Mrs. Jenny, " Papa's one eye and 

 crooked leg were objects of great pride 

 to his family." 



" The old scoundrel," muttered Mr. 

 Wren, who looked upon his father-in- 

 law as no better than a robber, but to 

 keep peace in the family he said no 

 more, and with a gush of song flew off 

 to gather some particularly nice sticks 

 for the nest. 



For some days Mr. and Mrs. Wren 

 were too busy to pay much attention 

 to their neighbors. Mr. Wren, unlike 

 some birds he knew, did not do all the 

 singing while his mate did the work, 

 but fetched and carried with the utmost 

 diligence, indeed brought more sticks, 

 Mrs. Wren told her friends, than she 

 had any use for. 



" Such a litter, ma'am," said Bridget 

 the next morning to the mistress of 

 the house, " as I do be afther sweepin' 

 up from the porch ivery day. A pair 

 of birds, I do be thinkin', are after 

 building a nest in that owld tin pot on 

 the wall. Its this day I'm goin' to 

 tear it down, so I am. Birds are 

 nuisances anyway, and its not Bridget 

 O'Flaherty that's goin' to be clanin' 

 afther them, at all, at all." 



" Oh don't ! " chorused the children, 

 we want to see with our own eyes how 

 the birds go to housekeeping in the 

 Spring. Its ever so much better than 

 just reading about it. Tell Bridget, 

 mamma," they pleaded, "to leave the 

 pot alone." 



Mamma, who found bird-life a delight- 

 ful study, was only too willing to give 

 the desired command, and thus it 

 chanced that Mr. and Mrs. Wren grew 

 quite accustomed to many pair of eyes 

 watching them at their work of build- 

 ing a nest, every day. 



" Do you know," said Mrs. Wren, 

 placing a particularly fine feather in 

 the nest one day, " that I have a notion 

 to name our birdlings, when they 

 come out of their shell, after our land- 

 lady's family ? I think it is not more 

 than fair, since we have got a cute 

 apartment and no rent to pay." 



"A capital idea!" chirped Mr. Wren, 

 " her children have such pretty names, 

 too." 



" And pretty manners," returned 

 Mrs. Wren, who, being of such genteel 

 birth, was quick to recognize it in 

 others. " Let me see, there's just six. 

 Pierre, Emmett, Walter, Henry, Bobby, 

 and that darling little fair-haired girl, 

 Dorothy. I had my head tucked 

 under my wing the other evening, but 

 all the same I heard her speaking a 

 piece that she said she had learned at 

 school that day. 



" Yes," said Mr. Wren, tilting his 

 tail over his back and singing loudly, 

 " I think we are very fortunate to have 

 such a family for our neighbors. You can 

 pick up so many things their mamma 

 says to the children, and teach our 

 birdies the same lessons, you know." 



"Of course,'' said Mrs. Wren, stand- 

 ing on the edge of the pot and eyeing 

 her work with great satisfaction, "I had 

 thought of that before. I already have 

 some of her sayings in my mind. But 

 come, we musn't be standing here 

 chattering all day. The nest must be 

 ready to-morrow for the first egg." 



" Hm! You don't say ?'' replied Mr. 

 Wren, beginning to count his toes, 

 " Why, bless me, to-morrow is the 

 twelfth day. Well, well, how time flies 

 when one is busy and happy," and off 

 they both flew, singing as they went 

 for very joy. 



[TO BE CONTINUED.] 



39 



