But the elderly person who had just spoken said that there was no hurry and that the stranger ought first to be put to a test.
"We want to make sure that you're a good leader," he explained. "And I would suggest that you go to see Farmer Green to-morrow, tell him that we object to his putting tar on his corn, and ask him not to do it again next spring."
The stranger looked somewhat uneasy, as he listened. But after he had pondered for a few moments he said briskly:
"I'll do that! I'll go to Farmer Green to-morrow (he won't be busy, for to-morrow's Sunday), and I'll make him agree to what you want."
"We'll meet again on Monday, at sunset," Mr. Crow's friend announced.
And then the meeting broke up in the wildest disorder.
As for old Mr. Crow, he crept away without speaking to anyone. And always, before, he had made more noise than any ten of the others.
XXIII
THE WHITE FLAG
Unhappy Mr. Crow could scarcely eat a mouthful of food after that meeting on Saturday night, when he found the stranger talking to the gathering. He was worried, because he knew that if the stranger succeeded in getting Farmer Green to promise that he would not put tar on his corn the following spring, everybody would choose the newcomer to be the leader of all the crows in Pleasant Valley. And that was an honor that old Mr. Crow had had for years.