ut it was no use. He could scarcely raise himself off the
ground.

At last he decided he would have to _walk_ home. Fortunately, a hard crust
covered the soft snow. So Solomon started off on his long journey.

Flying, Solomon could have covered the distance in a few minutes. But he
was a slow walker. By the time he reached his home among the hemlocks the
sun was shining brightly--for the rain had stopped before daybreak.

Solomon wondered how he would ever succeed in reaching his doorway, high
up in the hollow tree. He gazed helplessly upward. And as he sat there
mournfully the bright sunshine melted the ice that bound his wings. After
a time he discovered that he could move freely once more. And then he rose
quickly in the air and in a twinkling he had disappeared into the darkness
of his home--that darkness which to him was always so pleasant.

XX
A PAIR OF RED-HEADS

In the woods there was hardly one of Solomon Owl's neighbors that couldn't
point out the big hemlock tree where he lived. And mischievous fellows
like Reddy Woodpecker sometimes annoyed Solomon a good deal by rapping
loudly on his door. When he thrust his head angrily out of his house and
blinked in the sunlight, his tormentors would skip away and laugh. They
laughed because they knew that they had awakened Solomon Owl. And they
dodged out of his reach because he was always ill-tempered when anybody
disturbed his rest in the daytime.

Solomon Owl did not mind so _very_ much so long as that trick was not
played on him too often. But after a time it became one of Reddy
Woodpecker's favorite sports. Not only once, but several times a day did
he go to the hemlock grove to hammer upon Solomon's hollow tree. And each
time that he brought Solomon Owl to his door Reddy Woodpecker laughed more
loudly than ever before.

Once Solomon forgot to take off his nightcap (though he wore it in the
daytime, it really was a nightcap). And Reddy Woodpecker was so amused
that he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"What's the joke?" asked Solomon Owl in his deep, rumbling voice. He tried
to look very severe. But it is hard to look any way except funny with a
nightcap on one's head.

As luck had it, Jasper Jay came hurrying up just then. He had heard Reddy
Woodpecker's laughter. And if there was a joke he wanted to enjoy it, too.

Jasper Jay, alighting in a small hemlock near Reddy Woodpecker, asked the
same question that Solomon Owl had just put to his rude