Blacky the Crow
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Thornton W. Burgess >> Blacky the Crow
"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: 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."