him +and saw that he was ready to shoot. + +Almost without thinking, Blacky spread his wings and started out from +that tree. “Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!” he shrieked at the top of his +lungs. “Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!” It was his danger cry that everybody +on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest knows. + +Instantly Dusky turned and began to climb up, up, up, the other Ducks +following him until, as they passed over the hidden hunter, they were so +high it was useless for him to shoot. He did put up his gun and aim at +them, but he didn't shoot. You see, he didn't want to frighten them so +that they would not return. Then the flock turned and started off in +the direction from which they had come, and in a few minutes they were +merely a black line disappearing far down the Big River. + +Blacky headed straight for the Green Forest, chuckling as he flew. He +knew that those Ducks would not return until after dark. He had saved +them this time, and he was so happy he didn't even notice the Black +Shadows. And the hunter stood up and shook his fist at Blacky the Crow. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII: Blacky Calls Farmer Brown's Boy + +Blacky awoke in the best of spirits. Late the afternoon before he had +saved Dusky the Black Duck and his flock from a hunter with a terrible +gun. He wasn't quite sure whether he was most happy in having saved +those Ducks by warning them just in time, or in having spoiled the plans +of that hunter. He hates a hunter with a terrible gun, does Blacky. For +that matter, so do all the little people of the Green Forest and the +Green Meadows. + +So Blacky started out for his breakfast in high spirits. After +breakfast, he flew over to the Big River to see if Dusky the Black Duck +was feeding in the rushes along the shore. Dusky wasn't, and Blacky +guessed that he and his flock had been so frightened by that warning +that they had kept away from there the night before. + +“But they'll come back after a night or so,” muttered Blacky, as he +alighted in the top of a tree, the same tree from which he had watched +the hunter the afternoon before. “They'll come back, and so will that +hunter. If he sees me around again, he'll try to shoot me. I've done all +I can do. Anyway, Dusky ought to have sense enough to be suspicious of +this place after that warning. Hello, who is that? I do believe it is +Farmer Brown's boy. I wish he would come over here. If he should find +out about that hunter, perhaps he would do something to drive him away. +I'll see if I can call him over here.” + +Blacky began to call in the way he does when he has discovered something +and wants others to know about it. “Caw, caw, caaw, caaw, caw, caw, +caaw!” screamed Blacky, as if greatly excited. + +Now Farmer Brown's boy, having no work to do that morning, had started +for a tramp over the Green Meadows, hoping to see some of his little +friends in feathers and fur. He heard the excited cawing of Blacky and +at once turned in that direction. + +“That black rascal has found something over on the shore of the Big +River,” said Farmer Brown's boy to himself. “I'll go over there to +see what it is. There isn't much escapes the sharp eyes of that black +busybody. He has led me to a lot of interesting things, one time and +another. There he is on the top of that tree over by the Big River.” + +As Farmer Brown's boy drew near, Blacky flew down and disappeared below +the bank. Fanner Brown's boy chuckled. “Whatever it is, it is right down +there,” he muttered. + +He walked forward rapidly but quietly, and presently he reached the edge +of the bank. Up flew Blacky cawing wildly, and pretending to be scared +half to death. Again Farmer Brown's boy chuckled. “You're just making +believe,” he declared. “You're trying to make me believe that I have +surprised you, when all the time you knew I was coming and have been +waiting for me. Now, what have you found over here?” + +He looked eagerly along the shore, and at once he saw a row of low +bushes close to the edge of the water. He knew what it was instantly. +“A Duck blind!” he exclaimed. “A hunter has built a blind over here from +which to shoot Ducks. I wonder if he has killed any yet. I hope not.” He +went down to the blind, for that is what a Duck hunter's hiding-place +is called, and looked about. A couple of grains of corn just inside +the blind caught his eyes, and his face darkened. “That fellow has been +baiting Ducks,” thought he. “He has been putting out corn to get them to +come here regularly. My, how I hate that sort of thing! It is bad enough +to hunt them fairly, but to feed them and then kill them--ugh! I wonder +if he has shot any yet.” + +He looked all about keenly, and his face cleared. He knew that if that +hunter had killed any Ducks, there would be tell-tale feathers in the +blind, and there were none. