Scr aggies' Last Day 79 



rile. I suppose mine will over this poor, 

 scraggedy, helpless little bird, yet I felt 

 at that moment as I have felt often 

 since, that there are many men I could 

 far better spare than her, many men 

 with whom two months' daily association 

 would teach me less than did this little, 

 raggedy, ailing song-sparrow. Her 

 cheerfulness, her courage, her dauntless- 

 ness, her self-reliance, her perfect trust 

 and confidence, her evident affection, 

 were all lessons to remain in memory. 

 After she had once given her trust, it 

 never failed. I could handle my books, 

 moving them to and fro over her, plac- 

 ing them anywhere near her, and there 

 was not the slightest evidence of fear; 

 and if anything did alarm her and she 

 could get into my hand and feel its 

 firmness around her, all tremors ceased. 



