166 THE RAVEN 



lay with his fore paws tucked in under his body, 

 but with tail stretched out, the raven would give it 

 a smart nip from behind. When the dog lifted his 

 body in order to tuck his tail in and so get it out of 

 danger, out would come his fore paws. Round 

 hopped the raven and gave his attention to them ; 

 and the same process would be repeated over and 

 over again, till the teaser had had enough of it, or the 

 terrier ran away elsewhere, to have his sleep out. 

 She was never known to lay an egg in the nest she 

 had so long prepared, till, one day, it occurred to 

 one of the servants, out of mere curiosity to see 

 what she would do, to drop a hen's egg into it. She 

 promptly ate it, and, pleased with the delicacy, 

 began, at the mature age of eighty, to lay eggs 

 herself, which she always incontinently devoured. 



Of course, a tame raven is an arrant thief, 

 and if you let him run loose, you must expect to pay 

 for your amusement. Anything bright especially 

 attracts him. A butler who had lost spoon after 

 spoon, and had thrown the blame upon every one 

 but the real offender, at last saw Ralph with the 

 proverbial "silver spoon in his mouth," watched 

 him sneak off to the hole which served him for a 

 savings bank, and found therein not only the 

 spoon which he had missed, but others which he 



