On that evening when Johnnie noticed the flight of
Mr. Crow’s cronies toward the woods something
happened at the meeting that displeased that old gentleman.
Being the biggest—as well as the oldest—crow
in the neighborhood, for years past he had called
every such meeting to order. And he had always
done most of the talking, too.
But old Mr. Crow was late that night. When he
reached the pine woods he found that a stranger had
taken his accustomed seat in a great tree and was
already addressing the gathering in a loud and commanding
voice.
And nobody paid any attention to old Mr. Crow.
Nobody made room for him. He had to take a back
seat on a limb that was crowded with boisterous young
fellows, who kept pushing and poking one another.
It was most annoying.
“Who’s that person that’s so fond
of hearing himself talk?” Mr. Crow asked someone
in the next tree. He spoke in such a loud voice
that everybody could hear him. And the stranger
cried out sharply:
“Silence!”
Thereupon everyone looked around at Mr. Crow and frowned.
He felt both angry and uncomfortable. And for
a little while he sat as still as he could and listened
to the stranger’s remarks.
Now, the newcomer was talking about the hard times.
He said that there weren’t as many grasshoppers
as usual that year, and that Farmer Green had put
tar on his corn before he planted it and that the rats
had stolen most of his young chickens (of course that
left very few for them), and that the wild
berry crop was poor.
Everybody agreed with the stranger. And everybody
nodded his head, as if to say, “That’s
quite true!”—at least, everybody but
Mr. Crow. He was determined that he would not
agree with anything the stranger said. And so
he shouted, “Nonsense!” at the top of his
lungs.
A murmur ran through the meeting. And there were
cries of “Put him out!”
“That’s what I say, too!” Mr. Crow
bellowed.
And then he could hardly believe his ears when someone
near him said, “They mean you!”
THE TEST
Well, it was no wonder that Mr. Crow was surprised
when he found that some people wanted to put him out
of the meeting just because he had said one word.
Had he not always talked more than anybody else at
those sunset meetings in the pine woods?
Luckily, no one made a move to oust him. And
he managed to keep silent for a little while.
But he was so angry that he did not hear what the
stranger was saying. At last, however, Mr. Crow
began to pay attention again.
“Do you want to know why times are hard and
food is scarce in this neighborhood?” the impudent
fellow asked.
Everybody except old Mr. Crow answered, “Yes!”
And after the echo had died away the stranger continued:
“It’s because you need a new leader,”
he declared. “I understand that a person
called ‘Old Mr. Crow’ has been your leader
for a good many years. And my advice to you,
friends, is this: Get rid of him!”
