30 THE STRIKE AT SHANE'S, 



all the grubworms and cutworms that are in the corn- 

 fields, for they are imder ground and we cannot get at 

 them. We follow the plow in the spring and get all 

 the worms that it turns up. We follow in the summer 

 and get all the worms that the cultivator brings to the 

 surface. Thousands of crickets and grasshoppers are 

 destroyed by us which would injure the wheat and grass 

 crops. Hundreds of my species have been killed by 

 Shane, and I will promise you that not a worm nor an 

 insect shall be killed by a blackbird on the farm this 

 summer. More than that, all the blackbirds in this 

 section will join me, and each one will carry a few 

 grubworms and cutworms and drop them on Shane's 

 fields." 



Dobbin thought that carrying worms on the farm for 

 the purpose of destroying the crops was contrary to 

 the arrangement that no violence should be done to the 

 person or property of Shane ; but the birds all insisted 

 that it was no more than right that they should have 

 this privilege. They thought that was the best way to 

 prove to Shane the great amount of damage done by 

 these pests. 



Everything being now arranged, the convention 

 adjourned to meet again on the following Sunday at 

 the same place, and report what had been done. 



^''Wonder tchat all them beasts are gathered around- 

 that tree forV said Shane, as he and Tom sauntered 

 across the field, laying their plans for the next day's 

 work. '' Must be somethin' wrong." 



*' They're just standin' in the shade of that tree, I 



