Now Farmer Brown's boy, having no work to do that morning, hadstarted for a tramp over the Green Meadows, hoping to see some ofhis little friends in feathers and fur. He heard the excited cawingof Blacky and at once turned in that direction.

"That black rascal has found something over on the shore of the BigRiver," exclaimed Farmer Brown's boy to himself. "I'll go over there tosee what it is. There isn't much escapes the sharp eyes of thatblack busybody. He has led me to a lot of interesting things, onetime and another. There he is on the top of that tree over by theBig River."