XXIII. The White Flag - Page 2

farmhouse. Those white flags at Farmer Green's--they were the family wash, hung out on the line to dry!"

Then all Mr. Crow's neighbors crowded around him and told him that they wanted him for their leader--and that they always had. They said that they knew all the time that the stranger was a fraud.

"Where is he?" someone inquired. "Let's fix him!"

But when they turned to look for the stranger they couldn't find him anywhere. He had vanished. Though Mr. Crow and his friends searched far and wide for the bold, bad fellow, their efforts were all in vain. During the bustle that had followed Mr. Crow's short speech the newcomer had quietly made his escape. And no doubt it was just as well for him that he left the meeting when he did.

Some said he had hurried off towards the north; while others claimed that he had gone in a southerly direction. And though they have kept an eye out for him ever since, they have not found--or "fixed him"--yet.