'Yes, tolerably well; though, like mocking-birds, they are always willing to be waited upon. They were exceedingly tame, and enjoyed the free range of my room as well as the piazza. In fact you could never know where to find the impudent little things; so that, whenever I went out, I shut them up close in their cage. The worst part of my business was to get a sufficient supply of worms and grubs for them.'

Duncan was of opinion that, with such numbers of negroes, and such lots of children with nothing to do, it must be easy enough to get plenty of worms.

The grown-up negroes had their own business to attend to; the out-door servants went off at daybreak to work in the fields, and the in-door ones had no idea of leaving their work to dig for worms. It was impossible for me to be running out all day long in the heat to find food for the birds; and you might bribe and coax the children in vain. They would promise to bring me some, and then all run off under pretence of finding them, returning after several hours-if at all-and then with only two or three dead flies, or a caterpillar, pretending they could not find any worms or grubs; so I generally trusted to my own exertions for the supply of my little birds' pantry. It was too early for fruit, and too late for winter berries, and I was puzzled enough to get the variety of food which they required.

'But here we are at home, and it is positively luncheontime; so we must postpone the rest of the story for another day.'

HE next morning being equally fine, Duncan and Maggie coaxed their aunt to take them for another long walk, that they might learn the fate of those four young thrashers. Barely had they got down the hall-door steps, before she was called upon to answer their eager inquiries. For once, even Fuzzy was forgotten, until her loud barking demanded that the door should be re-opened on her express account. And Fuzzy had quickly attached herself to Miss Morton, who had left a pet dog of her own in Philadelphia, and of which Fuzzy strongly reminded her. Then they almost grudged the few minutes necessary to go and loosen Cæsar from his kennel; poor Ponto at the same time tearing round through the back yard, loudly proclaiming his intention to be of the party.

'You said, Aunt Jenny,' urged Duncan, as soon as the six were fairly through the lodge gates,-'you said that the little thrashers did not all live. What made them die?'

'The first that died was the one Aunt Clarry had brought me the eldest, the liveliest, the boldest, and the most affectionate of them all. None of the rest fluttered to meet me, and came at my call as he did—“ twe-et, twe-et, twe-et"-so pleased was that little birdie to see me approach, so intelligent and loving was he. I suppose his wing was not clipped enough: the young feathers grew out very quickly, for one day he astonished me by taking flight all across the room, then on to the rails of the piazza, when, after an admiring survey of a neighbouring tree, he made straight for its inviting foliage, but, failing to reach it, fell to the ground.'

'Oh aunty!' cried Maggie in alarm; and did that kill him ?'

'No; his wings were strong enough to break the fall and support him to the ground, though not strong enough to bear him in the air. He chirped very proudly, and looked surprised too, as he surveyed the new world below; then jerked up his head at me when I called and scolded him, as if he had performed a wonderful feat; and when-fearing a cat might be in the way-I ran down to secure him, he seemed more disposed to avail himself of his new liberty than to be carried back to his companions. After that, he tried again to reach the tree; and when a second time on the ground I tried to coax him to fly up to me, he did make several attempts, but could not raise himself to that height. Naughty little pet! He seemed perfectly wild with delight at his newly discovered powers, and made the other three almost as giddy as himself, for they all

began to hop and fly and flutter about my room and the piazza, and I had enough to do to restrain them. That very afternoon, before I could clip their wings a little more, Mr. Impudence made a third attempt to fly off the piazza, and this time reached the tree in safety,-he who ought to have set the rest a good example !'

'Perhaps he thought he was setting a good example by being the first to fly,' observed Duncan. 'Did he come back again all right?'

'I grieve to say he did not. He hopped from branch to branch, seldom losing sight of me, coming as near as the boughs would let him, but yet afraid to venture upon the long flight back. I stood calling and coaxing, and stretching out my hand with food, and then went down. below and renewed my invitations; but no! He was like that boy we saw the other day, afraid to jump the ditchmaking many attempts, yet never getting up the necessary amount of courage for the spring. My little thrasher came to the end of the boughs to ask me to fetch him, as I had fetched him from below; but how could I? The tree had a tall, straight stem, and the branches could not be reached. When the negroes came home from work they might bring a ladder; but supposing one of them should get into the tree, the bird would not be caught by any one but me. Meantime it was growing dark and chilly, and by the tone of the chirp I knew the poor little bird was not only frightened, but hungry and very miserable. He had been accustomed to sleep in a snug warm nest with the other three; so when at last there was no alternative but to leave him out all

night, you may be sure I went to bed quite as unhappy as he was.'

It was such a pity, Duncan and Maggie thought, that he had not been kept in a cage as soon as he was old enough to fly they only wondered he had not fallen off the piazza long before.

'Yes, Dunny; we often find, when it is too late, that it would have been better to do something different. The piazza-rails had been made safe by a net; but it was the rapid growth of the feathers that surprised me. When the quill feathers had first begun to come, I cut off what seemed a good long piece from one wing; but an inch or so from a half-grown wing would be scarcely missed among the full-grown quills, and this I did not think about soon enough.'

'And the next morning how was the little bird?' asked Maggie anxiously.

'Ah, now comes the sad part of the story! The night turned cold and rainy; and as soon as it was light I watched and called for my pet every few minutes, going out upon the piazza to look and listen, but not a chirp could I hear nowhere could I see him. Another pair of eyes were watching the tree as eagerly and perseveringly as mine, and those eyes belonged to a cat sitting underneath, and who, I felt sure, could see among the leaves some object of interest which I could not. It might be my poor pet, it might be another bird. Mine, if still there, was too feeble, doubtless, or too benumbed to chirp; or possibly it was fascinated by those terrible eyes