have a long, hard, cold winter, " muttered Blacky to
himself. "Perhaps they know, but I want to see some signs of it for
myself. They may be only guessing. Anybody can do that, and one
guess is as good as another."

Then he found Mr. and Mrs. Quack, the Mallard Ducks, and their
children in the pond of Paddy the Beaver and remembered that they
never had come down from their home in the Far North as early in the
fall as this. Mrs. Quack explained that Jack Frost had already
started south, and so they had started earlier to keep well ahead of
him.

"Looks as if there may be something in this idea of a long, hard,
cold winter," thought Blacky, "but perhaps the Quacks are only
guessing, too. I wouldn't take their word for it any more than I
would the word of Johnny Chuck or Jerry Muskrat or Paddy the
Beaver. I'll look about a little."

So after warning the Quacks to remain in the pond of Paddy the
Beaver if they would be safe, Blacky bade them good-by and flew
away. He headed straight for the Green Meadows and Farmer Brown's
cornfield. A little of that yellow corn would make a good breakfast.

When he reached the cornfield, Blacky perched on top of a shock of
corn, for it already had been cut and put in shocks in readiness to
be carted up to Farmer Brown's barn. For a few minutes he sat there
silent and motionless, but all the time his sharp eyes were making
sure that no enemy was hiding behind one of those brown shocks. When
he was quite certain that things were as safe as they seemed, he
picked out a plump ear of corn and began to tear open the husks, so