44 THE CLERK OF THE WOODS 



what they think of me. " Watch him," says 

 one at last. " I must be off now after a 

 few grubs." And away she goes, while her 

 mate continues to inform me that I am a 

 busybody, a meddler in other birds' matters, 

 a common nuisance, a duffer, and every- 

 thing else that is disreputable. All this is 

 unpleasant. I feel as I imagine a baseball 

 umpire feels when the players call him a 

 " gump " and the crowd yells " robber ; " but 

 like the umpire, I bear it meekly and hold 

 my ground. A good conscience is a strong 

 support. 



In sober truth I have been scrupulously 

 careful of the birds' feelings ; or, if not of 

 their feelings, at least of their safety. I 

 began, indeed, by being almost ludicrously 

 careful. The nest was a precious secret, I 

 thought. I must guard it as a miser guards 

 his treasure. So, whenever a foot-passenger 

 happened along the highway at my back, I 

 made pretense of being concerned with any- 

 thing in the world rather than with that 

 lamp-post of a stump. What was Hecuba 

 to me, or I to Hecuba ? I pretty soon 

 learned, however, that such precautions 





