WHEN the sparrow awoke the next morning he found his little mate had
been up some time and had given the young sparrows their breakfast; so
he made a hasty toilet, and then flew off to find something to eat.
He remembered just where the finest worms were to be found, and he ate
a few and saved two of the largest and fattest for his little wife.
Nancy was coming out of the gate as he flew in, and was starting out
for her day’s work with her basket of matches on her arm.
“Good-by, dear Billy,” she said, as he lighted on the rickety gate and
looked at her. “Don’t run away again, I miss you so dreadfully.”
The sparrow laid the worms carefully on the top bar of the gate, but
kept one eye on them for fear they would crawl away.
“You’ll see me back in a day or two,” he said with a cheerful nod of
the head, “and it’s a pity you don’t know that your hard days are ’most
over. Keep up courage, little Nancy, and you’ll soon be as happy as a
queen.”
“That was a very cheerful little song,” she said. “I see you’re taking
those great fat worms home to your wife. I suppose she’ll like them as
well as we do sausages, though.”
“Nancy,” called a sharp voice from the window, “what are you loitering
there for? Go along, you lazy thing!” and at the words Nancy hurried
away, and the sparrow caught up his worms and flew home as fast as his
wings could carry him.
How pleased the little bright-eyed sparrow was with the worms, and how
lovingly she watched her little mate as she ate them and divided them
with her little ones! It was so pleasant to have him back again after
those dreary days!
“I think I’ll move you all over to the place I was telling you about,”
said the sparrow. “There are plenty of fine building-spots there, and
this old shanty is in a pretty bad condition. Everything is handy
there, too, and I don’t consider this a very genteel neighborhood.”
“If we live here much longer, something will have to be done to the
house; it really isn’t safe in a high wind.”
“Well, as soon as we get this business settled about Nancy, I’ll pick
out a good situation and build,” answered the sparrow. “Now I’ll be
off, for there’s no time to lose, as I promised Mrs. Polly I’d be back
in good season.”
“Do come again as soon as you can,” said the bright-eyed sparrow,
blowing some dust off his neck; “I shall miss you dreadfully.”
“You’ll see me back just as soon as I can get hold of that piece of
silk,--perhaps to-morrow. It all depends upon Posy, you know. Good-by,
my dear;” and he kissed his little wife very affectionately. “Good-by,
young uns;” and he was off again. As he looked back he saw the little
bright-eyed sparrow standing in the doorway and looking wistfully after
him, and he threw her a kiss before he passed out of sight. “She’s a
dear little thing,” he said to himself, “and I know I’m not half good
enough for her, but I really won’t stay away so long again. It wasn’t
very comfortable at home then, I must confess; the babies were little,
and teasing for food most of the time, and she was so taken up with
them that she didn’t take much notice of me.”
With these thoughts passing through his little brain the sparrow sped
on till he came in sight of the house where Posy and Tom lived. He flew
straight to the dining-room window, and found Mrs. Polly and the canary
delighted to see him back.
“Don’t begin your story till the barn-cat and the house-cat are here,”
said Mrs. Polly; “they’ll be very anxious to hear it;” and Polly gave
a shrill whistle in imitation of the noise boys make when they whistle
through two of their fingers. It was repeated several times, until Mrs.
Winton called from her chamber window,--
“Don’t make such a frightful noise, Polly; you’ll drive me crazy.”
Soon the barn-cat appeared hurrying along, and the house-cat followed
more slowly, for she considered a graceful and dignified carriage of
the utmost importance.
“How are you, my dear creature?” said the sparrow to the barn-cat;
“I knew you’d pine away while I was gone. I’ve thought of you every
minute, too, and couldn’t stay away from you any longer.”
“Don’t make a fool of yourself,” answered the barn-cat crustily.
“Come, let’s proceed to business,” said Mrs. Polly, her quick eye
interrupting a very loving glance that the sparrow was bestowing on the
barn-cat. “What have you seen and heard about the child Nancy?”
“I’ve both seen and heard her,” answered the sparrow. “She confides all
her troubles to me, but she thinks I can’t understand a word she tells
me; and when I’ve told her how sorry I am for her and what we’re going
to do for her, she often says, ‘What a pretty little song that was,
Billy! it seems as if you wanted to comfort me.’”
“Well, how is she getting on?” asked Mrs. Polly.
“Worse than ever. She has to walk very far to sell her matches, to
places where she has never been before, and her feet are lame and
painful. We must get her away from there as soon as possible.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised if Posy would bring out her sewing soon,”
said the house-cat. “I heard Mrs. Winton tell her she didn’t like to
have her run about in the hot sun so much,--that she had better take
her playthings on the piazza where it was cool; and Posy said, ‘I guess
I’d better make a new dress for my dolly, for her’s hardly got a dress
after her name.’”