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV: Farmer Brown's Boy Does Some Thinking + +Farmer Brown's boy sat on the bank of the Big River in a brown study. +That means that he was thinking very hard. Blacky the Crow sat in the +top of a tall tree a short distance away and watched him. Blacky was +silent now, and there was a knowing look in his shrewd little eyes. In +calling Farmer Brown's boy over there, he had done all he could, and he +was quite satisfied to leave the matter to Farmer Brown's boy. + +“A hunter has made that blind to shoot Black Ducks from,” thought Farmer +Brown's boy, “and he has been baiting them in here by scattering corn +for them. Black Ducks are about the smartest Ducks that fly, but if they +have been coming in here every evening and finding corn and no sign of +danger, they probably think it perfectly safe here and come straight +in without being at all suspicious. To-night, or some night soon, that +hunter will be waiting for them. + +“I guess the law that permits hunting Ducks is all right, but there +ought to be a law against baiting them in. That isn't hunting. No, Sir, +that isn't hunting. If this land were my father's, I would know what to +do. I would put up a sign saying that this was private property and no +shooting was allowed. But it isn't my father's land, and that hunter has +a perfect right to shoot here. He has just as much right here as I have. +I wish I could stop him, but I don't see how I can.” + +A frown puckered the freckled face of Farmer Brown's boy. You see, he +was thinking very hard, and when he does that he is very apt to frown. + +“I suppose,” he muttered, “I can tear down his blind. He wouldn't know +who did it. But that wouldn't do much good; he would build another. +Besides, it wouldn't be right. He has a perfect right to make a blind +here, and having made it, it is his and I haven't any right to touch +it. I won't do a thing I haven't a right to do. That wouldn't be honest. +I've got to think of some other way of saving those Ducks.” + +The frown on his freckled face grew deeper, and for a long time he sat +without moving. Suddenly his face cleared, and he jumped to his feet. He +began to chuckle. “I have it!” he exclaimed. “I'll do a little shooting +myself!” Then he chuckled again and started for home. Presently he began +to whistle, a way he has when he is in good spirits. + +Blacky the Crow watched him go, and Blacky was well satisfied. He didn't +know what Farmer Brown's boy was planning to do, but he had a feeling +that he was planning to do something, and that all would be well. +Perhaps Blacky wouldn't have felt so sure could he have understood what +Farmer Brown's boy had said about doing a little shooting himself. + +As it was, Blacky flew off about his own business, quite satisfied that +now all would be well, and he need worry no more about those Ducks. +None of the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows knew +Farmer Brown's boy better than did Blacky the Crow. None knew better +than he that Farmer Brown's boy was their best friend. “It is all right +now,” chuckled Blacky. “It is all right now.” And as the cheery whistle +of Farmer Brown's boy floated back to him on the Merry Little Breezes, +he repeated it: “It is all right now.” + + + +CHAPTER XXV: Blacky Gets A Dreadful Shock + + When friends prove false, whom may we trust? + The springs of faith are turned to dust. + --Blacky the Crow. + +Blacky the Crow was in the top of his favorite tree over near the Big +River early this afternoon. He didn't know what was going to happen, but +he felt in his bones that something was, and he meant to be on hand to +see. For a long time he sat there, seeing nothing unusual. At last he +spied a tiny figure far away across the Green Meadows. Even at that +distance he knew who it was; it was Farmer Brown's boy, and he was +coming toward the Big River. + +“I thought as much,” chuckled Blacky. “He is coming over here to drive +that hunter away.” + +The tiny figure grew larger. It was Farmer Brown's boy beyond a doubt. +Suddenly Blacky's eyes opened so wide that they looked as if they were +in danger of popping out of his head. He had discovered that Farmer +Brown's boy was carrying something and that that something was a gun! +Yes, Sir, Farmer Brown's boy was carrying a terrible gun! If Blacky +could have rubbed his eyes, he would have done so, just to make sure +that there was nothing the matter with them. + +“A gun!” croaked Blacky. “Farmer Brown's boy with a terrible gun! What +does it mean?” + +Nearer came Farmer Brown's boy, and Blacky could see that terrible gun +plainly now. