XVII. Corn-Planting Time - Page 2

them properly, you seem to think I'm eating corn."

"I certainly do," said Sandy Chipmunk.

"Well, what an idea!" Mr. Crow exclaimed.

Strange as it may seem, Farmer Green had the same idea that Sandy Chipmunk had. He happened to catch sight of old Mr. Crow. And pretty soon Johnnie Green came hurrying up the field, along the fence. He hoped Mr. Crow wouldn't see him.

But old Mr. Crow generally saw any one coming his way--especially if the person happened to have a gun on his shoulder.

"I've important business over in the woods," he told Sandy Chipmunk suddenly. And he flew off in great haste.

So Sandy stayed and ate all the corn he wanted. He was so small and so nearly the same color as the ploughed field that Johnnie Green never saw him at all.

After that Mr. Crow would scarcely speak to Sandy for several days. He said that Sandy was a nuisance.

"A person can't go anywhere without that Chipmunk boy following him," Mr. Crow complained. "You know, I'm helping Farmer Green plant his corn. And Sandy Chipmunk followed me to the corn-patch. And what do you think? He actually began to eat the corn! Now, who ever heard of such a thing?"

But Mr. Crow fooled nobody but himself. Every one knew that he ate more of Farmer Green's corn than anybody else unless it was Farmer Green. And he always waited until it was ripe.

The trouble with Mr. Crow was this: He didn't want any one but himself to visit the cornfield. He wanted all the corn for an old gentleman known as Mr. Crow.