then, at midday, his fun was spoiled. That
strange scream smote his ears once more. And Jasper trembled both with
rage and fear.

He knew then that the stranger was still in the valley.

IV

JASPER'S BOAST

JASPER JAY had said nothing to anyone concerning the horrid call, which
had sounded twice--each time at midday. But now that he felt sure the
strange bird whose cry he had heard must have come to live in Pleasant
Valley, he could no longer keep from mentioning the matter.

Chancing to meet his cousin, Mr. Crow, the next morning, Jasper stopped
to talk with the old gentleman. You see, Mr. Crow was widely known as a
gossip. He usually knew what was going on in the neighborhood. So Jasper
thought it likely that Mr. Crow could tell him all about the unwelcome
stranger. "Perhaps," he thought, "the old scamp has already seen him."

Of course, Jasper never termed his cousin a scamp to his face. He always
spoke to him very politely, greeting him as "Mr. Crow," in spite of
their close relationship. And there was a reason why Jasper did that.
Mr. Crow had once given him a severe beating because Jasper had called
him something else. And Jasper Jay never forgot it.

Now Jasper first inquired after his cousin's health. He did that to put
old Mr. Crow in a good humor. But Jasper was sorry at once that he had
started Mr. Crow to talking about his ills. It happened that the old
gentleman was then suffering from gout, hay-fever and housemaid's knee.
And he liked to talk about his ailments. Living all alone as he did, he
had nobody to do his housework. And that, he complained, was the reason
why his knee troubled him.

Jasper Jay fidgeted about while Mr. Crow was telling him all that--and
much more--concerning his troubles. Jasper really did not care to hear
about them.

"Yes! yes!" he exclaimed impatiently, for it seemed to him that old Mr.
Crow never would stop talking about himself. "Now that we're having a
good spell of weather you ought to begin to feel better. And what's the
news, Mr. Crow? Have you heard of anything happening around here
lately?"

The old gentleman shook his head.

"Things are quiet," he said.

"Nobody left Pleasant Valley recently?" Jasper inquired.

"Not that I've heard of," replied Mr. Crow.

"_No strangers come here to live?_" Jasper asked him.

"No one at all!" said Mr. Crow.

"That's queer!" Jasper exclaimed. "I was sure I heard a new voice
yesterday. And I heard it again to-