“That’s what?” asked Mr. Crow in
a sulky tone.
“I’ll tell you!” said Jimmy.
“Yesterday the train stopped because it saw
your red coat. That’s the way to stop a
train. You wave a red flag or a red lantern at
a train and it will always stop. But I’ve
noticed that a train pays no attention to any other
color. Now, you could wave something green, or
yellow, or blue in front of a train; and no matter
how hard you waved, it would go right on as if it
never saw you at all.”
“Maybe you know,” Mr. Crow snapped.
“And maybe you don’t. I said the
train was afraid to stop. And I still think so.”
Jimmy Rabbit winked at the crowd in the tree.
“I must hop along now,” he told them.
“I’m glad I came to see the race, for
it has been even more fun than I expected.”
Then Jasper Jay gave Mr. Crow a great start.
“It’s too bad—” he said—“it’s
too bad you can’t wear your red coat any more,
Mr. Crow.”
“How’s that?” asked Mr. Crow quickly.
“You promised that if we didn’t say it
was a good joke you’d never wear a checkered
red coat again.”
Now, Mr. Crow had forgotten all about that remark.
And for a moment he looked worried. Then he turned
cheerful all at once.
“Look here!” he cried. “When
I came back to this tree you all laughed, didn’t
you?”
Everybody admitted that.
“Then there must have been a good joke somewhere,”
Mr. Crow said. “And I shall wear my red
coat as often as I please.”
No one really cared, anyhow, whether he did or whether
he didn’t. But Mr. Crow was angry with
Jasper Jay. And he refused to finish the game
of checkers with him.
MR. CROW’S NEW COAT
When Mr. Crow decided, one fall, that he would stay
in Pleasant Valley during the winter, instead of going
South, he remembered at once that he would need a
thick overcoat.
That was when he went to Mr. Frog’s tailor’s
shop, for Mr. Frog, you know, was a tailor.
“I want you to make me a warm overcoat.”
Mr. Crow told him. “Can you do it?”
“Certainly!” said Mr. Frog. “You’ve
come to the right place. Everybody says that
I’m the best tailor in Pleasant Valley.”
And that was quite true—because he was
the only one. “What’ll you
have—stripes, checks, or spots?”
Mr. Frog asked briskly.
“What do you suggest?” Mr. Crow replied.
He had not thought much about his new coat—except
that he wanted it to be warm.
“Spots, by all means!” said Mr. Frog.
“I always wear ’em myself. They’re
the best, to my mind. For if you happen to get
a spot on your coat, what’s one spot more?”
“That’s a good idea,” Mr. Crow said.
“And how much will you ask to make me a spotted
coat?”
“I charge by the spot,” said Mr. Frog.
“The more spots, the more the coat will cost.
So I’d advise you to take a coat with large spots,
because there’ll be fewer of ’em and the
price will be less.”
