Now, Mr. Crow had not liked the idea of leaving his
handsome red coat upon the ground. But he never
could bear the thought of being beaten. And Jasper
Jay’s remark made him feel quite peevish.
“I fully expect to win this game myself,”
the old gentleman said somewhat stiffly. “So
I’ll leave my coat here as you suggest.
But I shall have to go this instant, for I must stop
at my house and get my yellow coat. Of course
I can’t go down to the village in my shirtsleeves.”
He hurried away then, with Jasper Jay close behind
him. And as soon as Mr. Crow had put on his bright
yellow coat the two checker-players started for the
village.
When Jasper and Mr. Crow reached the tree where the
old gentleman had waited for the train the day before,
they found as many as a dozen of their neighbors already
there. Even as Mr. Crow dropped down upon a limb,
he could hear the train coming up the track.
Mr. Crow’s friends in the tree chose the best
seats they could find, in order to get a good view
of the race. And at the foot of the tree Jimmy
Rabbit stood on tiptoe. He had often wished he
could climb a tree—but never so much as
then.
THE LUCKY LAUGH
As the train drew nearer to the tree where Mr. Crow
and his friends were waiting, it gave a loud shriek.
“You hear that?” said Mr. Crow. “It’s
still angry.” And he shouted an impudent
caw-caw in reply.
In a moment more the race began. Mr. Crow had
no trouble in beating the train, just as he always
had. And when he had passed it he dropped quickly
and swerved across the track ahead of it.
To his great surprise the train never faltered.
It kept straight on, going faster and faster.
And the first thing Mr. Crow knew, the last car had
whipped around a curve and passed out of sight.
Poor Mr. Crow felt very downcast. He would have
liked to hurry home at once, because he hated to face
his friends. But he knew they would follow him
if he flew away. So he went back to meet them,
wearing a bold smile.
“Did you see what happened?” he inquired.
“The train was afraid to stop!”
Everybody laughed when Mr. Crow said that. People
knew him too well to be deceived by him.
“I suppose your yellow coat frightened it,”
Jasper Jay jeered. “It’s too bad
you didn’t wear your checkered red one.”
At that remark Jimmy Rabbit pricked up his long ears.
“Did you wear your red coat yesterday?”
he asked Mr. Crow.
“Yes!” Mr. Crow replied gruffly.
He did not like being questioned by a mere youngster
like Jimmy Rabbit.
“And you say the train stopped when you flew
in front of it yesterday?”
Mr. Crow grunted. But Jimmy Rabbit knew that
he meant “Yes!”
“That’s it!” Jimmy Rabbit cried.
And he jumped up and down in his excitement.
