The age-herald., 1901-08-26
A THIEF IN ANIMAL LAND
BY RAYMOND FULLER AYERS. [Copyright, 1901, by R. H. Russell.]


 Mir Crow was great thief, and had an- moved the people of Animal Land for long time. He would steal thing, whether IL was of any use to him or not, and he loved to make all kinds of mischief, such aS at the time he stole Mrs. Gooses clothesline and tied 1t around Mir. Fox's house, so that the Foxes could not get their doors open when they wanted to go out. At last some of the animals decided to make 1t a point to catch Mir. Crow and punish him for his bad be- hayior. Judge Bear was the first one to try 1t. He filled large earthenware pot with honey mixed with glue and placed It on his back porch, after telling the cubs not to touch it. He felt sure that MT. Crow would come along soon, and in trying to eat 1t get stuck fast by the glue, so he went to hiS work in an easy state of mind. When he re- turned in the evening the pot was just as he had left 1t, and so, after supper, he went to bed, feeling sure that something would hap pen during the night. Sure enough, about midnight he heard fearful racket on the back porch and putting on his slippers he ran downstairs. 1t was pitch dark on the porch, but, as the pot was white, Judge Bear could see it bouncing around at great rate. He knew It could not be jumping around like that all by itself, so he sprang at it and made grab where the top of the pot should be. He did not catch MT. Crow, as he expected, but nabbed MT. Porcupine, who was stuck fast by the head. MT. Por- .cUplne felt sure that whoever had caught him was responsible for his being stuck up wi.h honey and glue, so he gave himself shake, and lot of sharp, pointed quills flew into Judge Bears face, sticking fast and hurting like thousand needle bricks. Judge Bear gave howl that awoke every one Tn Animal Land except Mir. Adder who was deaf; then he ran in the kitchen, fell over the stove and jammed his face in pan of bread dough that Mrs. Bear had rising by the fire.
 | Mrs. Bear was frightened almost to death | by the racket that Mr. Bear made, but she | came down stairs and, after great deal of | trouble, got the quills out of Mir Bears face. | In the meantime MT. Porcupine had smashed | the pot against the stone doorstep and gone | home thinking very hard.
 Mrs. Goat had lost several things through | MT. Crows tricks, so she bought steel trap | and set it on her front doorstep one night, | so that If MT. Crow came around to steal any l more he might step into it and get caught. | She watched out of the window for long | time, and at last she began to nod. Before | long she was sound asleep. Just about this | time Miss Cow came up tho road on her way | to Mrs. Goats house to borrow some tea and, | seeing MT. Goat at the window, she went | to the front door. instead of the back door, | as she usually did She was just about to | knock when something caught her by the | tail, and she was so frightened that she ran | for 27 miles without stopping. with the | trap fast to her tail and hurting awfully. At last she lost her breath and had to
 stop; then she found the steel trap on her | tail, and she thought that one of the | little Goats must have snapped 1t fast there | when she was not looking, so she threw the | trap into the bushes and went home very | angry at the whole goat family.
 Mrs. Goat had been awakened by the noise
 Miss Cow made when the trap caught her
 by the tail, and she went down to see about | 1t at once, only to ind the trap gone. The | next day she told every one that Miss Cow 1 had stolen 1t.
 MT. Fox had been one of the sufferers | from MT. Crows depredations, so he went to | a place in the woods where he knew MT. | Crow often stayed and set snare, which | Is made by bending down young tree and | fastening the top close to the ground with
 running moose rope like lasso spread
 around on the ground under the tree. The
 bait is placed in the center of the running
 moose, so that when any one touches 1t the
 tree springs up again, and they are caught
 by the moose and hung in the air. Mir. Fox | went home feeling certain he would catch
 Mir. Crow, and thinking how smart he was.
 He did not dare go back during the day, for
 If Mir. Crow was in the neighborhood and
 not yet caught he would be sure to become
 suspicious, and not touch the bait at all. | It was late at night when Mir. Fox went | back to the trap to see if he had caught MT. | Crow, but it was dark he could hardly
 find the way. At length he reached the | place and looked about for the snare. "It | seems to me 1t was right here'' he said, | "but 1t is so dark can hardly tell one tree | from another" He made a step forward | and-swish! went something behind him. l In minute he felt something catch his left
 hind leg, and there he was, swinging In the
 air and hanging on by one leg, caught in his
 own snare. He squirmed around and tried l to reach something with his hands, but the I bushes Ho
 called and howled, but no one came until
 the next day, when Brother Rabbit hap
 pened along and, seeing Mr. Fox in that
 very uncomfortable position, let him loose.
 After that the animals gave up trying to
 catch Mir. Crow, who all this time had been
 on visit to his great step-uncle, MT. Turkey | Buzzard.