"You don"t understand," said Jimmy Rabbit. "What I mean is this: You haven"t paid me for the shoes."
"Oh!" said Mr. Crow. And he looked away quickly. "Well, you may keep my old shoes. I"m sure that"s a fair exchange."
And he pretended to be surprised when Jimmy Rabbit did not agree with him.
"Your old shoes are full of holes," Jimmy objected. "I don"t want them."
And there Mr. Crow had him.
"These shoes I have on are full of holes, too," he declared. "And if one hole isn"t just as good as another, then I may as well go back to school again." And with that he stalked angrily away.
As it happened, old Mr. Crow had never been to school in his life. But he thought the remark sounded well. And it seemed to keep Jimmy Rabbit quiet. He couldn"t think of a thing to say until long after Mr. Crow had gone.
And then it was too late.
XXI
THE CROW CAUCUS
"Where are all those crows going?" Johnnie Green asked his father one evening. He pointed to a long line of big black birds that straggled across the sky. They came from across the valley. And they were travelling fast toward the pine woods near the foot of Blue Mountain.
"They seem to be in a hurry," said Johnnie Green.
His father took one look at the procession and laughed.
"They"re going to a crow caucus, I guess," he answered.
And then Johnnie wanted to know what a caucus was. He asked so many other questions, too, that Farmer Green didn"t succeed in answering them all until they had almost finished their supper.
Now, it was the custom of old Mr. Crow and many of his dusky friends to gather at sunset in the pine woods and hold a _meeting_. That was what Farmer Green meant when he said they were going to a _caucus_. And if he could have been there himself he would have been astonished at the things he would have heard.
But for some reason he was never invited to attend one of those twilight meetings. Perhaps it was because disagreeable remarks were sometimes made about Farmer Green!
On that evening when Johnnie noticed the flight of Mr. Crow"s cronies toward the woods something happened at the meeting that displeased that old gentleman. Being the biggest--as well as the oldest--crow in the neighborhood, for years past he had called every such meeting to order.
And he had always done most of the talking, too.
But old Mr. Crow was late that night. When he reached the pine woods he found that a stranger had taken his accustomed seat in a great tree and was already addressing the gathering in a loud and commanding voice.
And n.o.body paid any attention to old Mr. Crow. n.o.body made room for him.
He had to take a back seat on a limb that was crowded with boisterous young fellows, who kept pushing and poking one another. It was most annoying.
"Who"s that person that"s so fond of hearing himself talk?" Mr. Crow asked someone in the next tree. He spoke in such a loud voice that everybody could hear him. And the stranger cried out sharply:
"Silence!"
Thereupon everyone looked around at Mr. Crow and frowned.
He felt both angry and uncomfortable. And for a little while he sat as still as he could and listened to the stranger"s remarks.
Now, the newcomer was talking about the hard times. He said that there weren"t as many gra.s.shoppers as usual that year, and that Farmer Green had put tar on his corn before he planted it and that the rats had stolen most of his young chickens (of course that left very few for _them_), and that the wild berry crop was poor.
Everybody agreed with the stranger. And everybody nodded his head, as if to say, "That"s quite true!"--at least, everybody but Mr. Crow. He was determined that he would not agree with anything the stranger said. And so he shouted, "Nonsense!" at the top of his lungs.
A murmur ran through the meeting. And there were cries of "Put him out!"
"That"s what I say, too!" Mr. Crow bellowed.
And then he could hardly believe his ears when someone near him said, "They mean you!"
XXII
THE TEST
Well, it was no wonder that Mr. Crow was surprised when he found that some people wanted to put him out of the meeting just because he had said one word. Had he not always talked more than anybody else at those sunset meetings in the pine woods?
Luckily, no one made a move to oust him. And he managed to keep silent for a little while. But he was so angry that he did not hear what the stranger was saying. At last, however, Mr. Crow began to pay attention again.
"Do you want to know why times are hard and food is scarce in this neighborhood?" the impudent fellow asked.
Everybody except old Mr. Crow answered, "Yes!" And after the echo had died away the stranger continued:
"It"s because you need a new leader," he declared. "I understand that a person called "Old Mr. Crow" has been your leader for a good many years.
And my advice to you, friends, is this: _Get rid of him_!"
A good deal of applause greeted his words. But some of the older and wiser of his listeners shook their heads.
"Who is there that could take Mr. Crow"s place?" a voice called.
At that question the stranger coughed slightly and said:
"Of course, I wouldn"t suggest any one specially, being a newcomer here myself. And if the position were offered to me, I don"t know that I could accept it, though I _have_ had so much experience."
The young fellows on the limb with Mr. Crow at once set up a great cawing.
"We want you!" they chanted. Old Mr. Crow might have been a scarecrow, for all the attention they paid to him. And he did not dare open his mouth. Many others took up the cry. And a great hub-bub arose--a beating of wings, and flying up and down, and jostling. Some of the younger ones squawked like chickens; others pretended to cry like children. But most of the company cawed in their loudest tones, until the whole valley rang with the uproar.
Then one of old Mr. Crow"s best friends spoke up and said:
"It"s plain that a good many people want _you_ for a leader, stranger."
"Then I"d be very happy to act as such," the bold fellow replied. "And I"ll begin at once."