Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-11-16
=
wHFN THE CROW
LEARNED TO CAV.

,riz may have lived in the great
,,o -eeion. He may have lived IN
4ho snail earth world mapped IN
af black clouds in the big history
~ YOUR big bro her. he was ieo'
Known boy very tiny, big-toed, skln-
:, and lons-nosed Such boy may
.bave lived in either place, and been
,anahed at and nearly killed by a
ss fcc,, of giant crows. But II do9sh
..o. where It was in the begin
ming. too far back TO know
Hi e.,,:z" said his mother, 81 want yo"
b. take your sline-shot and go oui
ard sling-shot the life out OF those
M ,rows BY night there won't be
enough grain left to hold a pigeon
tcn.knot down. Papa and | are go
ing over to aunt's. (Aunt was very
"a i'll with the fever.)
q 81 will" said Tiz.
N Mind YOU he said, Il will He
M lived his aunt very much, and he
"a loved to sling g-shot the crows. But
A r,ore than all. the little skinny alb
q orisine loved to loll out in the shade
n and play swizel-bug.
q Now. the crows of that time were
n rot the crows you and | know They
81 were as big again, three times over
& Put they stole. Oh, they always
stole. They never cawed. They
didn't know the least bit about cav.
ing. They chattcred. That was all
Tho chat .ering was soft and low, and
II meaning. for the crow is most re,
epectaby wise bird They wouldn't
be cawing today if Tiz had not played
swize-bug thae day.
Tiz trotted away toward the bis
field. swinging his leather sline-shot
The field was in he woods The un
Syound sown to grain. O herWise, il
was the forest Of trees and skulkine
ynx. and abon Unable hordes Of
black, chat aring thieves which his
mother told him to kill.
But 10, There vas not a bird in
sight.
Grow is a cunning beast, Tz sa d
sof.ly and knowingly to himself as he
hunched down and hid between tn
roots Of a 3oo-year-old oak. I'll
wait and peep
He did wait and peop. He kept on
waiting and peepias for long time
and he heard no chatter. nor saw a
single sign Of a crow.
II was then he saw a small Obj q
few feet up the tree trunk. L
caused him o spring 10 his fe' t, for
setful of crows and everything e'se
Ii was a swizel,bue. And who in tn
world loved to play swizel=bug NOR
than he?
EEe caught the bug in MS ma. It
was long, tough bug with broad
wings that few like a maze.
"Glorious." Tiz snouted as h
searched for certain sticks.
He stuck one Of the STICKS in n
ground for a pivot. Than. balancing
the other and fas -ening il 50 it swuns
easily on the pivot, he drew q couple
of his long. black hairs and faetene5
the hroad-wineed swivel bug to the
end Gf he stick arm.
In an instant the fun began. There
was blur of stick and wings as they
spun round and round wi n ceasaiess
hum. Tiz had never seen one so fast
er or steadier 1t was fine, and the
little aborigine enjoyed II.
He clapped his hands and shouted
a. first. fo:eetful of the crows. The
shouting died into 6 laugh and. ir
time, the laugh into grin. Wher
thc hot days SUN was getting thf
highest and hottest he nodded, ant
in shOrt time there. in tho ehade O
the 300-year-old oak, with the lulins
hum of the tortured swizel-bug he wa.
sound asleep.
The crow is much the wisest o
/ birds. Though they didn't cav the!
/ were just as wise then as they are
today.
Tiz had not been asleep five min
ntes, the swizelbug had not broker