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. “Perhaps he is going +to shoot that hunter!” thought Blacky, and somehow he felt better. + +Farmer Brown's boy reached the Big River at a point some distance below +the blind built by the hunter. He laid his gun down on the bank and went +down to the edge of the water. The rushes grew very thick there, and +for a while Farmer Brown's boy was very busy among them. Blacky from +his high perch could watch him, and as he watched, he grew more and more +puzzled. It looked very much as if Farmer Brown's boy was building a +blind much like that of the hunter's. At last he carried an old log +down there, got his gun, and sat down just as the hunter had done in his +blind the afternoon before. He was quite hidden there, excepting from a +place high up like Blacky's perch. + +“I--I--I do believe he is going to try to shoot those Ducks himself,” + gasped Blacky. “I wouldn't have believed it if any one had told me. No, +Sir, I wouldn't have believed it. I--I--can't believe it now. Farmer +Brown's boy hunting with a terrible gun! Yet I've got to believe my own +eyes.” + +A noise up river caught his attention. It was the noise of oars in a +boat. There was the hunter, rowing down the Big River. Just as he had +done the day before, he came ashore above his blind and walked down to +it. + +“This is no place for me,” muttered Blacky. “He'll remember that I +scared those Ducks yesterday, and as likely as not he'll try to shoot +me.” + +Blacky spread his black wings and hurriedly left the tree-top, heading +for another tree farther back on the Green Meadows where he would be +safe, but from which he could not see as well. There he sat until the +Black Shadows warned him that it was high time for him to be getting +back to the Green Forest. + +He had to hurry, for it was later than usual, and he was afraid to be +out after dark. Just as he reached the Green Forest he heard a faint +“bang, bang” from over by the Big River, and he knew that it came from +the place where Farmer Brown's boy was hiding in the rushes. + +“It is true,” croaked Blacky. “Farmer Brown's boy has turned hunter.” + It was such a dreadful shock to Blacky that it was a long time before he +could go to sleep. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI: Why The Hunter Got No Ducks + +The hunter who had come down the Big River in a boat and landed near +the place where Dusky the Black Duck and his flock had found nice yellow +corn scattered in the rushes night after night saw Blacky the Crow leave +the top of a certain tree as he approached. + +“It is well for you that you didn't wait for me to get nearer,” said the +hunter. “You are smart enough to know that you can't play the same trick +on me twice. You frightened those Ducks away last night, but if you try +it again, you'll be shot as surely as your coat is black.” + +Then the hunter went to his blind which, you know, was the hiding-place +he had made of bushes and rushes, and behind this he sat down with his +terrible gun to wait and watch for Dusky the Black Duck and his flock. + +Now you remember that farther along the shore of the Big River was +Farmer Brown's boy, hiding in a blind he had made that afternoon. The +hunter couldn't see him at all. He didn't have the least idea that any +one else was anywhere near. “With that Crow out of the way, I think I +will get some Ducks to-night,” thought the hunter and looked at his gun +to make sure that it was ready. + +Over in the West, jolly, round, red Mr. Sun started to go to bed behind +the Purple Hills, and the Black Shadows came creeping out. Far down +the Big River the hunter saw a swiftly moving black line just above the +water. “Here they come,” he muttered, as he eagerly watched that black +line draw nearer. + +Twice those big black birds circled around over the Big River opposite +where the hunter was crouching behind his blind. It was plain that +Dusky, their leader, remembered Blacky's warning the night before. But +this time there was no warning. Everything appeared safe. Once more the +flock circled and then headed straight for that place where they hoped +to find more corn. The hunter crouched lower. They were almost near +enough for him to shoot when “bang, bang” went a gun a short distance +away. + +Instantly Dusky and his flock turned and on swift wings swung off and +up the river. If ever there was a disappointed hunter, it was the one +crouching in that blind. “Somebody else is hunting, and he spoiled +my shot that time,” he muttered. “He must have a blind farther down. +Probably some other Ducks I didn't see came in to him. I wonder if he +got them. Here's hoping that next time those Ducks come in here first.” + +He once more made himself comfortable and settled down for a long wait. +The Black Shadows crept out from the farther bank of the Big River. +Jolly, round red Mr. Sun had gone to bed, and the first little star was +twinkling high overhead. It was very still and peaceful. From out in the +middle of the Big River sounded a low “quack”; Dusky and his flock were +swimming in this time. Presently the hunter could see a silver line on +the water, and then he made out nine black spots. In a few minutes those +Ducks would be where he could shoot them. “Bang, bang” went that gun +below him again. With a roar of wings, Dusky and his flock were in the +air and away. That hunter stood up and said things, and they were not +nice things. He knew that those Ducks would not come back again that +night, and that once more he must go home empty-handed. But first he +would find out who that other hunter was and what luck he had had, so he +tramped down the shore to where that gun had seemed to be. He found the +blind of Farmer Brown's boy, but there was no one there. You see, as +soon as he had fired his gun the last time, Farmer Brown's boy had +slipped out and away. And as he tramped across the Green Meadows toward +home with his gun, he chuckled. “He didn't get those Ducks this time,” + said Farmer Brown's boy. