The nest was simply a great platform of sticks. When Farmer Brown's boyreached 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 touchedsomething 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 believeas it had been for Blacky the Crow to believe, when he first saw thoseeggs. Farmer Brown's boy's fingers closed over that egg and took itout of the nest. Mrs. Hooty swooped very close, and Farmer Brown's boynearly 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 hiscollection 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 thatI've ever found, and perhaps I'll never find another. Gee, I'm gladI came over here to find out what those Crows were making such a fussabout. I wonder if I can get these down without breaking them."
Just at that very minute he remembered something. He remembered that hehad stopped collecting eggs. He remembered that he had resolved never totake another bird's egg.
"But this is different," whispered the tempter. "This isn't like takingthe 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, andthat is all there is to it. But most people have hard work to see thiswhen they want very much to do a thing that the still small voiceway down inside tells them isn't right. They try to compromise. Tocompromise is to do neither one thing nor the other but a little ofboth. 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 wrongoften, very often, is as bad as a whole wrong.
Farmer Brown's boy, up in the tree by the nest of Hooty the Owl inthe lonesome corner of the Green Forest, was fighting a battle. No, hewasn't fighting with Hooty or Mrs. Hooty. He was fighting a battle rightinside himself. It was a battle between right and wrong. Once upon atime he had taken great delight in collecting the eggs of birds, intrying to see how many kinds he could get. Then as he had come to knowthe little forest and meadow people better, he had seen that taking theeggs of birds is very, very wrong, and he had stopped stealing them. Hebad 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 bigeggs would add ever so much to his collection. "Take 'em," said alittle voice inside. "Hooty is a robber. You will be doing a kindness tothe other birds by taking them."
"Don't do it," said another little voice. "Hooty may be a robber, buthe has a place in the Green Forest, or Old Mother Nature never wouldhave put him here. It is just as much stealing to take his eggs as totake the eggs of any other bird. He has just as much right to them asJenny 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 thesecond voice. "Besides, you will be breaking your own word. You saidthat you never would take another egg."
"I didn't promise anybody but myself," declared Farmer Brown's boyright out loud. At the sound of his voice, Hooty and Mrs. Hooty, sittingin 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 oneelse. 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 proudyou will be to show them to the other fellows who never have found anest of Hooty's," said the first little voice.
"And think how mean and small and cheap you'll feel every time you lookat them," added the good little voice. "You'll get a lot more fun ifyou leave them to hatch out and then watch the little Owls grow up andlearn all about their ways. Just think what a stout, brave fellow Hootyis to start housekeeping at this time of year, and how wonderful it isthat Mrs. Hooty can keep these eggs warm and when they have hatchedtake care of the baby Owls before others have even begun to build theirnests. Besides, wrong is wrong and right is right, always."
Slowly Farmer Brown's boy reached over the edge of the nest and putback the egg. Then he began to climb down the tree. When he reached theground he went off a little way and watched. Almost at once Mrs. Hootyflew to the nest and settled down on the eggs, while Hooty mounted guardclose by.
"I'm glad I didn't take 'em," said Farmer Brown's boy. "Yes, Sir, I'mglad I didn't take 'em."
As he turned back toward home, he saw Blacky the Crow flying over theGreen 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, andsometimes it seems as if his heart is all black, but this isn't so. Itcertainly seemed as if his heart was all black when he tried so hard tomake trouble for Hooty the Owl. It would seem as if only a black heartcould 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 wrongto try to get those eggs. Blacky was hungry, and those eggs would havegiven him a good meal. He knew that Hooty wouldn't hesitate to catchhim and eat him if he had the chance, and so it seemed to him perfectlyright 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 GreenMeadows would have felt the same way about it. You see, it is one ofthe laws of Old Mother Nature that each one must learn to look out forhimself.
