contestants, and before they knew what was 



up he was scurrying away to the hickory 



with the coveted trinket held as high as Crooj^avs 



he could carry it, as if in triumph at his ^ ^ 



sharp trick. >«fcF 



The flock settled slowly into the pines 

 again with much hawhig. There was evi- 

 dently a question whether the play ought to 

 be allowed or not. Everybody had some- 

 thing to say about it ; and there was no end 

 of objection. At last it was settled good- 

 naturedly, and they took places to watch till 

 the new leader should give them opportunity 

 for another chase. 



There was no doubt left in the watcher's 

 mind by this time as to what the crows were 

 doing. They were playing a game, like so 

 many schoolboys, enjoying to the full the 

 long bright hours of the September after- 

 noon. Did they find the bright object as 

 they crossed the pasture on the way from 

 Farmer B's corn-field, and the game so 

 suggest itself.'' Or was the game first 

 suggested, and the talisman brought after- 

 wards 1 Every crow has a secret storehouse, 