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII: The Hunter Gives Up + +Blacky The Crow didn't know what to think. He couldn't make himself +believe that Farmer Brown's boy had really turned hunter, yet what else +could he believe? Hadn't he with his own eyes seen Farmer Brown's boy +with a terrible gun hide in rushes along the Big River and wait for +Dusky the Black Duck and his flock to come in? And hadn't he with his +own ears heard the “bang, bang” of that very gun? + +The very first thing the next morning Blacky had hastened over to the +place where Farmer Brown's boy had hidden in the rushes. With sharp eyes +he looked for feathers, that would tell the tale of a Duck killed. But +there were no feathers. There wasn't a thing to show that anything so +dreadful had happened. Perhaps Farmer Brown's boy had missed when he +shot at those Ducks. Blacky shook his head and decided to say nothing to +anybody about Farmer Brown's boy and that terrible gun. + +You may be sure that early in the afternoon he was perched in the top of +his favorite tree over by the Big River. His heart sank, just as on the +afternoon before, when he saw Farmer Brown's boy with his terrible gun +trudging across the Green Meadows to the Big River. Instead of going to +the same hiding place he made a new one farther down. + +Then came the hunter a little earlier than usual. Instead of stopping at +his blind, he walked straight to the blind Farmer Brown's boy had first +made. Of course, there was no one there. The hunter looked both glad and +disappointed. He went back to his own blind and sat down, and while he +watched for the coming of the Ducks, he also watched that other blind to +see if the unknown hunter of the night before would appear. Of course +he didn't, and when at last the hunter saw the Ducks coming, he was sure +that this time he would get some of them. + +But the same thing happened as on the night before. Just as those Ducks +were almost near enough, a gun went “bang, bang,” and away went the +Ducks. They didn't come back again, and once more a disappointed hunter +went home without any. + +The next afternoon he was on hand very early. He was there before Farmer +Brown's boy arrived, and when he did come, of course the hunter saw him. +He walked down to where Farmer Brown's boy was hiding in the rushes. +“Hello!” said he. “Are you the one who was shooting here last night and +the night before?” + +Farmer Brown's boy grinned. “Yes,” said he. + +“What luck did you have?” asked the hunter. + +“Fine,” replied Farmer Brown's boy. + +“How many Ducks did you get?” asked the hunter. + +Farmer Brown's boy grinned more broadly than before. “None,” said he. “I +guess I'm not a very good shot.” + +“Then what did you mean by saying you had fine luck?” demanded the +hunter. + +“Oh,” replied Farmer Brown's boy, “I had the luck to see those Ducks and +the fun of shooting,” and he grinned again. + +The hunter lost patience. He tried to order Farmer Brown's boy away. But +the latter said he had as much right there as the hunter had, and the +hunter knew that this was so. Finally he gave up, and muttering +angrily, he went back to his blind. Again the gun of Farmer Brown's boy +frightened away the Ducks just as they were coming in. + +The next afternoon there was no hunter nor the next, though Farmer +Brown's boy was there. The hunter had decided that it was a waste of +time to hunt there while Farmer Brown's boy was about. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII: Blacky Has A Talk With Dusky The Black Duck + + Doubt not a friend, but to the last + Grip hard on faith and hold it fast. + --Blacky the Crow. + +Every morning Blacky the Crow visited the rushes along the shore of +the Big River, hoping to find Dusky the Black Duck. He was anxious, was +Blacky. He feared that Dusky or some of his flock had been killed, and +he wanted to know. You see, he knew that Farmer Brown's boy had been +shooting over there. At last, early one morning, he found Dusky and his +flock in the rushes and wild rice. Eagerly he counted them. There were +nine. Not one was missing. Blacky sighed with relief and dropped down on +the shore close to where Dusky was taking a nap. + +“Hello!” said Blacky. + +Dusky awoke with a start. “Hello, yourself,” said he. + +“I've heard a terrible gun banging over here, and I was afraid you or +some of your flock had been shot,” said Blacky. + +“We haven't lost a feather,” declared Dusky. “That gun wasn't fired at +us, anyway.” + +“Then who was it fired at?” demanded Blacky. + +“I haven't the least idea,” replied Dusky. + +“Have you seen any other Ducks about here?” inquired Blacky. + +“Not one,” was Dusky's prompt reply. “If there had been any, I guess we +would have known it.” + +“Did you know that when that terrible gun was fired there was another +terrible gun right over behind those bushes?” asked Blacky. + +Dusky