“Yes, sir! Yes, sir!” he answered as he vainly tried to stuff both the book and the apple under one wing. “Calling a messenger, were you, sir?”
At which all the animals laughed so heartily that the crow looked quite confused and muttered something about “time to be going.”
“But not unless you are entirely ready to leave,” remonstrated Lion, “for I assure you that you are quite welcome to remain and finish your apple and your book, also, if you choose. You flew all the way from Sunset House, I presume?”
“Well, I should rather say not!” answered the crow, as he flipped his cap to one side with the toes of one foot. “What would be the fun of being a messenger-bird if one had to fly all the time?”
“Yes, but how do you manage it other-wise?” questioned Rhino.
“Why, jump a cloud and ride it. That’s the way I most always do. Just let my feet hang over the end and read my book until it’s time to hop off.”
“Of what do you read?” asked Lion.
“Oh, it’s one of those strange-people books,” answered the crow. “I like to read about people. They do such funny things, don’t they? Well, I must be getting up in the air and looking for a cloud that is going toward the west.” And he started hopping up the side of the very biggest pole.
“Please don’t go,” coaxed Ostrich. “Stay a while longer and tell us about the clouds. You have ridden a lot of them, haven’t you?”
“Oh, I guess a million trillion of them, at least,” said the crow in a superior sort of way. “But then I wouldn’t know what to tell you about them. You should ask the Pretty Lady if you want to know about clouds. She knows stories about most everything. Besides, I can’t spare the time just now.”