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Show 53 Cautiously they paused by the door. It was ajar a few inches. The sound of tiny scurrying feet on the roof made them look up. A crow, its feathers shining brilliant in the sun, peered over the roof at them. Giving a jaunty shake of its head, the crow hopped onto the top of the partly-open door. The boys stared as the bird garbled something deep in its throat, over and over. "He's talking. What's he saying?" Josh said. "Beats me." Once more, showing no fear, the crow stretched its throat, looked them in the eye, and called, "To be. . . to be. . . to be or. . Or not to be." Josh smiled. "Hey, he's saying, 'To be or not to be.' That's a smart bird." He reached for the door. "Let's just peek in, Cap. We won't hurt nothing." Slowly he drew back the door, and the crow flapped back to the roof top. Inside in the dingy light they could see a stove, a table, a bed, and a wall lined with-books. On the bed, what Josh at first thought was a raccoon skin stirred, yawned, and sat up briefly to stare at him. "Hey, neat," Josh said. "Somebody lives here sure." He kept pushing away Chinook's big head that was trying to finagle past him to investigate the raccoon. "Not somebody," a booming voice resounded behind them, "Abner Raintree lives here!" The two boys whirled, startled. In the doorway a gaunt giant of a man, with full beard and bushy white hair, stood with his hands |