A TRIBE OF WEED WARRIORS 247 



waiting for some one to eat it ! Ice cream, made with 

 fresh strawberries ! Don't break your neck, Nat ! " 

 For Nat had dashed off so quickly that it was no use 

 for Dodo and Rap to try to keep up with him. 



" Why do you mostly have something nice for us 

 to eat on bird-days ? " asked Dodo, cuddling into the 

 bend of her uncle's arm. 



" For two reasons, girlie. When I was a boy, being 

 out of doors made me so hungry that it always seemed 

 a long time between breakfast and dinner. 1 know 

 that little brains remember best when the stomachs 

 that nourish them are not empty. Neither Bird Chil- 

 dren nor House Children should go too long hungry ; 

 it is as bad as nibbling all day." 



" Fve noticed since I came here I haven't needed 

 even to peep in the cooky box between times. Aren't 

 you one of the seven Wise Men of — of — I-forget- 

 where ? " asked Dodo, hugging him. 



''Greece," answered the Doctor; "no, fortunately, 

 I am not, for they are all dead." 



" AVhat's that ? " whispered Rap, pointing toward 

 the river, whence a strong, rapid, musical song came, 

 ending before you could catch the syllables, and then 

 being repeated two or three times. 



"It is the Cardinal," said the Doctor, in some sur- 

 prise — for the bird was singing almost at noon. "I 

 can see his red liberty cap near the top of the tallest 

 hemlock ! " 



" Che-o — hoo — hoo," called the Cardinal, and then 

 the ice-cream pail arrived, escorted b}^ Nat. 



" This is a festival for us as well as for the Cardinal," 

 said Rap. 



