&cuv-@acv, the
Illustrated by Marry J. Baerg
SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Copyright, 1953, by the Southern Publishing Association Printed in U.S.A.
LL AFTERNOON
clouds rolled in a fleecy gray parade across the sky. Newtie and Ollie sat on the porch of their farm home watching the clouds move swiftly overhead. Great gray banks were piling up beyond the dark south woods. Daddy
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and the big shepherd dog, Leo, came hurrying across the yard from the barn.
''Children,” called daddy, "there is a big storm coming. Will you help me get ready for it?”
"Yes! Yes!” shouted the two children.
"Ollie, you and mother shut up the chickens while Newtie and I go for the horses,” called daddy. Then he said to the big dog, "Leo, old boy, go to the meadow and bring in the cows.”
Leo ran off. He hadn’t gone far when a meadow lark flew up out of the grass. Leo wanted to follow it, but he knew he had
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work to do. Soon he came back, following the cows. Daddy drove the horses into the barn, but the frisky young colts would not leave their play. Newtie chased and chased after them. Finally the little boy came puffing and panting into the barn. The last colt ran in just ahead of him. Daddy threw hay into the mangers for the cows while Newtie fed corn to the horses.
All this time mother and daughter were working, too. Ollie put the baby chicks in their coops, and mother shut the chickens in the henhouse. At last the coops were full of soft, fluffy chicks, and all the proud roosters and fat hens were sitting on their roosts. As mother and Ollie finished, they saw daddy, Newtie, and Leo coming from the barn.
"My!” said daddy as he reached the house, "I’m glad we are ready for the storm.
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That sky is looking blacker every minute. By the way, Mother, do we get any supper?” Mother laughed. *1 guess your work has made you hungry. An early supper and early to bed will be fine for all of us.”
The family had just begun supper when they heard a big clap of thunder. They knew they had done their work in time. After
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supper they went to the kitchen door for one last look at the sky. Already little flashes of lightning were crossing the darkened horizon.
"Off to bed now, children,” said daddy. "Perhaps you will hear the storm before you go to sleep.”
"I hope we can,” said Ollie. "I like to hear the rain beat against my windowpane.”
Newtie and Ollie climbed the stairs to their bedrooms. They undressed quickly. Mother heard their prayers and tucked them safely into bed for the night. Mother and daddy were also tired, so they went to bed, too. The whole house was quiet.
Then the storm broke. Heavy lightning zigzagged and streaked across an inky, blue-black sky. The wind howled and whistled around the corners of the house. Thunder rolled and rumbled across the meadow,
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down the creek, and died away in the treetops of the dark south woods. The rain fell, splashing lightly at first against the window-panes. Then, in great sheets, it pelted the ground.
"Ollie,” called Newtie next morning, "hurry with your clothes."
"I am,” replied Ollie. "M-m-m, our breakfast smells good!"
Soon two laughing children ran downstairs to the breakfast table.
"Do you think the storm is over?” asked Newtie.
"Yes, Son," answered daddy, "and every storm leaves a story behind it. I am wondering what this one has left."
"Come, Ollie," said Newtie, "let’s go and see.”
Mother helped the children into their rubber boots and coats, and off they went.
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"How soft and oozy the ground is,” said Newtie. "I like to feel my boots sink into it.” "See how shiny and green the leaves are!” cried Ollie. "I guess they had a bath. Yesterday they were so dusty.”
"Let’s go down to the creek, Ollie,” said Newtie. "I would like to see how our crow family liked the storm.”
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Near the creek was a tall sycamore tree. Newtie and Ollie had always liked its trunk of peeling gray bark, which left white patches underneath. This morning the old tree and the crow’s nest seemed very shaggy.
"Doesn’t the nest look ragged?” asked Ollie.
But Newtie answered, "The crows have always been terrible housekeepers. I don’t see how they can raise a family in such an old pile of sticks.”
Ollie was listening. "It sounds to me as if the babies are hungry,” she said.
"Yes, Ollie, and see how the old ones are flying around,” replied Newtie.
"Let’s go back to the house. I know mother will be glad to know the crows are all right.”
As the two children turned, they saw something flutter on the ground near the
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roots of the big tree. Newtie stopped quickly and picked up a helpless little baby crow.
"Oh, Newtie!" cried Ollie. "It’s such a tiny baby thing. Do you suppose it’s hurt?”
Newtie looked up at the nest.
"He fell a long way,” he said. "Let’s take him home to mother. She may know what to do for him.”
The mother and father crows fluttered about them as the children started for home. When they got there, mother was washing dishes near the kitchen window. She saw the children coming with something in their hands.
"Well, well! What have you?” she asked. "Why, it’s a baby crow! His wings are almost feathered out! Last night when the wind blew hard, it must have torn part of that loose old nest down. Oh, he is so cold! We’ll roll him in a woolly sweater,
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children, and put him in a basket near the fire.”