shook his head. “No,” said he, “but I learned long ago that where +there is one terrible gun there is likely to be more, and so when I +heard that one bang, I led my flock away from here in a hurry. We didn't +want to take any chances.” + +“It is a lucky thing you did,” replied Blacky. “There was a hunter +hiding behind those bushes all the time. I warned you of him once.” + +“That reminds me that I haven't thanked you,” said Dusky. “I knew there +was something wrong over here, but I didn't know what. So it was a +hunter. I guess it is a good thing that I heeded your warn-ing.” + +“I guess it is,” retorted Blacky dryly. “Do you come here in daytime +instead of night now?” + +“No,” replied Dusky. “We come in after dark and spend the night here. +There is nothing to fear from hunters after dark. We've given up coming +here until late in the evening. And since we did that, we haven't heard +a gun.” + +Blacky gossiped a while longer, then flew off to look for his breakfast; +and as he flew his heart was light. His shrewd little eyes twinkled. + +“I ought to have known Farmer Brown's boy better than even to suspect +him,” thought he. “I know now why he had that terrible gun. It was to +frighten those Ducks away so that the hunter would not have a chance to +shoot them. He wasn't shooting at anything. He just fired in the air to +scare those Ducks away. I know it just as well as if I had seen him do +it. I'll never doubt Farmer Brown's boy again. And I'm glad I didn't say +a word to anybody about seeing him with a terrible gun.” + +Blacky was right. Farmer Brown's boy had taken that way of making +sure that the hunter who had first baited those Ducks with yellow corn +scattered in the rushes in front of his hiding place should have no +chance to kill any of them. While appearing to be an enemy, he really +had been a friend of Dusky the Black Duck and his flock. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX: Blacky Discovers An Egg + +Blacky is fond of eggs, as you know. In this he is a great deal like +other people, Farmer Brown's boy for instance. But as Blacky cannot keep +hens, as Farmer Brown's boy does, he is obliged to steal eggs or else +go without. If you come right down to plain, everyday truth, I suppose +Blacky isn't so far wrong when he insists that he is no more of a thief +than Farmer Brown's boy. Blacky says that the eggs which the bens lay +belong to the hens, and that he, Blacky has just as much right to take +them as Farmer Brown's boy. He quite overlooks the fact that Farmer +Brown's boy feeds the biddies and takes the eggs as pay. Anyway, that +is what Farmer Brown's boy says, but I do not know whether or not the +biddies understand it that way. + +So Blacky the Crow cannot see why he should not help himself to an egg +when he gets the chance. He doesn't get the chance very often to steal +eggs from the hens, because usually they lay their eggs in the henhouse, +and Blacky is too suspicious to venture inside. The eggs he does get are +mostly those of his neighbors in the Green Forest and the Old Orchard. +But once in a great while some foolish hen will make a nest outside the +henhouse somewhere, and if Blacky happens to find it the black scamp +watches every minute he can spare from other mischief for a chance to +steal an egg. + +Now Blacky knows just what a rogue Farmer Brown's boy thinks he is, and +for this reason Blacky is very careful about approaching Farmer Brown or +any other man until he has made sure that he runs no risk of being shot. +Blacky knows quite as well as any one what a gun looks like. He also +knows that without a terrible gun, there is little Farmer Brown or any +one else can do to him. So when he sees Farmer Brown out in his fields, +Blacky often will fly right over him and shout “Caw, caw, caw, ca-a-w!” + in the most provoking way, and Fanner Brown's boy insists that he has +seen Blacky wink when he was doing it. + +But Blacky doesn't do anything of this kind around the buildings of +Farmer Brown. You see, he has learned that there are doors and windows +in buildings, and out of one of these a terrible gun may bang at any +time. Though he has suspected that Farmer Brown's boy would not now try +to harm him, Blacky is naturally cautious and takes no chances. So when +he comes spying around Farmer Brown's house and barn, he does it when +he is quite sure that no one is about, and he makes no noise about it. +First he sits in a tall tree from which he can watch Farmer Brown's +home. When he is quite sure that the way is clear, he flies over to the +Old Orchard, and from there he inspects the barnyard, never once making +a sound. If he is quite sure that no one is about, he sometimes drops +down into the henyard and helps himself to corn, if any happens to be +there. It was on one of these silent visits that Blacky spied something +which he couldn't forget. It was a box just inside the henhouse door. +In the box was some hay and in that hay he was sure that he had seen an +egg. In fact, he was sure that he saw two eggs there. He might not have +noticed them but for the fact that a hen had jumped