220 TWO LITTLE DRUMMERS. 



ents came near, bowing and calling eagerly, but 

 not fluttering his wings, as do most young birds. 

 Nearly all day the little fellow entertained 

 himseK; working industriously on the fence, 

 hammering the posts as if to keep in practice, 

 as children play at their parents' life work, and 

 varying these occupations with occasional excur- 

 sions into the bushes for berries. The notion 

 of flying away from where he had been left never 

 appeared to enter his head. He seemed to be 

 an unusually well-balanced young person, and 

 intelligent beyond his years, — days, I should 

 say. 



