THE CHICKADEES 



with her, and regained his health. To the 

 wild creatures of the pasture, the oak woods, 

 and the swamps he is no longer a man, but 

 a faun ; he is one of their own kind, shy, 

 alert, silent. They, having learned to trust 

 him, have come a little nearer to men. I once 

 went to his hut when he was absent, and 

 stretched myself in the sunlight by his tiny 

 doorstep. Presently, two chickadees came to 

 a box of bird-seed, swinging from the pine- 

 limb overhead, and fed there, cracking the 

 seeds one by one with their bills. Then from 

 the swamp, a pair of catbirds appeared, and 

 fed upon crumbs scattered over the ground 

 just at my feet. A chipmunk ran back and 

 forth past them, coming almost within reach 

 of my hand; soon after a song-sparrow 

 (Wabbles) drove away the catbirds, and then 

 sung a little sotto voce song to me before help- 

 ing itself to the crumbs. When my friend 

 returned, he told me the story of this song- 

 sparrow; how he saved its life, and had been 

 rewarded by three years of gratitude, confi- 

 dence, and affection on the part of the brave 

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