down from that box, +making a terrible fuss. She didn't seem frightened, but very proud. What +under the sun she had to be proud about Blacky couldn't understand, but +he didn't stay to find out. The noise she was making made him nervous. +He was afraid that it would bring some one to find out what was going +on. So he spread his black wings and flew away as silently as he had +come. + +As he was flying away he saw those eggs. You see, as he rose into the +air, he managed to pass that open door in such a way that he could +glance in. That one glance was enough. You know Blacky's eyes are very +sharp. He saw the hay in the box and the two eggs in the hay, and that +was enough for him. From that instant Blacky the Crow began to scheme +and plan to get one or both of those eggs. It seemed to him that he +never, never, had wanted anything quite so much, and he was sure that he +would not and could not be happy until he succeeded in getting one. + + + +CHAPTER XXX: Blacky Screws Up His Courage + +If out of sight, then out of mind. This is a saying which you often +hear. It may be true sometimes, but it is very far from true at other +times. Take the case of Blacky. He had had only a glance into that nest +just inside the door of Farmer Brown's henhouse, but that glance had +been enough to show him two eggs there. Then, as he flew away toward the +Green Forest, those eggs were out of sight, of course. But do you think +they were out of mind? Not much! No, indeed! In fact, those eggs were +very much in Blacky's mind. He couldn't think of anything else. He +flew straight to a certain tall pine-tree in a lonely part of the Green +Forest. Whenever Blacky wants to think or to plan mischief, he seeks +that particular tree, and in the shelter of its broad branches he keeps +out of sight of curious eyes, and there he sits as still as still can +be. + +“I want one of those eggs,” muttered Blacky, as he settled himself in +comfort on a certain particular spot on a certain particular branch of +that tall pine-tree. Indeed, that particular branch might well be called +the “mischief branch,” for on it Blacky has thought out and planned most +of the mischief he is so famous for. “Yes, sir,” he continued, “I want +one of those eggs, and what is more, I am going to have one.” + +He half closed his eyes and tipped his head back and swallowed a couple +of times, as if he already tasted one of those eggs. + +“There is more in one of those eggs than in a whole nestful of Welcome +Robin's eggs. It is a very long time since I have been lucky enough +to taste a hen's egg, and now is my chance. I don't like having to go +inside that henhouse, even though it is barely inside the door. I'm +suspicious of doors. They have a way of closing most unexpectedly. +I might see if I cannot get Unc' Billy Possum to bring one of those eggs +out for me. But that plan won't do, come to think of it, because I can't +trust Unc' Billy. The old sinner is too fond of eggs himself. I would be +willing to divide with him, but he would be sure to eat his first, and +I fear that it would taste so good that he would eat the other. No. I've +got to get one of those eggs myself. It is the only way I can be sure of +it. + +“The thing to do is to make sure that Farmer Brown's boy and Farmer +Brown himself are nowhere about. They ought to be down in the cornfield +pretty soon. With them down there, I have only to watch my chance and +slip in. It won't take but a second. Just a little courage, Blacky, just +a little courage! Nothing in this world worth having is gained without +some risk. The thing to do is to make sure that the risk is as small as +possible.” + +Blacky shook out his feathers and then flew out of the tall pine-tree +as silently as he had flown into it. He headed straight toward Farmer +Brown's cornfield. When he was near enough to see all over the field, he +dropped down to the top of a fence post, and there he waited. He didn't +have long to wait. In fact, he had been there but a few minutes +when he spied two people coming down the Long Lane toward the cornfield. +He looked at them sharply, and then gave a little sigh of satisfaction. +They were Farmer Brown and Farmer Brown's boy. Presently they reached +the cornfield and turned into it. Then they went to work, and Blacky +knew that so far as they were concerned, the way was clear for him to +visit the henyard. + +He didn't fly straight there. Oh, my, no! Blacky is too clever to do +anything like that. He flew toward the Green Forest. When he knew that +he was out of sight of those in the cornfield, he turned and flew over +to the Old Orchard, and from the top of one of the old apple-trees he +studied the henyard and the barnyard and Farmer Brown's house and the +barn, to make absolutely sure that there was no danger near. When he was +quite sure, he silently flew down into the henyard as he had done many +times before. He pretended to be looking for scattered grains of corn, +but all the time he was edging nearer and nearer to the open door of +the henhouse. At last he could see the box with the hay in it. He walked +right up to