I looked up also, but could see nothing save a little dark cloud,
the edges of which were red, as if with the light of the sunset.

"Surely the sun is not going down!" I exclaimed, struck with
amazement.

"Oh, no!" returned the raven. "That red belongs to the worm."

"You see what comes of making creatures forget their origin!" I
cried with some warmth.

"It is well, surely, if it be to rise higher and grow larger!" he
returned. "But indeed I only teach them to find it!"

"Would you have the air full of worms?"

"That is the business of a sexton. If only the rest of the clergy
understood it as well!"

In went his beak again through the soft turf, and out came the
wriggling worm. He tossed it in the air, and away it flew.

I looked behind me, and gave a cry of dismay: I had but that moment
declared I would not leave the house, and already I was a stranger
in the strange land!

"What right have you to treat me so, Mr. Raven?" I said with deep
offence. "Am I, or am I not, a free agent?"