"May we keep him, Mother?” asked Newtie.
"Yes, we can try, but baby birds are often hard to raise,” said mother.
When daddy came in later, he found Newtie and Ollie sitting on the floor near their new pet.
"There must be something very interesting in that basket,” said daddy. Then he listened to their story of the crow.
"Mother says we may keep him,” said Newtie. "What could we feed him?”
"Worms would be best,” answered daddy, "but he needs something right now. Ask mother for some bread and milk.”
Mother broke the bread into a bowl of milk. Then daddy unwrapped the little crow. He touched its bill. The children jumped up
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and down, clapping their hands gleefully.
"Oh, just hear him!” shouted Ollie.
Yes, indeed, that little crow was opening his mouth and making a noise. Daddy put a tiny piece of bread into the crow’s bill. Gulp! Gulp! Down went the bread! The baby crow shook himself. He opened his bill and called for more. Daddy fed him again.
Then he took the baby crow and gently put him back into the basket.
"Now, children,” said daddy, "this afternoon you can find worms for your crow. Since the rain there are many angleworms near the top of the ground.”
After dinner the children pulled on their boots again. They hurried to the creek bank and dug up several angleworms. Back to the house they went. Newtie picked up the crow and gave him to Ollie.
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As soon as Ollie took the little crow, he opened his bill and begged for food. Newtie dropped one worm into the baby crow’s open mouth. Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! Down went the worm! The little crow fluffed up his feathers. He shook his funny little tail. Then that hungry little bird begged for another worm.
"Now it’s naptime,” suggested Ollie as she put him in the basket. In the evening when daddy came home, he brought some fat grubworms from the cornfield. The little crow liked these worms.
"What are you going to call your pet?” asked daddy.
"We decided this afternoon to call him Caw-Caw,” answered Ollie.
Next morning Newtie and Ollie could hardly wait to see Caw-Caw. They hurried downstairs. Both children reached the kitchen door at the same time.
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"Sh!” said mother. "Tiptoe quietly. I have a surprise for you.”
There sat Caw-Caw on top of his basket, looking brightly around the room.
"I found him there when I came down this morning,” explained mother. "Your pet crow seems well and strong.”
"Do you suppose he remembers the worms?” asked Newtie. Newtie went over to the basket. Indeed Caw-Caw remembered. He called loudly for his food.
"Children,” said daddy, "there are many things your young crow would like to eat. See if you can find some beetles. A grasshopper might please him. Caw-Caw will even eat caterpillars, and corn when he grows older.”
Soon Caw-Caw learned to jump from his basket to the floor and back again. One day he hopped across the floor.
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"Oh, Newtie, do you suppose he will learn to fly soon?” asked Ollie.
"Yes, look! He’s raising his wings a little now,” answered Newtie.
Sure enough! Caw-Caw flapped his wings and skipped quickly across the floor.
Caw-Caw surprised the children one day. When they came in from play, they
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found him sitting on the back of a kitchen chair.
"How did he get up there, Mother?” they asked.
"He flew, my dears,” answered mother. "Your Caw-Caw is too big now for the house. Perhaps he would like a perch on the back porch.”
Newtie and daddy put a long pole across the porch. They carried Caw-Caw to his perch. The crow walked along on it. He knew the perch was for him.
One evening Caw-Caw flew down to eat out of Leo’s food pan.
"You won’t have to hunt food for Caw-Caw much longer,” said mother.
Newtie and Ollie took Caw-Caw out-of-doors one day. They put him on the ground in the sunshine. Caw-Caw looked all around. Near the kitchen door was a big cottonwood
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tree. With a funny, squawky little "caw” the black crow flew to the lowest branch. In a little while he flew back to the ground. Caw-Caw hopped around, pecking at anything he could see.
"Let’s put corn on the ground for him,” called Newtie.
Caw-Caw seemed to understand the
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new way of eating. All afternoon he sat in the tree. At sundown Newtie carried him back to his perch on the porch. That evening the children told father all about Caw-Caw’s first day out of doors.
"He will soon want to sleep in the cottonwood at night, too,” said daddy.
A few evenings later when Newtie went
for Caw-Caw, he would not leave his tree. He even pecked Newtie’s hand.
"Oh, Daddy! What shall I do?” cried the anxious little boy.
"Just leave Caw-Caw there, Son,” answered daddy. "Your crow is almost full grown now. He would rather sleep in a tree.” "Yes, I guess so,” sighed Newtie. "I suppose he will want to leave us soon to live with the crows in the dark south woods.”
But Caw-Caw just kept on living at the farm. He loved to follow the children around. One day they left him on his old perch on the porch. When they went for him, Caw-Caw was gone. They searched the kitchen. No Caw-Caw there. Next they looked in every corner of the living room. No Caw-Caw there.
"Do you suppose he might be upstairs?” asked Ollie.
