E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project

Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

Tuck-me-in Tales

THE TALE OF OLD MR. CROW

ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

Author of "Sleepy-Time Tales"

1917

CHAPTER

I THE OUTLAW

II SOMETHING LOST

III THE GIANT SCARECROW

IV CAUGHT NAPPING

V A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT

VI MR. CROW IN TROUBLE

VII MR. CROW'S BAD MEMORY

VIII THE NEW UMBRELLA

IX CAUGHT IN THE RAIN

X A QUEER TOADSTOOL

XI MR. CROW'S PLAN

XII A RACE WITH THE TRAIN

XIII THE GAME OF CHECKERS

XIV THE LUCKY LAUGH

XV MR. CROW'S NEW COAT

XVI A TIGHT FIT

XVII THE STRANGE BUTTONS

XVIII AN UNLUCKY NUMBER

XIX THE SHOE-STORE

XX OLD SHOES FOR NEW

XXI THE CROW CAUCUS

XXII THE TEST

XXIII THE WHITE FLAG

I

THE OUTLAW

A good many of the forest-people claimed that old Mr. Crow was anoutlaw. They said he was always roving about, robbing Farmer Green ofhis corn and his chickens, and digging up the potatoes when they shottheir sprouts above the surface of the potato-patch. And everybody wasaware that the old gentleman stole eggs from the nests of his smallerneighbors. It was even whispered that Mr. Crow had been known to devourbaby robins.

But perhaps some of the things said of him were not true. Though if hereally was an outlaw he seemed to enjoy being one. He usually laughedwhenever Johnnie Green or his father tried to catch him, or when theyattempted to frighten him. And on the whole he was quite the boldest,noisiest, and most impertinent of all the creatures that lived inPleasant Valley.

His house stood in a tall elm, not too far from the cornfield. And thosethat dwelt near him never could complain that the neighborhood wasquiet…. It was never quiet where old Mr. Crow was.

Many of the smaller birds feared him. But they couldn't help laughing athim sometimes—he was so droll, with his solemn face, his sedate walk,and his comical gestures. As for his voice, it was loud and harsh. Andthose that heard too much of it often wished that he would use it less.

Mr. Crow's best friends sometimes remarked that people did notunderstand him. They said that he helped Farmer Green more than heinjured him, for he did a great deal in the way of eating beetles,cutworms and grasshoppers, as well as many other insects that triedto destroy Farmer Green's crops. So you see he had his good points,as well as his bad ones.

For a number of years Mr. Crow had spent each summer in Pleasant Valley,under the shadow of Blue Mountain. He usually arrived from the South inMarch and left in October. And though many of his friends stayed in theNorth and braved the winter's cold and storms, old Mr. Crow was too fondof a good meal to risk going hungry after the snow lay deep upon theground. At that season, such of his neighbor

...