“Must be it was a little lump of snow,”
thought he. “Yet if ever I saw an egg,
that looked like one. Jumping grasshoppers, how
good an egg would taste right now!” You know
Blacky has a weakness for eggs. The more he
thought about it, the hungrier he grew. Several
times he almost made up his mind to fly straight over
there and make sure, but he didn’t quite dare.
If it were an egg, it must belong to somebody, and
perhaps it would be best to find out who. Suddenly
Blacky shook himself. “I must be dreaming,”
said he. “There couldn’t, there
just couldn’t be an egg at this time of year,
or in that old tumble-down nest! I’ll
just fly away and forget it.”
So he flew away, but he couldn’t forget it.
He kept thinking of it all day, and when he went
to sleep that night he made up his mind to have another
look at that old nest.
“As true as ever I’ve
cawed a caw
That was a new-laid egg I
saw.”
“What are you talking about?” demanded
Sammy Jay, coming up just in time to hear the last
part of what Blacky the Crow was mumbling to himself.
“Oh nothing, Cousin, nothing at all,”
replied Blacky. “I was just talking foolishness
to myself.” Sammy looked at him sharply.
“You aren’t feeling sick, are you, Cousin
Blacky?” he asked. “Must be something
the matter with you when you begin talking about new-laid
eggs, when everything’s covered with snow and
ice. Foolishness is no name for it. Whoever
heard of such a thing as a new-laid egg this time
of year”
“Nobody, I guess, " replied Blacky. “I
told you I was just talking foolishness. You
see, I’m so hungry that I just got to thinking
what I’d have if I could have anything I wanted.
That made me think of eggs, and I tried to think
just how I would feel if I should suddenly see a great
big egg right in front of me. I guess I must
have said something about it.”
“I guess you must have. It isn’t
egg time yet, and it won’t be for a long time.
Take my advice and just forget about impossible things.
I’m going over to Farmer Brown’s corncrib.
Corn may not be as good as eggs, but it is very good
and very filling. Better come along, " said
Sammy.
“Not this morning, thank you. Some other
time, perhaps, " replied Blacky.
He watched Sammy disappear through the trees.
Then he flew to the top of the tallest pine-tree
to make sure that no one was about. When he
was quite sure that no one was watching him, he spread
his wings and headed for the most lonesome corner of
the Green Forest.
“I’m foolish. I know I’m foolish,
" he muttered. “But I’ve just got
to have another look in that
old nest of Redtail the Hawk. I just can’t
get it out of my head that that was an egg, a great,
big, white egg, that I saw there yesterday.
It won’t do any harm to have another look, anyway.”