But when Blacky showed that nest of Hooty's to Farmer Brown's boy withthe hope that Farmer Brown's boy would steal those eggs, there wasblackness in his heart. He was doing something then which was puremeanness. He was just trying to make trouble for Hooty, to get evenbecause Hooty had been too smart for him. He had sat in the top of atall pine-tree where he could see all that happened, and he had chuckledwickedly as he had seen Farmer Brown's boy climb to Hooty's nest andtake 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 treewithout 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 dreadfullydisappointed and angry. It looked very much as if he weren't going toget even with Hooty after all. He flew over to his favorite tree tothink things over. Now sometimes it is a good thing to sit by oneselfand think things over. It gives the little small voice deep down insidea chance to be heard. It was just that way with Blacky now.
The longer he thought, the meaner his action in calling Farmer Brown'sboy looked. It was one thing to try to steal those eggs himself, but itwas quite another matter to try to have them stolen by some one againstwhom Hooty had no protection whatever.
"If it had been any one but Hooty, you would have done your best to havekept Farmer Brown's boy away," said the little voice inside. Blackyhung his head. He knew that it was true. More than once, in fact manytimes, he had warned other feathered folks when Farmer Brown's boy hadbeen hunting for their nests, and had helped to lead him away.
At last Blacky threw up his head and chuckled, and this time his chucklewas good to hear. "I'm glad that Farmer Brown's boy didn't take thoseeggs," said he right out loud. "Yes, sir, I'm glad. I'll never do sucha thing as that again. I'm ashamed of what I did; yet I'm glad I didit. I'm glad because I've learned some things. I've learned that FarmerBrown's boy isn't as much to be feared as he used to be. I've learnedthat Hooty isn't as stupid as I thought he was. I've learned that whileit may be all right for us people of the Green Forest to try to outwiteach other we ought to protect each other aga
inst common dangers. AndI've learned something I didn't know before, and that is that Hooty theOwl is the very first of us to set up housekeeping. Now I think I'll gohunt 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. Justthe same, both looked up. Just alighting in the top of a tall tree wasBlacky the Crow. "Caw, caw, caw, caw," he repeated, looking down atPeter and Mrs. Quack and Mr. Quack and the six young Quacks. "I hope Iam not interrupting any secret gossip."
"Not at all," Peter hastened to say. "Mrs. Quack was just telling meof the troubles and clangers in bringing up a young family in the FarNorth. How did you know the Quacks had arrived?"
Blacky chuckled hoarsely. "I didn't," said he. "I simply thought theremight be something going on I didn't know about over here in the pondof 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 totheir parents. Yes, indeed, they are a credit to their parents. Neverhave I seen finer young Ducks in all my life. How glad the hunters withterrible guns will be to see them."
Mrs. Quack shivered at that, and Blacky saw it. He chuckled softly. Youknow he dearly loves to make others uncomfortable. "I saw three huntersover on the edge of the Big River early this very morning," said he.
Mrs. Quack looked more anxious than ever. Blacky's sharp eyes notedthis.
"That is why I came over here," he added kindly. "I wanted to give youwarning."
"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 gosouth are traveling earlier than usual this fall, so I knew I might findMr. and Mrs. Quack over here any time now. Is it true, Mrs. Quack, thatwe are going to have a long, hard, cold winter?"
"That is what they say up in the Far North," replied Mrs. Quack. "And itis true that Jack Frost had started down earlier than usual. That ishow it happens we are here now. But about those hunters over by the BigRiver, do you suppose they will come over here?" There was an anxiousnote in Mrs. Quack's voice.
"No," replied Blacky promptly. "Farmer Brown's boy won't let them. Iknow. I've been watching him and he has been watching those hunters. Aslong as you stay here, you will be safe. What a great world this wouldbe 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 asbad 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 theGreen Forest and the Green Meadows," replied Blacky. "He found themready to meet him more than halfway in friendship and that some of themreally 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 safehere 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 andshrewdest of all the little people in the Green Forest and on the GreenMeadows. Everybody knows it. And because of this, all his neighbors havea great deal of respect for him, despite his mischievous ways.
