GENERAL JIM 147 
the big man saw Jim, and later Jim and Jim 
also, squatting contentedly down in a big ant hill, 
not taking a dust bath, like a hen, but just squat- 
ting. He couldn’t conceive why they should 
choose such a place to squat in, until he chanced 
to read that the poilus in France spread their 
shirts on ant hills when no decootieizing machine 
was handy. That raised his already high esti- 
mate of Jim’s intelligence. 
But whether from parasites or some deeper 
cause, Jim’s brother and sister never could seem 
to retain their flight feathers, and while they 
could skim about a few feet above the ground, 
only Jim became and remained a full fledged 
aeronaut. But it did not appear greatly to in- 
terfere with their happiness, and every night they 
hopped up the rungs of a ladder which ended un- 
der the overhang of the house eaves, and took 
their places to roost beside Jim, who flew there. 
This practice continued for some time. One day, 
however, as the two crippled birds were half 
hopping, half skimming, around the yard, Jim, 
from a tree near by, emitted a loud, startling caw. 
As if they understood him perfectly (as they 
