Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-01-27

broad. clover. heads. and indeed anything,
droD il in his wide-open mouth Jill his
craw. his throat and his mouth were
filled. There he would sit with his bill
wide open, unable to shut it till the food
slowly digested, then recommence his
!. cav. cav, cav" With the wings came
what The quiet twinkle In those black
eyes forctold sly and deep. He
delighted going into the cooks room,
where careless habits made that place a
pgradise to him. lie would gently put
his bill under the I'D OF her sewing box
and turn off the cover on the floor and
then the fun began. The needles were all
carefully stuck over the bed one by one.
The cotton was hid In the wood house
and the scissors nicely tucked under the
pillows in the room quite removed from
the scene of his labors. The wax and
thimble were dropped into the aquarium
And, after all this delicious fun, he one
day took o little pot Of hard pomade In
his bill and hoped to the edge Of the
yeranda roof, ate the pomade with evident
relish and then dropped tie glass pot on
the stove pipe below with satisfied air at
lis demolition. He then flew down and
carefully picked up each piece and put it
in the grass.
During the short illness Of one OF the
family, regularly at nine a. IN. !" jim
Crow hoped along the yeranda roof,
gave quiet tap on the closed window,
and. on being admitted, gravely brought
with him TO the bedside and laid on the
table chicken bone or leg, or something
equally tempting. Seeing that he was
duly observed, he Would ruflie up his
feathers, make himself appear like a
large round ball of black feathers, cav
and then open his mouth wide for a part
of the invalid's breakfast. After stirring
up things for half an hour or more, open
ing the clock, picking at the hands, stop
ping the pendulum, dropping the soap III
the water pitcher and taking all the pins
out OF the pin-cushions. he would take
his leave.
The fish in the course Of time disap-
| peared from the aquarium, and, although
all the haps and mishaps OF the house
were attributed To demure little " Jim
Crow" no one suspected that he was the
cause Of the fish mystery. One morning
| he was discovered taking bath in 1t, and
a fish breakfast afterward. The mystery
was solved, and when the aquarium was
empted there came TO light two thimbles,
| pair of scissors, penknife and spoon.
To carry away small chickens, drop
| them into holes, and cover them with dirt,
was his intense delight, and when we saw
| distracted hen rushing madly about the
| BARNARD some one looked up Jim
| Grow" and went 10 the rescue. After a
| days fishing we were cleaning the fish
on the race bank. One little fish was
| thrown into the water. A duck quickly
seized il by the head, and JIM took the
tail, and then they pulled and pulled for
| few seconds. The scene was exceeding.
~ amusing, for Jim" planted his little
| black feet firmly on the edge OF the bank,
and was slowly drawn into the water hold
| ing on to the fish. AS soon as he found
| that he was getting In too deep he let 60
| his hold and flew TO tree TO take his
usual revenge in scolding, and with his
head on one side he scolded till all the
| fish were cleaned Jim's scolding con.
sisted of succession of cultural sounds
said over and over with very solemn
face and mournful mien, and has moved
IN any people 10 hearty laughter because
IL was so intensely droll. While he was
quite young he was tyrannized over, and
all the fowls, large and small. had pick
ut Jim But one day he took long straw
| in his mouth and chased the geese, who
fled before him, and jim reigned supreme
from that day, and often repeated tho
scare, we thought, orhisow amusement
Jim's strong point was butter, and or
churning days Jim stayed at home and
behaved himself He could eat half q
pound; but one day he ran his bill
through a pound and tried TO fly away
with II. He was caught rolling over and
| over the floor with it, and from that time
he was banished.
| Jim was great nuisance on wash days
| between dropping sticks and stones un.
observed into the tubs, and flying away
with the soap, and pulling out the clothes
pins from the clothes on the line, he was
kept very busy. lie regularly dropped
small stones every evening on pet toad
who lived under the kitchen, and who
came out 10 be fed by the cook and bt
tormented by Jim. He would come qui
city, meekly hopping into the kitchen
| looking so innocent and hungry, and az
he passed by the cat, asleep, he would
give her one fearf,H hard peck and fly Out
at the door window. This was repeated
SO often that the cat feared him and as
sumed the defensive at his approach. He
stOlC vi OiN hut
hid Ii near the chimney Of an outkitch.
en-. We were as much surprised To SEE
grease trickling down the wall as was jim
when he went for his treasure and
found It gone. The outburst of caws
that followed revealed the culprit. Jim
loved to steal, and for the pure tun OF
being chased he would come into the
kitchen, try to pick up something and fly
away, and If he failed i'm his object he
would hastily alight and pick up leaf or
stone TO make believe he had been sue
cessful.
As the summer faded into autumn Jim
stayed away more and more from home,
and occasionally would return with friends,
evidently showing them around. One
Sunday afternoon the attention Of the
family was drawn 10 vigorous cawing on
the veranda roof. There was Jim, with
three friends, all cawing. They solcmnly
walked Ina at the cooks window and re-
manned in the room some time, keeping
up their conversation. When they left all
movable things were found overturned,
and the room left in the state linn always
left II. The pleasure OF that place had nc
doubt been described by Jim to hts friends,
and he had brought them along for a
ffolic. His visits from home became
more and more extended, but whenever
he came he scolded as much as ever, and
seemingly tried 10 talk. He would sit
upon the house and deliver long harangues
Il - a