of the east or south-east, and could see no The 

 sign of any change of wind or likelihood of Children 



" What makes you think that ? " I asked. Clan of 



" Weel," he answered literally, " I don't Peace, 

 think it. It's the peewits an' the craws that ken 

 swifter than oursels ; it's they that tell, an' I 

 think they're better at the business than thae 

 folk wha haver awa' in the papers, an are 

 sometimes richt because they canna help it 

 an' oftener wrang because it's maistly guess- 

 work." 



" Well, what do the peewits and the crows 

 say ? — though I haven't seen crow or rook or 

 corbie for the last hour." 



" Thae peewits an' a' the plovers are a' the 

 same. If the win's gaun to leap out of the 

 east intae the sooth -wast, or slide quickly 

 from the north intae the wast, they'll gang 

 on wheelin' an' wailin' like yon for an hour 

 or mair, an' that afore there's the least sign 

 o' a change. An' as for the craws . . . weel, 

 if ye had been lookin' up a wee whilie ago ye'd 

 'a seen a baker's dozen go by, slantin' on the 

 edge o' the win', like boats before a stiff breeze. 

 Aye, an' see there ! . . . there's a wheen mair 

 comin' up overhead." 



I glanced skyward, and saw some eight or 

 ten rooks flying high and evidently making for 



243 