A slight rustling was heard behind the bush where the sparrow was
seated, and all quickly turned in that direction. Before the others
knew what had happened, the barn-cat was down from the window and in
the bush, and the next minute they saw her chasing a large rat across
the yard towards the barn. Quickly as he ran, they saw he was old and
gray about the mouth; and when he turned and gave a quick look back,
they saw he had long yellow teeth with one of them broken off.
“Graywhisker!” they all exclaimed in a breath. “If she can only get
him!”
Quick as the barn-cat was, old Graywhisker was quicker, and darted
into a hole under the barn that was the private entrance of the rats,
just as the barn-cat reached it. She had the satisfaction of clawing
the tip of his tail; but it was too slippery for her to hold, and it
slipped through her claws. She went back to her companions with rather
a crestfallen air.
“Splendidly done, my dear creature!” said the sparrow; “you almost got
him.”
“I’ll have him yet,” said the barn-cat as she washed her rumpled fur;
“to think of his listening again to our conversation!”
“He can’t do any harm, fortunately,” said Mrs. Polly. “All he can do is
to sneak around and play the spy.”
“I sometimes fear that he may do the little gray kitten some
mischief,” said the canary; “she is so small and helpless, and Major
says he has so much spite against her.”
“He wouldn’t _dare_ to touch her,” said the barn-cat fiercely. “I
wouldn’t sleep a wink till I’d paid him off if he harmed her.”
“Hush!” twittered the sparrow, “the children are coming.”
Posy appeared, dancing along in her usual happy way, with the corners
of her little white apron held up with one hand and in the other a
small china doll. When she reached the piazza, she let the corners of
the apron fall, and out rolled the contents,--bits of bright-colored
ribbon and silk and lace.
“Now, my dear Miss Pompadour,” said Posy to the china doll, “you sit
right down here while your mamma makes you a beautiful ball-dress. You
must be very careful of it, because it’s going to be made of my very
bestest piece of silk;” and Posy held before the dolly’s eyes a piece
of red ribbon with figures of gold thread embroidered on it.
“That’s gold, Miss Pompadour,” continued Posy,--“those bright yellow
spots. I don’t suppose you know it, for you don’t know much, and what
little you do know you don’t know _for certain_. And I shall make a
pocket in it, because you’re very apt to lose your handkerchiefs. I
showed a pocket in one of your dresses to Harry Mason the other day,
and he said, ‘Ho! that isn’t a pocket! that’s only a rag of a pocket!’
I told Tom about it, and he said Harry Mason was a very unpolite boy!”
A little twitter in front of her made Posy look up from her work, and
hopping on the gravelled walk was a little sparrow. He didn’t seem
to be at all afraid of her, and hopped about and twittered in a very
cheerful way.
Then came the barn-cat stealing softly towards the little sparrow. She
would take a few steps, and then sit down and pretend she didn’t see
him. He evidently didn’t see her, for instead of flying away he hopped
about as confidently as if there were no such thing as a cat in the
world.
The barn-cat came nearer still, and crouched in the way she always did
before she sprang, and Posy couldn’t bear it any longer.
“Go away, you naughty kitty!” cried Posy, dropping her work; and
running towards the barn-cat she caught her up in her arms.
“You mustn’t catch the dear little birdies; I’ve told you so a great
many times,” said Posy, walking towards the barn with her. “You go and
stay with your babies, and try to catch some of the ugly old rats.
Michael says they eat up Major’s oats, and he’s going to buy a trap and
catch ’em in it;” and Posy put the barn-cat inside the barn-door, and
then went back to her work.
She didn’t see a pair of small bright eyes shining in a hole around
the corner of the barn, nor see the ugly face with gray whiskers they
belonged to; nor did she hear him say with a vicious smile, “Catch ’em
in a trap, will he? I guess he’ll find out that it isn’t so easy to
catch an old rat as he thinks. Look out, my dear Posy! you may hear
from the ugly rats in a way you don’t like.”
Posy went back to her work on the piazza; but the sparrow had flown
away, and Posy hunted in vain for her little piece of red ribbon with
the gold figures embroidered on it.
“Where has that ribbon gone?” said Posy, anxiously pulling over the
little heap of bright-colored silks. “Dear me! the very beautifulest
piece I had, and I was going to make a ball-dress for Miss Pompadour
out of it. How disappointed her will be!” and Posy was almost ready to
cry with disappointment herself.
All this time the sparrow had the piece of red ribbon safe in his
little claw, and was flying away with it to the old swallow’s nest
under the eaves of the piazza where he had slept of late.
[Illustration: “Posy appeared, dancing along.”--_Page_ 110.]