168 THE RAVEN 



some stolen treasure in his mouth which he was 

 particularly anxious to stow away unobserved. He 

 was the friend of every one in the village, but 

 the marplot of all who had any work to do in 

 it. Did he see the gardener bedding out, with 

 especial care, any plant, he would select it for 

 his especial attention, as soon as the gardener's 

 back was turned. Did he see a labourer in the 

 allotment " setting " a row of his beans, as soon as 

 he was gone, the raven would follow in his foot- 

 steps, dig them up, one by one, and drop them, 

 one on the top of another, into a hole of his own. 

 Did a well-dressed man, something perhaps of a 

 dandy, drop a new lilac kid glove, the raven would 

 be off with it in a moment, dodge all his pursuers, 

 and, the moment the pursuit slackened, would 

 begin to pick it to pieces and would continue his 

 work, each time the pursuers halted for breath, 

 till it was a thing of shreds and tatters. He 

 would follow me about for a walk of a mile or so ; and 

 if he happened to meet a dog, there was a great 

 show of excitement and fury on both sides ; but 

 each had too much regard for his own safety to 

 come to close quarters. It was a case of cave 

 corvnm quite as much as of cave canem. 



Most villages in Dorset as is, I suppose, the 



