ERNIE 205 



watching them, noting the number of times 

 they came in a minute, and how they mix 

 fragments of dried grass and straw with 

 the mud before taking the material aloft. 

 All the while the water murmured, and the 

 birds answered with gentle song. They 

 soon came to know me, and minded not 

 my presence; and I kept away marauding 

 village cats lean animals with pointed ears 

 and staring eyes ; a race existing on rats. 



Sometimes a little boy comes and stands 

 by me, and watches them too. He is a 

 funny little fellow, about two and a half 

 years old, with yellow curls and solemn 

 brown eyes. His name is Ernie, and his 

 father is a labourer, a very kind man. He 

 used to spend all his money in the inn, but 

 suddenly took a wife, and drank no more. 

 When Ernie is a naughty boy, he threatens 

 to go " up to pub," and Ernie wails im- 

 mediately, and is good again. 



" I got this one," says Ernie, coming to 

 the cottage door, and holding out in a filthy 



