The Club at Crow's Corner   By: James Otis (1848-1912)

[Illustration: title page]

The Club at Crow's Corner

By JAMES OTIS

Illustrated by ISABEL W. CALEY

THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY PHILADELPHIA 1915

COPYRIGHT 1915 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY

[Illustration publisher's logo ]

The Club at Crow's Corner

Contents

I. MR. CROW AND MR. TURTLE 9

II. CHEEKO IN DANGER 20

III. BUNNY RABBIT'S EFFORTS 30

IV. SONNY BUNNY'S PERIL 41

V. A MEETING OF THE CLUB 51

VI. MR. MAN'S BOY TOMMY 62

VII. CHEEKO'S CURIOSITY 74

VIII. JIMMY HEDGEHOG'S ESCAPE 85

IX. FOOLING MR. FOX 96

X. BOBBY COON'S TRICK 107

XI. TOWSER AND THE SENATOR 118

XII. FOLLY, NOT BRAVERY 130

XIII. DISCIPLINING JIMMY 141

XIV. MR. CROW'S PLOT 153

XV. MR. TURTLE 165

XVI. TROUBLE IN THE CLUB 177

Illustrations

PAGE

"HAVE YOU HAD YOUR DINNER?" Frontispiece

WE HEARD A TERRIBLE NOISE AMONG THE BUSHES 69

"LET ME AT 'EM!" 125

STRAIGHT IN THE AIR 158

The Club at Crow's Corner

CHAPTER I

MR. CROW AND MR. TURTLE

Over in that portion of the big woods where the brook swings around a clump of alders in order to wind in and out among the trees is a very large and very old oak tree whose branches afford a roosting place for all the feathered inhabitants of that vicinity, and give shade on warm days to all who are forced to wear fur coats during the summer.

This oak tree stands near what might be called a "corner" of the brook, and because old Mr. James Crow is to be found among its branches every moment of the day or night except when out in search of food, the oak tree, the bend of the brook, and the land in that immediate neighborhood have come to be known as "Crow's Corner," so Mr. Bunny Rabbit declares, and there is no reason to doubt his word.

Mr. Bunny is a very old fellow. He never had any tail to speak of, and in his younger days 'Squire Owl, whose wife and little ones were in need of rabbit stew, decided to take Mr. Bunny home with him; but the old fellow, who was very spry during the earlier portion of his life, jumped into a thicket of thorn bushes so nimbly that the 'Squire only succeeded in nipping about half an inch off poor Bunny's apology for a tail. One of the old fellow's ears has been split into two pieces by an over eager hawk, and he has a great scar on his left side where Mr. Reynard Fox snapped at him, but failed to get more than a small mouthful after all.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Bunny has so many scars which tell of hairbreadth escapes, and has been forced to run so many times for very life, that no mistake can be made in setting him down as an old fellow of vast experience, who could tell many an entertaining story of his own adventures; and because he is ready and willing to talk at almost any time to a friendly listener, I came to know about the Fur and Feather Club, whose meeting place is at Crow's Corner.

Mr. Bunny is free to admit that Mr. James Crow is older than himself and has seen very much more of the world than ever did any single member of the Rabbit family, because of the ease with which he can travel; but at the same time he declares, with many a sigh and groan because of the wickedness of this world, that Mr. Crow often tells stories in which is no truth whatever, and this he does in order to make it appear that he is a bird of considerable importance in any neighborhood where he may chance to be.