the more he pretended, the angrier he grew. This is often the way
with people who try to wrong others. They grow angry with the ones
they have tried to wrong. When at last Blacky had to confess to
himself that he could think of no other way to get those eggs, he
began to wonder if there was some way to make trouble for Hooty and
Mrs. Hooty. It was right then that he thought of Farmer Brown's boy.
Blacky's eyes snapped. He remembered how, once upon a time, Farmer
Brown's boy had

delighted to rob nests. Blacky had seen him take the eggs from the
nests of Blacky's own relatives and from many other feathered
people. What he did with the eggs, Blacky had no idea. Just now he
didn't care. If Farmer Brown's boy would just happen to find Hooty's
nest, he would be sure to take those eggs, and then he, Blacky,
would feel better. He would feel that he was even with Hooty.

Right away he began to try to think of some way to bring Farmer
Brown's boy over to the lonesome corner of the Green Forest where
Hooty's nest was. If he could once get him there, he felt sure that
Farmer Brown's boy would see the nest and climb up to it, and then
of course he would take the eggs. If he couldn't have those eggs
himself, the next best thing would be to see some one else get them.

Dear me, dear me, such dreadful thoughts! I am afraid that Blacky's
heart was as black as his coat. And the worst of it was, he seemed
to get a lot of pleasure in his wicked plans. Now right down in his
heart he knew that they were wicked plans, but he tried to make
excuses to himself.

"Hooty the Owl is a robber, " said he. "Everybody is afraid of