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When the bright object dropped this time, 

 curiosity to get possession of it was stronger 

 than my interest in the game. Besides, the Crow^ays 

 apples were waiting. I jumped up, scatter- 

 ing the crows in wild confusion ; but as they 

 streamed away I fancied that there was still 

 more of the excitement of play than of alarm 

 in their flight and clamor. 



The bright object which the leader carried 

 proved to be the handle of a glass cup. A 

 fragment of the vessel itself had broken off 

 with the handle, so that the ring was com- 

 plete. Altogether it was just the thing for 

 the purpose — bright, and not too heavy, 

 and most convenient for a crow to seize and 

 carry. Once well gripped, it would take a 

 good deal of worrying to make him drop it. 



Who first was " it," as children say in 

 games? Was it a special privilege of the 

 crow who first found the talisman, or do the 

 crows have some way of counting out for 

 the first leader.? There is a schoolhouse 

 down that same old dusty road. Sometimes, 

 when at play there, I used to notice the 

 crows stealing silently from tree to tree in 



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