the open door and peered inside. There was nothing to be +afraid of that he could see. Still he hesitated. He did hate to go +inside that door, even for a minute, and that is all it would take to +fly up to that nest and get one of those eggs. + +Blacky closed his eyes for just a second, and when he did that he seemed +to see himself eating one of those eggs. “What are you afraid of?” he +muttered to himself as he opened his eyes. Then with a hurried look in +all directions, he flew up to the edge of the box. There lay the two +eggs! + + + +CHAPTER XXXI: An Egg That Wouldn't Behave + + If you had an egg and it wouldn't behave + Just what would you do with that egg, may I ask? + To make an egg do what it don't want to do + Strikes me like a difficult sort of a task. + +All of which is pure nonsense. Of course. Who ever heard of an egg +either behaving or misbehaving? Nobody. That is, nobody that I know, +unless it be Blacky. It is best not to mention eggs in Blacky's presence +these days. They are a forbidden topic when he is about. Blacky is apt +to be a little resentful at the mere mention of an egg. I don't know as +I wholly blame him. How would you feel if you knew you knew all there +was to know about a thing, and then found out that you didn't know +anything at all? Well, that is the way it is with Blacky the Crow. + +If any one had told Blacky that he didn't know all there is to know +about eggs, he would have laughed at the idea. Wasn't he, Blacky, +hatched from an egg himself? And hadn't he, ever since he was big +enough, hunted eggs and stolen eggs and eaten eggs? If he didn't know +about eggs, who did? That is the way he would have talked before his +visit to Farmer Brown's henhouse. It is since then that it has been +unwise to mention eggs. + +When Blacky saw the two eggs in the nest in Farmer Brown's henhouse how +Blacky did wish that he could take both. But he couldn't. One would be +all that he could manage. He must take his choice and go away while the +going was good. Which should he take? + +It often happens in this life that things which seem to be unimportant, +mere trifles in themselves, prove to be just the opposite. Now, so far +as Blacky could see, it didn't make the least difference which egg he +took, excepting that one was a little bigger than the other. As a matter +of fact, it made all the difference in the world. One was brown and very +good to look at. The other, the larger of the two, was white and also +very good to look at. In fact, Blacky thought it the better of the +two to look at, for it was very smooth and shiny. So, partly on this +account, and partly because it was the largest, Blacky chose the white +egg. He seized it in his claws and started to fly with it, but somehow +he could not seem to get a good grip on it. He fluttered to the ground +just outside the door, and there he got a better grip. Just as old +Dandy-cock the Rooster, with head down and all the feathers on his neck +standing out with anger, came charging at him, Blacky rose into the air +and started over the Old Orchard toward the Green Forest. + +Never had Blacky felt more like cawing at the top of his lungs. You see, +he felt that he had been very smart, and I suspect that he also felt +that he had been very brave. He would have liked to boast a little. But +he didn't. He wisely held his tongue. It would be time enough to do his +boasting after he had reached a place of safety and had eaten that egg. +He was halfway across the Old Orchard when he felt that egg beginning to +slip. Now at best it isn't easy to carry an egg without breaking it. You +know how very careful you have to be. Just imagine how Blacky felt when +that egg began to slip. Do what he would, he couldn't get a better +grip on it. It slipped a wee bit more. Blacky started down towards the +ground. But he wasn't quick enough. Striped Chipmunk, watching Blacky +from the old stone wall, saw something white drop from Blacky's claws. +He saw Blacky dash after it and clutch at it only to miss it. Then the +white thing struck a branch of an old apple tree, bounced off and fell +to the ground. Blacky followed it. + +Striped Chipmunk stole very softly through the grass to see what Blacky +was doing. Blacky was standing close beside a white thing that +looked very much like an egg. He was looking at it with the queerest +expression. + +Now and then he would reach out and rap it sharply with his bill, and +then look as if he didn't know what to make of it. He didn't. That egg +wasn't behaving right. It should have broken when it hit the branch of +the apple tree. Certainly it should have broken when he struck it that +way with his bill. However was he to eat that egg, if he couldn't break +the shell? Blacky didn't know. