Edith Francis Foster

The first day Jack went to school in the fall, Jimmy Crow was very lonesome. The school was near by, and about noon he flew over and hopped in at the open window.

A ll the children were bending over their desks, writing, but Jimmy knew Jack's back as well as his front, and lighted on his head. The children laughed at that, and the teacher laughed too.

T hen she said, "If Jimmy Crow does not disturb anyone, he may stay, as it is nearly noon." The children promised not to be disturbed, and the pencils went to work again. Jimmy Crow behaved beautifully, though at first he tried to walk on Jack's paper and to bite his pencil. Jack pushed him away, and he flew to the teacher's desk where he walked about quietly, looking at the books and vase of flowers.

W hen the lesson was finished, the teacher said, "Jack may collect the pencils." He got the pencil box and began, but Jimmy flew ahead of him, and picked up a pencil. Jack took it, and put it in the box. Then Jimmy Crow brought another. The children were delighted. They held their pencils in their hands, and Jimmy Crow collected them all.

T hen the bell rang and the children marched out for hats and jackets. When they came back, Jimmy Crow was gone! Jack looked under the desks and in the waste-basket. Then the teacher looked in her closet, and there he sat on a clothes-hook. He had found her lunch-basket, and eaten a whole bunch of grapes. Jack was very sorry, but the teacher only laughed.

T hat afternoon Jimmy did not go to school, but Jack brought her a big red apple and said it was from Jimmy Crow. Edith Francis Foster