own whistle brought Solomon hurrying to
him. Simon already had three mice, one of which he gave to Solomon,
according to their agreement.

That same thing happened several times; until at last Simon Screecher
began to grumble.

"What's the matter?" he asked his cousin. "You are not hooting, as you
promised you would."

"But I haven't caught any mice yet!" Solomon Owl replied.

[_Illustration 3_]

"It's All Right," Said Solomon

Again and again and again Simon's call summoned Solomon. But not once did
Solomon's summon Simon. And all the time Simon Screecher grew more
discontented. Toward the end of the night he declared flatly that he
wasn't going to hunt any more with his cousin.

"I've done exactly as I agreed!" Solomon Owl protested.

"You're altogether too slow and clumsy," Simon Screecher told him bluntly.
"If I'm going to hunt with anybody after this I'm going to choose someone
that's as spry as I am. There's no sense in my working for you. Here I've
toiled all night long and I'm still hungry, for I've given you a third of
my food."

They parted then--and none too pleasantly.

In Simon's whistle, as he flew away toward his home, there was
unmistakable anger. But Solomon Owl's answering hoots--while they were not
exactly sweet--seemed to carry more than a hint of laughter.

One would naturally think that Solomon might have been even hungrier than
his small cousin. But it was not so. He had had more to eat than usual;
for he had been very busy catching locusts and katydids--and frogs, too.
Solomon Owl had not tried to catch a single mouse that night.

You know now the idea that had come to him while he was lying awake in his
house during the daytime. He had made up his mind that he would not hunt
for _mice_. And since he had not promised Simon to give him anything else,
there was no reason why he should not eat all the frogs and katydids and
locusts that he could find.

Perhaps it was not surprising that Simon Screecher never guessed the
truth. But he seemed to know that there was something queer about that
night's hunting, for he never came to Solomon Owl's house again.

XIX
THE SLEET STORM

It was winter. And for several days a strong south wind had swept up
Pleasant Valley. That--as Solomon Owl knew very well--that meant a thaw was
coming. He was not sorry, because the weather had been bitterly cold.

Well, the thaw came. And the wea