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Upstairs they ran. He was not in their rooms.
"There is only one more room,” said Newtie.
What do you think those two children saw when they locked in mother’s room? You would hardly believe it. There was foolish Caw-Caw! But, my! He was not black
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any more. Mother’s powder box was open. Powder was spilled all over the dresser. And Caw-Caw? Well, he was as white as any pigeon! He paid no attention to the children. Caw-Caw strutted back and forth on top of the dresser. He stood up very straight and looked at himself in the mirror. Then he stretched out one wing. Still watching himself, the funny little crow jumped up and down. Then mother came upstairs.
"What will your Caw-Caw do next?” she laughed.
That afternoon when mother went into the yard, Caw-Caw flew to her shoulder.
"I suppose he wants a ride to the garden,” laughed mother. She was wrong. Caw-Caw didn’t want a ride. But he did want one of mother’s hairpins. He pulled it out quickly and flew away.
"How queer!” said mother. "What
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would that black crow want with my hair-
>
"I wonder, too,” said Newtie. "Caw-Caw is always picking up pieces of glass or anything shiny.”
A few days later a man came to put a pump in the old well near the barn. Newtie
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and Ollie enjoyed watching him work. Caw-Caw sat on a post and watched, too.
"Newtie, I want one more drink out of the well before it’s closed up,” said Ollie.
"All right,” replied Newtie. "Run to the house and bring your little tin cup. I’ll draw up the bucket.”
Caw-Caw watched as Newtie slowly
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pulled up the bucket. Ollie drank her water and set her cup on the well curb. Then the children ran to the barn where daddy was working. Caw-Caw looked sharply toward the barn. He flew to the ground. Hopping quickly, he soon reached the well curb. Up he jumped. He cocked his head on one side. He pecked at the handle of Ollie’s tin cup. Caw-Caw looked down at the water. And then that sly young crow pushed the tin cup into the well. Down, down, down went Ollie’s cup! Caw-Caw watched and listened until-Splash!-the cup hit the water. Again Caw-Caw looked into the deep well. Back to his post he flew without a sound.
Ollie came back to the well to get her
cup.
"Daddy, where is my cup?” Ollie cried.
"Are you sure you had one?” asked daddy.
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Everyone hunted, but no one could find the missing cup.
"Hm-m-m,” said daddy; "that certainly is strange. Now where do you suppose that cup might be?”
The day after Ollie lost her cup the children helped mother weed the garden. Mother sent Newtie to bring some water
from the old well. Ollie went with him.
Both children stopped when they got almost to the well. Caw-Caw was there! And in his bill was a bright piece of tin. He hopped over to the well, looked down, and dropped the tin into the water. He sat and listened for it to splash.
’'Ollie, Ollie!” shouted Newtie. "Did you see him? Did you see him? Now we know what happened to your drinking cup and to mother’s hairpin.”
Caw-Caw didn’t like being caught at his prank, so off he flew toward the dark south woods. Ollie ran crying to the barn.
"Oh, Daddy! We caught Caw-Caw throwing things into the well. Now he’s flown off to the dark south woods. He’s gone, and we won’t ever see him again.”
"Don’t cry,” said daddy. "I watched the black rascal. He flew only to the cornfield.”
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At eveningtime large flocks of crows always flew across the farm. For many evenings now Caw-Caw had watched them fly over. He listened to their long "caw-caws” as they flapped strong wings high in the air. At last he decided to go with them. Newtie and Ollie watched the crows fly over. Caw-Caw sat in the cottonwood tree. He raised his
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wings several times as if to fly away.
"Look at Caw-Caw,” said Newtie. "See how he watches the other crows.”
"Perhaps he would rather live with birds than with people,” said Ollie.
"Whenever he wants to leave, we’ll have to let him go,” said Newtie.
"I suppose so,” sighed Ollie. "But,
Newtie, we’ll surely miss him terribly.”
Just then Caw-Caw flew high into the air. He followed the other crows. The children waved good-by to him. They watched and watched. Caw-Caw flew in among the flock. All those crows were wild crows. They seemed to know Caw-Caw was a tame farm crow. He looked like them, but they knew he didn’t belong to the flock. So they began to peck and fight at Caw-Caw. He was afraid. Everyone at the farm had always been kind to him. Caw-Caw dropped down a little lower in the sky. Then he flew bravely up again. But still the crows fought him. Caw-Caw was very unhappy. He couldn’t understand all these strange wild birds. And he did not want to fly with them. So the first thing Ollie knew, Caw-Caw was flying straight back through the air to them.
"Oh, Newtie!” cried Ollie, jumping up
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and down. "Caw-Caw is coming back to us.” "He knows we want him,” replied Newtie.
And so Caw-Caw came back to live for the rest of his days with Newtie, Ollie, and Leo on the farm near the creek, the old sycamore tree, and the dark south woods.
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