They were two very ordinary strawmen on
adjacent farms. Nice playmates for a couple of
imaginative kids. Then Jimmy gave a knife to—
The Dangerous Scarecrow
By Carl Jacobi
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
August 1954
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Both Mr. Maudsley and Mr. Trask were resplendent that October evening.Mr. Maudsley stood deep in the cornfield, overall trousers ballooningin the wind, one hand nailed to a pie-tin that caught the moonlightand reflected it like a mirror. While across the road the hat of Mr.Trask was bright with the strip of foil Jimmy had fastened to it thatmorning.
From the rear seat of the car Jimmy looked down upon the two figures asthe road wound between the shocked fields.
Next to him his sister, Stella, said, "Mr. Trask looks fine tonight. Ithink he likes the silver ribbon you gave him."
Jimmy nodded. "Mr. Maudsley looks good too. See the way his handshines?"
In the driver's seat as he twisted the wheel to avoid a rut in theroad, grey-haired Mr. Tapping coughed and glanced at his wife.
"What are those kids whispering about?"
The whispers died abruptly, and the car rattled over Goose Creek bridgeand began the long climb to the Tapping farm.
They stopped at the roadside mailbox, but there was no mail; then theywere rolling up the cedar-lined lane, past the silo, past the barn,into the farmyard.
Stella went into the house with her mother, but Jimmy remained with hisfather to open the garage doors. He snapped the big padlock shut afterthe car was put away, made a vain attempt to catch Higgins, the cat,and followed Mr. Tapping up the porch steps into the house. Upstairsin his room half an hour later, he undressed reluctantly and climbedinto bed, wide awake. He lay there listening to the old house creak andgroan in the night wind.
From the distance came the mournful wail of a train whistle.
Presently Jimmy got out of bed, crossed to the window and stood lookingout into the moonlight. Below him he could see his ball bat leaningagainst a tree, looking strangely white against the shadows. Beyondwas the outline of a mounted horseman, the pump, and beyond that thegrey circular walls of the silo pointed upward like a castle tower.Something caught Jimmy's eye, made him look to the east. He lookedagain, then moved to the table and rummaged through the drawer until hefound the silver spyglass his father had given him last Christmas. Hecarried the glass back to the window, pushed the window open and peeredout.
In the bright moonlight he could see Mr. Maudsley clearly. And a littlefarther on he could see Mr. Trask. Two silent figures alone in thecornfields.
The boy lowered the glass, wiped the lens on his sleeve, and carefullyfocused again. A puzzled frown furrowed his face. Save for the flappingof his trousers in the wind, Mr. Maudsley stood motionless, as ofcourse he should. But Mr. Trask.... A passing cloud slid over themoon, darkening the landscape. In the few seconds before it broughtcomplete blackness Jimmy thought he saw Mr. Trask kick up his heels,leap high in the air and begin to dance a rigadoon over the shockedcorn.
At breakfast next morning Jimmy waited impatiently for his sister tocome downstairs. He hoped she would get to the table before his fatherbecause with Papa present he couldn't talk, and he wanted to talk. Whenat last Stella too