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII: What Blacky Did With The Stolen Egg + +Blacky was puzzled. He didn't know what to make of that egg he had +stolen from Farmer Brown's henhouse. It wasn't like any egg he ever had +seen or even heard of. It was a beautiful-looking egg, and he had been +sure that it would taste as good, quite as good as it looked. Even now +he wasn't sure that if he could only taste it, it would be all that he +had hoped. But how could he taste it, when he couldn't break that shell? +He never had heard of such a shell. He doubted if anybody else ever had, +either. He had hammered at it with his stout bill until he was afraid +that he would break that, instead of the egg. The more he tried to break +into it and couldn't, the hungrier he grew, and the more certain that +nothing else in all the world could possibly taste so good. But the +Old Orchard was not the place for him to work on that egg. In the first +place, it was too near Farmer Brown's house. This made Blacky uneasy. +You see, he had something of a guilty conscience. Not that he felt at +all a sense of having done wrong. To his way of thinking, if he were +smart enough to get that egg, he had just as much right to it as any one +else, particularly Farmer Brown's boy. Yet he wasn't at all sure that +Farmer Brown's boy would look at the matter quite that way. In fact, +he had a feeling that Farmer Brown's boy would call him a thief if he +should be discovered with that egg. Then, too, there were too many sharp +eyes in the Old Orchard. He wanted to get away where he could be sure of +being alone. Then if he couldn't break that shell, no one would be +the wiser. So he picked up the egg and flew straight over to the Green +Forest, and this time he managed to get there without dropping it. + +Now you would never suspect Blacky the Crow, he of the sharp wits and +crafty ways, of being amused by bright things, would you? But he is. In +fact, Blacky is quite like a little child in this matter. Anything that +is bright and shiny interests Blacky right away. If he finds anything of +this kind, he will take it away to a certain secret place, and there he +will admire it and play with it and finally hide it. If I didn't know +that it isn't so, because it couldn't possibly be so, I should think +that Blacky was some relation to certain small boys I know. Always their +pockets are filled with all sorts of useless odds and ends which they +have picked up here and there. Blacky has no pockets, so he keeps his +treasures of this kind in a secret hiding-place, a sort of treasure +storehouse. He visits this secretly every day, uncovers his treasures, +and gloats over them and plays with them, then carefully covers them up +again. First Blacky took this egg over near his home, and there he +once more tried and tried and tried to break the shell. But the shell +wouldn't break, not even when Blacky quite lost his temper and hammered +at it for all he was worth. Then he gave the thing up as a bad matter +and flew up to his favorite roost in the top of a tall pine-tree, +leaving the egg on the ground. But from where he sat on his favorite +roost in the tall pine-tree he could see that provoking egg, a little +spot of shining white. When a Jolly Little Sunbeam found it and rested +on it, it was so very bright and shiny that Blacky couldn't keep his +eyes off it. + +Little by little he forgot that it was an egg. At least, he forgot that +he wanted to eat it. He began to find pleasure in just looking at it. It +might not satisfy his stomach, but it certainly was very satisfying to +his eyes. He forgot to think of it as a thing to eat, but began to think +of it wholly as a thing to look at and admire. He was glad he hadn't +been able to break that shell. + +Once more he spread his black wings and flew down to the egg. He cocked +his head to one side and looked at it. He cocked his head to the other +side and looked at it. He walked all around it, chuckling and saying to +himself, “Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty and all mine, mine, mine, mine! +Pretty, pretty, and all mine!” + +Than he craftily looked all about to make sure that no one was watching +him. Having made quite sure, he rolled the egg over and turned it around +and admired it to his heart's content. At last he picked it up and +carried it to his treasure-house and covered it over very carefully. And +there that china nest-egg, for that is what he had stolen, is still his +chief treasure to this day, and Blacky still sometimes wonders what kind +of a hen laid such a hard-shelled egg. + +Blacky has had very many other adventures, but it would take another +book to tell about all of them. That would be hardly fair to some of the +other little people who also have had adventures and want them told to +you. One of these is a beautiful little fellow who lives in the Green +Forest, and so the next book will be Whitefoot the Wood Mouse. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blacky the Crow, by Thornton W. Burgess + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKY THE CROW *** + +***** This file should be named 4979-0.txt or 4979-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/7/4979/ + +Produced by Kent Fielden + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” + or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.” + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +“Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |