GENERAL JIM 143 
mindful of an unreasonable maternal objection to 
pitch on the pants), and climbed the tree. This 
was a matter of no small labor, and after he had 
secured the three baby birds it was no less a job 
to lower the bag without injury, through the 
branches to the ground. He got them safely 
down, however, and carried them in triumph to 
the man who, in a careless moment, had expressed 
a desire for a pet crow. 
He was a big man, with a big laugh, a big gar- 
den, a big dog, a big small son, and a big heart. 
The only thing little about him was his house, 
and that was a delightful old farmhouse between 
country road and garden, with the woods beyond. 
He had quite forgotten that he wanted a crow, 
but when he saw the contents of Tom’s bag, he 
remembered that he wanted three. So that was 
how Jim and Jim and Jim found themselves, 
after their distressing adventure, in a new home 
at the bottom of a barrel, with a netting over the 
top, so neither cat nor dog could molest them. 
Tom and the big man’s big small son were out in 
the garden digging up worms and grubs to stop 
their clamor. 
