But mark me, Mrs. Wren, mark me, I 

 say! Should any rascally Jay, neigh- 

 bor or not, ever dare approach that 

 tin pot over yonder, or ever alight 

 on the roof of the porch, I'll, I'll—" 

 Mr. Wren fairly snorted in his anger, 

 and standing on one foot, doubled up 

 the toes of the other and struck it 

 defiantly at the imaginary foe. 



"Oh, I dare say !" tauntingly said 

 Mrs. Wren, " you are the sort of fellows 

 that I heard little Dorothy reading 

 about the other day. You would fight 

 and run away, Mr. Wren, that you 

 might live to fight another day." 



Mr. Wren lifted one foot and 

 scratched himself meditatively behind 

 the ear. 



" Good, very good, indeed, my dear ! 

 It must have been a pretty wise chap 

 that wrote that." And Mr. Wren, 

 who seemed to find the idea very 

 amusing, laughed until the tears stood 

 in his eyes. 



Mrs. Wren smoothed her ruffled 

 feathers and smiled too. 



" Tut, tut, Jenny," said the good- 

 natured fellow, " what is the use of us 

 newly married folk quarreling in this 

 fashion. Think how joyous we were 

 less than one short hour ago. Come, 

 my dear, the family have all left the 

 porch, save Emmett. Let us fly over 

 there and take a look at our treasure." 

 And Mrs. Wren, entirely restored to 

 good humor, flirted her tail over her 

 back, hopped about a little in a coquet- 

 tish manner, then spread her wings, 

 and off they flew together. 



Mrs. Wren the next day deposited 

 another ^%^^ and the next, and the 

 next, till six little speckled beauties 

 lay huddled together in the cosy nest. 



" Exactly the number of our land- 

 lord's family," said she, fluffing her 

 feathers and gathering the eggs under 

 her in that truly delightful fashion 

 common to all mother birds. " I am 

 so glad. I was greatly puzzled to 

 know what names we should have 

 given the babies had there been more 

 than six." 



" I hadn't thought of that," admitted 

 Mr. Wren, who in his joy had been 

 treating his mate to one of his fine 

 wooing songs, and at length coaxed 

 her from the nest, ' ' but I dare say we 

 would have named them after some of 

 our relatives. 



" Why, of course," assented Mrs. 

 Wren, " I certainly would have named 

 one after my dear, brave papa. Mrs. 

 John Wren says that boys named after 

 a great personage generally develop 

 all the qualities of that person." 



" Oh, indeed ! " sniffed Mr. Wren, 

 " that was the reason she named one of 

 her numerous brood last year after our 

 rascally neighbor, Mr. Jay, I presume. 

 Certainly the youngster turned out as 

 great a rascal as the one he was named 

 after." 



Mrs. Wren's head feathers stood on 

 end at once. 



" For the life of me," she said tartly, 

 " I cannot see why you always fly into 

 a passion, Mr. Wren, whenever I men- 

 tion dear papa, or Mrs. John, or in fact 

 any of my relatives. Indeed — but 

 sh — sh! There's one of our neighbors 

 coming this way. I verily believe it 



is, oh yes, it is, it is " and Mrs. 



Wren wrung her toes, and cried cheet, 

 cheet, cheet^ and dce^ dee^ dee! in a truly 

 anxious and alarming manner. 



[TO BE CONTIUED.] 



79 



