With Jolly Robin following close behind him, Jasper Jay flew directly
to the crossroads, almost half-way to the village. Once there, he
perched himself upon the sign-post at the four corners. And Jolly
Robin seated himself upon one of the boards that were nailed to the
post.
"Here we are!" said Jasper Jay. "You see how easy it is."
"When will the post begin to move?" Jolly Robin inquired, a bit
anxiously. He had waited a whole day to begin his long journey to the
South, so it was only natural that he should want to start at once.
"What's that you say?" asked Jasper Jay. And when Jolly repeated his
question, Jasper began to scream with laughter. "Well, that's a good
one!" he said at last. "So you thought the post was going to pull
itself out of the ground and fly away with you, did you?"
"Why, yes!" Jolly Robin replied. "Aren't these _wings_?" he asked,
looking down at the boards. "They're already spread," he observed.
It was some minutes before Jasper Jay could answer him, for he was
laughing again. But finally he managed to speak.
"Those aren't wings!" he cried. "They're sign-boards, to tell you
which road to take. Of course, you can't expect to read a sign when
you're sitting on it. Just go over to the fence across the road and
you can see the sign that you're on now."
So Jolly Robin fluttered over to the fence. And from there he could
see the sign-board plainly. This is what it looked like: