MY WOODLAND INTIMATES 



side without clinging closely I think without 

 conscious intent with his little hand in mine. 

 I can never forget the affection, the trust of that 

 vanished hand." * 



The feathered folk are flitting about among the 

 branches now; a happy> harmonious company. 

 But hark! What is the meaning of that sudden 

 commotion in yonder tree-top? What stranger 

 has alighted there ? The occasional unwieldy flap- 

 ping of large wings suggests that their owner finds 

 it difficult to steady himself on the slender bough 

 that he has chosen for a halting-place. A grackle 

 makes a graceful finish for the steeple branch of 

 a spruce, but a crow seems all out of place on such 

 a delicate perch. 



Yet after all there is a certain fitness in our 

 sable friend's selection of a commanding post, for 

 he comes in an official capacity. As town-clerk or 

 court-crier he calls out, in loud, peremptory 

 tones : 



WORK! WORK! WORK! 



Is it because his discordant notes are a discour- 

 agement to the musicians, or because a great, fiery 

 ball in the east announces the full opening of day, 



* Mrs. Alice Morse Earle. 



[166] 



