St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-08-19

Tom was Il windfall. A gale detach-
ed the home nest from sheltering tree,
and the young crow was suddenly be-
reft of all his kin. We were at dinner
when Uncle Ben came home with his
prize. From the inside of his vest he |
produced II compact, shining ball of jet |
black feathers, from which popped Il |
pert head, beaded with pair of bright, |
inquisitive eyes. All gathered rouad |
the new conner, wondering, question |
ing, commenting. "IIe is hungry" |
said Uncle Ben.
We tried to feed him, but he did not |
understand our bungling ways, and
| only looked ut the food with babyish
helplessness. A happy thought came
to Aunt Lou. Taking some milk in ii
teaspoon she gently choked him until
he opened his bill, when she poured
! the milk down his throat. This pro-
cess Il few times repeated taught him
that Il teaspoon meant something to
eat, and that to get it he must open his
bill. When addressing the queer little
black bunch Aunt Lon called it Tom
and henceforth he was called Tom
by all who made his acquaintance.
| After some discussion it was decided
to put young crow III the barn and let
| him take his chances with Peter, the
| big yellow cat that guarded the prem
ises and would not permit Il feline to
pass anywhere inside the fence.
| Towards night we went to the barn III
search of Tom. Much to our comfort
he was contentedly perched on the
edge of IL basket, while Peter sat at re
spectacle distance eyeing him with
puzzled air. We petted Tom and in
formed Peter that he was expected to
take charge of and care for him as ten
derly and faithfully as he did his favor
ite wards, the chickens. His catship's
face cleared up ut once. He came
over to the basket and purred his as
sent to our wishes i'll IA way that quite
convinced us of his sincerity.
Tom could soon pick up his own din
ner. He had liking for warm dough,
never failing to be present among the
chicks mt feeding time. At first the
mother hens showed their dislike to his
company by fiappings and pecllings, but
after he had pulled Il few long feathers
from their backs they wisely concluded
to let him have share ut meals. Hav-
ing culled feather from some lima
turcd biddy he would march off with it
in his bill as proud as an Indian with
his first scalp. He was full of roguish
tricks indoor, tearing paper from the
walls hiding our thimbles, scissors,
knives tossing small articles of cloth
ing about and making up mischief gen
orally when left in room by himself.
One day a handsome pocket knife
was purposely placed in his view on Il
low window sill. Tom had his eye on
it in moment, but made no haste to
capture it. He was engaged with
other things for awhile before he trOtted
leisurely across the room and hOpped
on to the windowsill. He gazed ut the
sky, glanced shyly round the room to
see if he was observed, then began to
walk slowly and dcmurely across the
window, ut each turn drawing IL little
nearer to the knife, till with quick,
deXterOus movement, he pushed it out
side. He did some more walking to
conceal his manpuvrc, and then drop
,, ped outside as if he had no special OBJ
iect in going. At first he did not go
near the knife. Thinking he was sure
I no one noticed him, he moved off his
booty toward a stone in the yard.
! With much labor he pushed it beneath
the stone, then walked slowly around
it, peering cautiously to see if it was
f anywhere visible. At one place il
could be seen. Tom scratched with
+ his toes and pOked with his bill till the
crevice was filled with dirt. With a
+ chuckle of approval he walked away
: with the most innocent mien. The car
penter near by lost his gimlets, screws
7 and several small articles upon which
he expected to lay his hand when
e wanted. The boys were accused OF
meddling, while Tom scampered about
:. quite unsuspected of theft. The mils-
n ing things were found one day at the
bottom of a huge pile of shavings
- where they had been hidden by the
n ever busy Tom Crow. In spite of all
:. our vigilance and the terrors of q
switch that was ever handy, the sitting
room paper hung in tatters. Ton
4 would dig under the edge till he could
pull up piece of paper, which h'
# would hold firmly in his bill, dancing
- back as it peeled off the wall. He
would be sure to strip off at least ON,
i piece before any one could stop him
i deity dodging the stick at last, whisk
ing out the window or door before il
= fairly hit him. He picked string bean,
~ from the vines faster than Bridget, bu
was not particular about the size.
Aunt Lou talked to him daily, Otter
saying: ''Tom is a good fellow" One
morning, saucily tipping his head OF
is one side, he greeted her with the SAME
/. compliment to himself, uttered Will
b perfect distinctness. Over and over h,
, repeated ''Tom is a good fellow" EN-
l. phasizing each word by turns i'll thu
T, funniest way, ending his speech witt
ID sound initiative of rollicking laugh
20 ter. His was not crow dialect, bu
ID plainly spoken English. From tina
L. day his tongue was loosed.
tn "Mother, mother come ont here"
I'd Mother ran to the window thinking
v one of the boys called her. Seeing
At only Tom outside, she went back t.
"A her work. A second summons cause'
SIS her TO suspect Tom was practising.
as "Was that you, TOmG What do yo
O. want 2r