KATY ROBIN'S CAPTIVITY.
Not long after the rainy day, Mr. and Mrs. Robin were invited to Mrs.
Bill's nest, to give their advice regarding her future prospects.
"Here am I," said she, "a lonely, sorrowing bird. Soon I am to part from
my dear children, who will, in the order of nature, form new ties, thus
leaving me still more desolate. I have a proposal from a robin, who
has, like myself, been cruelly bereft of his mate, to become his wife. I
feel it is due to the relations of my husband to ask their approbation
before I take so important a step."
Mr. Robin politely waited for his wife to give her opinion, but she
nodded her head in desire that he should speak first.
"You have not mentioned the name of the robin," he said; "but if he is
one whom you can esteem and love, I advise you to accept his offer. Do I
express your opinion, my dear?"
"Certainly," responded Mrs. Robin.
Mrs. Bill then uttered a peculiar cry, and a bird who had been seated on
the top of the tree, flew into the nest.
"How do you do?" said Mr. Robin, recognizing a bird that he had often
met.
"This is my friend," said Mrs. Bill, turning her head modestly on one
side.
"He will make you a kind husband," added Mrs. Robin. "I knew and loved
his dead wife."
This matter being so pleasantly arranged, the company took their leave.
When they reached home, they found the young robins absent; and they
went to the Observatory and passed an hour or two in singing duets,
after which they descended to the cottage door, wondering their children
did not return.
It was nearly an hour later, when they heard in the distance dreadful
shrieks and cries of distress, and darting from the tree in the
direction of the sound, met Jack and Molly flying at full speed, as if
pursued by an enemy.
"O, O!" groaned Jack; "I've lost my darling sister, my beloved, whom I
had chosen for my future mate."
Molly's cries were heart-rending; and it was some time before the almost
distracted parents could wring from their afflicted children the cause
of their grief.
At last, with broken sobs and expressions of anguish, Jack, trembling
with agitation, began: "We went, soon after you left this morning, to
visit Canary, and from there we went to several farm yards, where we saw
a quantity of grain scattered on the ground. At last, grown weary of
eating, as the sun was very warm, we hopped near a house under the shade
of a cherry tree. Soon a little girl came to the door, and scattered
some crumbs on the step. Katy thought she looked very much like Annie,
and began to chirp most merrily.
"The child laughed and laughed, and tried to entice Katy inside the
house; but she was not disposed to go without me. She seemed to think
she was taking too much of the attention to herself, and turned, in her
sweet, affectionate manner, to introduce us.
"'This is my brother Jack,' she chirped; 'and this is my dear Molly.'
She looked so cunning, that I hopped up and nestled her head in my
breast. The little girl then ran and called a tall boy, and talked very
loud and fast to him; but though I turned up first one ear and then the
other, I could not understand a word she said.
"They kept scattering crumbs, and we, without once thinking of danger,
advanced farther and farther, as they retreated, until Katy and I were
within the room. But we were scarcely inside the door, when, with a loud
slam, it was shut to, and we were made prisoners, though neither of us
at first realized this.
"The tall boy opened another door very cautiously, and stepped through;
but presently returned with a cage similar to that in which Canary is
confined. He came softly toward Katy; but at the same instant a
dreadful fear darted through our minds--a fear of being made prisoners
for life.
"'Take care, Katy,' I cried; 'don't let them catch you;' and I flew to
the top of the door. She flew away too; but they chased and chased from
one side of the room to the other, while all the time she uttered the
most piteous cries, as if she were pleading for her life, until the
cruel boy caught her by the tail and pulled the feathers out. The girl
then sprang forward, and, throwing a cloth over her, held her until her
brother brought the cage, when they thrust her into it.
"She lay so still upon the bottom of it that they thought she was dead;
but as soon as she began to moan, they directed all their attention to
catching me. I suppose they would not have found it very difficult, for
I was so full of anguish at the thought of being separated from my
beloved mate, that I cared little what became of me, had not some one
entered the room just as I was flying toward the door, and so I escaped.
"Molly had witnessed all the scene from the window, and was crying
dreadfully when I joined her."