Pigeons. \ \ 7 



as he caught sight of it, and heard 

 its note. The tears rushed, blinding, 

 into his eyes. 



" This also ! " he muttered to 

 himself more than to me. "The 

 flowers, the sky, the trees, the river, 

 AND A PIGEON ! " 



Perhaps it was the one thing he 

 had missed and regretted. Perhaps 

 that soft cooing call was needful to 

 complete for him the fulness of 

 beauty in this sweet country- world. 

 I looked at him, and kept silence. 



" Do you think my bird will re- 

 member me when I get back ? " 

 demanded he, after a while. 



Certainly I thought so, and said 

 so. A fortnight is not so very long 

 a time, after all And then we fell to 

 speaking generally of Pigeons. One 

 does come down from feelings to 

 facts rather suddenly, sometimes. 



I told him that that handsome 

 bird yonder was the largest and 

 handsomest of English wild Pigeons. 



