EXPULSION OF THE BOOKS 75 



bad a case ; to his mind we are nothing but 

 bigger rooks, somewhat misshapen, perhaps, 

 featherless, deprived by some accident of the 

 faculty of flight, and not very well able to take 

 care of ourselves. 



One summer day the rook came into the 

 daughter's bedroom, where she was washing 

 her hands, and had just taken off a valuable 

 diamond ring from her finger and placed it on 

 the marble top of the washing-stand. The rook 

 came to the stand and very suddenly picked up 

 the ring and flew out at the open window. The 

 young lady ran down stairs and on to the terrace, 

 calling out that the bird had flown away with her 

 ring. Her mother quickly came out with a field 

 glass in her hand, and together they watched the 

 bird fly straight away across the park to a 

 distance of about a third of a mile, where he dis- 

 appeared from sight among the trees. The ring 

 was gone ! Two hours later the robber returned 

 and flew into the dining-room, where his mistress 

 happened to be ; alighting on the table, he 

 dropped the ring from his beak and began 

 walking round it, viewing it first with one, then 

 the other eye, uttering the while a variety of 

 little complacent notes, in which he seemed to 



