104 IN THE GREEN LEAF 



there in the middle o' the night, same as you 

 does at times." 



This I readily promised not to do ; indeed, 

 for reasons of my own I should certainly not 

 have remained there after nightfall. 



My watch was a fruitless one ; I did not see 

 the warmint, nor even a trace of it. It might 

 have been there all the same, however. 



However, Robin discovered me there ; he 

 was welcome, one need not say. His advances 

 were of the most interesting and attractive 

 nature ; half shy, half confident, cocking his 

 head first on one side then on the other, his 

 full bright eyes glancing sharply about in all 

 directions, until at last he had summed me up. 

 Then he made friends. 



Two centuries and a half ago one writer said 

 of him : 



" Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren, 

 Since o'er shady groves they hover, 

 And with leaves and flowers do cover 

 The friendless bodies of unburied men." 



If the swallows sweeping over the meres of 

 Crowland visited St. Guthlac, we may be sure 

 that the robins and the wrens were near at 

 hand. 



