claimed. "Do you mean to say they're only partly
made?"

"There's just one more thing to do to them," Jimmy Rabbit explained. "The
holes haven't been cut in them yet."

"Holes!" said Mr. Crow. "What holes?"

"Why, the holes for your toes, of course!" Jimmy Rabbit answered.
"Maybe you didn't know that shoes are to be worn like that this summer.
It makes them much cooler in hot weather."

Well, Mr. Crow liked the idea. He said so, too. He certainly couldn't
wear the shoes as they were. And if everybody else was going to wear
shoes with toe-holes, he didn't want to be behind the times. But he
hadn't seen anybody with shoes made after that fashion. And he told Jimmy
Rabbit as much.

"Ah!" said Jimmy Rabbit. "Quite true! You'll be the first in Pleasant
Valley, Mr. Crow. You'll set the fashion, instead of following it. Better
be first than last, you know!"

Old Mr. Crow agreed to that. So he let Jimmy Rabbit cut as many holes in
the shoes as he had toes--that made four holes in each shoe.

And then Mr. Crow thrust his toes through the holes. To his great delight
he could walk with ease and comfort. And he was about to leave the store
when Jimmy Rabbit stopped him.

"Haven't you forgotten something?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Mr. Crow replied.

"Yes, you have!" Jimmy Rabbit insisted. "You've forgotten your bill!"

Mr. Crow looked at him in amazement. And then he felt of his face.

"None of your tricks, young man!" he cried. "My bill is right where it
belongs. How _could_ I forget it, I should like to know?"

"You don't understand," said Jimmy Rabbit. "What I mean is this: You
haven't paid me for the shoes."

"Oh!" said Mr. Crow. And he looked away quickly. "Well, you may keep my
old shoes. I'm sure that's a fair exchange."

And he pretended to be surprised when Jimmy Rabbit did not agree with
him.

"Your old shoes are full of holes," Jimmy objected. "I don't want them."

And there Mr. Crow had him.

"These shoes I have on are full of holes, too," he declared. "And if one
hole isn't just as good as another, then I may as well go back to school
again." And with that he stalked angrily away.

As it happened, old Mr. Crow had never been to school in his life. But
he thought the remark sounded well. And it seemed to keep Jimmy Rabbit
quiet. He couldn't think of a thing to say until long after Mr. Crow had
gone.

And then it was too late.

XXI

THE CROW CAUCUS

"Where are all those crows g