That was unfortunate for the mice. But luckily for them, Solomon Owl
couldn’t be in more than one place at a time. Otherwise, there wouldn’t
have been a mouse left in Pleasant Valley—if he could have had _his_ way.

And though he didn’t help the mice, he helped Farmer Green by catching
them. If he did take a fat pullet once in a while, it is certain that he
more than paid for it.

So, on the whole, Farmer Green did not wood-lot. And for a long time
Solomon raised no objection to Farmer Green’s living near Swift River.

But later Solomon Owl claimed that it would be a good thing for the forest
folk if they could get rid of the whole Green family—and the hired man,
too.





II
A NEWCOMER


Upon his arrival, as a stranger, in Pleasant Valley, Solomon Owl looked
about carefully for a place to live. What he wanted especially was a good,
_dark_ hole, for he thought that sunshine was very dismal.

Though he was willing to bestir himself enough to suit anybody, when it
came to _hunting_, Solomon Owl did not like to work. He was no busy
nest-builder, like Rusty Wren. In his search for a house he looked several