"Well,he wouldn't let me TOUCH him,"half-apologized David."He was so afraid,you see.Why,I had to put my blouse over his head before he'd let me cut him loose at all.""Cut him loose!"Perry Larson sprang to his feet."You did n't--you DIDn't let that crow go!"David shrank back.
"Why,yes;he WANTED to go.He--"But the man before him had fallen back despairingly to his old position.
"Well,sir,you've done it now.What the boss'll say,I don't know;but I know what I'd like ter say to ye.I was a whole week,off an'on,gettin'hold of that crow,an'I wouldn't have got him at all if I hadn't hid half the night an'all the mornin'in that clump o'bushes,watchin'a chance ter wing him,jest enough an'not too much.An'even then the job wa'n't done.Let me tell yer,'t wa'n't no small thing ter get him hitched.I'm wearin'the marks of the rascal's beak yet.An'now you've gone an'let him go--just like that,"he finished,snapping his fingers angrily.
In David's face there was no contrition.There was only incredulous horror.
"You mean,YOU tied him there,on purpose?"
"Sure I did!"
"But he didn't like it.Couldn't you see he didn't like it?"cried David.
"Like it!What if he didn't?I didn't like ter have my corn pulled up,either.See here,sonny,you no need ter look at me in that tone o'voice.I didn't hurt the varmint none ter speak of--ye see he could fly,didn't ye?--an'he wa'n't starvin'.Isaw to it that he had enough ter eat an'a dish o'water handy.
An'if he didn't flop an'pull an'try ter get away he needn't 'a'hurt hisself never.I ain't ter blame for what pullin'he done.""But wouldn't you pull if you had two big wings that could carry you to the top of that big tree there,and away up,up in the sky,where you could talk to the stars?--wouldn't you pull if somebody a hundred times bigger'n you came along and tied your leg to that post there?"The man,Perry,flushed an angry red.
"See here,sonny,I wa'n't askin'you ter do no preachin'.What Idid ain't no more'n any man 'round here does--if he's smart enough ter catch one.Rigged-up broomsticks ain't in it with a live bird when it comes ter drivin'away them pesky,thievin'crows.There ain't a farmer 'round here that hain't been green with envy,ever since I caught the critter.An'now ter have you come along an'with one flip o'yer knife spile it all,I--Well,it jest makes me mad,clean through!That's all.""You mean,you tied him there to frighten away the other crows?""Sure!There ain't nothin'like it."
"Oh,I'm so sorry!"
"Well,you'd better be.But that won't bring back my crow!"David's face brightened.
"No,that's so,isn't it?I'm glad of that.I was thinking of the crows,you see.I'm so sorry for them!Only think how we'd hate to be tied like that--"But Perry Larson,with a stare and an indignant snort,had got to his feet,and was rapidly walking toward the house.
Very plainly,that evening,David was in disgrace,and it took all of Mrs.Holly's tact and patience,and some private pleading,to keep a general explosion from wrecking all chances of his staying longer at the farmhouse.Even as it was,David was sorrowfully aware that he was proving to be a great disappointment so soon,and his violin playing that evening carried a moaning plaintiveness that would have been very significant to one who knew David well.
Very faithfully,the next day,the boy tried to carry out all the "dos,"and though he did not always succeed,yet his efforts were so obvious,that even the indignant owner of the liberated crow was somewhat mollified;and again Simeon Holly released David from work at four o'clock.
Alas,for David's peace of mind,however;for on his walk to-day,though he found no captive crow to demand his sympathy,he found something else quite as heartrending,and as incomprehensible.