Of course, Blacky had noticed that Johnny Chuck had dug his house deeperthan usual and had stuffed himself until he was fatter than ever before.He had noticed that Jerry Muskrat was making the walls of his housethicker than in other years, and that Paddy the Beaver was doing thesame thing to his house. You know there is very little that escapes thesharp eyes of Blacky the Crow.
He had guessed what these things meant. "They think we are going to havea long, hard, cold winter," muttered Blacky to himself. "Perhaps theyknow, but I want to see some signs of it for myself. They may be onlyguessing. Anybody can do that, and one guess is as good as another."
Then he found Mr. and Mrs. Quack, the Mallard Ducks, and their childrenin the pond of Paddy the Beaver and remembered that they never had comedown 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 theyhad started earlier to keep well ahead of him.
"Looks as if there may be something in this idea of a long, hard, coldwinter," thought Blacky, "but perhaps the Quacks are only guessing,too. I wouldn't take their word for it any more than I would the wordof Johnny Chuck or Jerry Muskrat or Paddy the Beaver. I'll look about alittle."
So after warning the Quacks to remain in the pond of Paddy the Beaverif they would be safe, Blacky bade them good-by and flew away. He headedstraight for the Green Meadows and Farmer Brown's cornfield. A little ofthat 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 cartedup to Farmer Brown's barn. For a few minutes he sat there silent andmotionless, but all the time his sharp eyes were making sure that noenemy was hiding behind one of those brown shocks. When he was quitecertain that things were as safe as they seemed, he picked out a plumpear of corn and began to tear open the husks, so as to get at the yellowgrains.
"Seems to me these husks are unusually thick," muttered Blacky, as hetore at them with his stout bill. "Don't remember ever having seen themas 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 earand went to another. The husks of this were as thick as those on thefirst. 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 afew minutes sat perfectly still like a black statue. "They are right,"said he at last. "Yes, Sir, they are right." Of course he meant JohnnyChuck and Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver and the Quacks. "I don'tknow 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 MotherNature has wrapped this corn in extra thick husks, and of course she hasdone it to protect it. She doesn't do things without a reason. We aregoing 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 earsof corn in extra thick husks, Blacky had no doubt in his own mind thatJohnny Chuck and Jerry Muskrat and Paddy the Beaver and the Quacks werequite right in feeling that the coming winter would be long, hard andcold. But Blacky long ago learned that it isn't wise or wholly safe todepend altogether on one thing.
"Old Mother Nature never does things by halves," thought Blacky, as hesat on the fence post on the Green Meadows, thinking over his discoveryof the thick husks on the corn. "She wouldn't take care to protect thecorn that way and not do as much for other things. There must be othersigns, if I am smart enough to find them."
He lifted one black wing and began to set in order the feathers beneathit. Suddenly he made a funny little hop straight up.
"Well, I
never!" he exclaimed, as he spread his wings to regain hisbalance. "I never did!"
"Is that so?" piped a squeaky little voice. "If you say you never did, Isuppose you never did, though I want the word of some one else before Iwill believe it. What is it you never did?"
Blacky looked down. Peeping up at him from the brown grass were twobright little eyes.
"Hello, Danny Meadow Mouse!" exclaimed Blacky. "I haven't seen you for along time. I've looked for you several times lately."
"I don't doubt it. I don't doubt it at all," squeaked Danny. "You'llnever see me when you are looking for me. That is, you won't if I canhelp it. You won't if I see you first."
Blacky chuckled. He knew what Danny meant. When Blacky goes lookingfor Danny Meadow Mouse, it usually is in hope of having a Meadow Mousedinner, and he knew that Danny knew this. "I've had my breakfast," saidBlacky, "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 discoverythat 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 everknew them to before. I hadn't noticed it until I started to set them inorder 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 thanI ever knew them to before. There is a lot of down around the roots ofthem. I am going to have the warmest coat I've ever had."
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