“Then there was the scarecrow, in the middle of the big strawberry patch down at the foot of the huge garden.  It did not scare these two young rascals, not in the least.  It was an excellently made scarecrow, and did strike terror to the heart of many of the smaller birds.  But its hat was packed with straw, and the imps found it was a pleasant game pulling the straws out through a couple of holes in the crown, and strewing them over the strawberry bed.  Incidentally, they liked strawberries, and ate a good many of them as sauce to their ordinary diet of grubs and mice and chicken feed.  And it was this weakness of theirs for strawberries that led to their misunderstanding with the Boy, and then with the big rat that lived under the tool shed.

“That strawberry patch was one of the things that the Boy took a particular interest in.  When he saw that the imps also took such an interest in it, eating the berries instead of the grubs, he began to get annoyed.  From his window, which overlooked the garden, he had seen what liberties the imps took with the scarecrow, so he realized there was no help for him in scarecrows.  But something must be done, that he vowed, and done at once, or his strawberries were going to be mighty scarce.  He didn’t want to do any real harm to even such a troublesome pair of birds as the imps, but he was determined to give them a lesson that might teach them some respect, not only for strawberry patches, but even for scarecrows.

“On the crown of the scarecrow’s old hat, which he had observed to be a favorite perch of the imps, he arranged a noose of light cord.  From the noose he ran the cord down the scarecrow’s single leg (scarecrows, you know, have usually only one leg), across to the hedge, along the hedge to the house, and up and into his room.  He fixed it so it ran without a hitch.  He was very proud of it altogether.  Much pleased with himself, he got a book and a couple of apples, and seated himself at his window to wait for his chance.

“As it happened, however, the imps were just then away in the meadow, hunting mice.  For a whole hour the Boy saw no sign of them.  Then, being called away to go on an errand into the village, he tied the end of the cord to his bedpost, and left it with a word of advice to do what it could in his absence.

“Well, it did!  For a mere bit of string, all by itself, it didn’t do badly.  First the old brown rat, with his fierce little eyes and pointed, whiskered nose, came out from under the toolhouse and began exploring the strawberry patch.  He didn’t think much of strawberries in themselves, but he was apt to find fat grubs and beetles and sleepy June bugs under the clustering leaves.  He came upon the string, stretched taut.  He was just about to bite it through and try to carry it off to his nest when it occurred to him it might be a trap.  He turned away discreetly, and snapped up a plump June bug.