CARDINAL 21 



I don't know if I slept that night, but I was up 

 and out an hour before sunrise, and, taking the cage, 

 set out to look for him, with little hope of finding 

 him, for there were foxes in that place — a family of 

 cubs which I had seen — and, worse still, the large 

 blood-thirsty black weasels of that country. But no 

 sooner was I at the spot where I had lost him than 

 I was greeted with his loud note. And there he was, 

 hopping out from among the thistles, a most forlorn- 

 looking object, his plumage wet and draggled, and 

 his feet thickly covered with wet clay ! And he was 

 glad to see me ! As soon as I put the cage down 

 he came straight to it and, without a moment's 

 hesitation, hopped in and began feasting on the 

 seed. 



It was a happy ending. My bird had had a lesson 

 which he would not forget ; there would be no more 

 tugging at the wires, nor would he ever wish to be 

 free again. So I imagined. But I was wrong. From 

 that time the bird's disposition was changed : ever 

 in a restless anxious state, he would flit from side to 

 side of his cage, chirping loudly, but never singing — 

 never one note ; the gladness that had made him 

 sing so wonderfully had quite gone out of him. And 

 invariably, after hopping about for a few moments, 

 he would go back to the wire which had been loosened 

 and bent — the one weak spot which was now repaired 

 — and tug at and shake it again. And at last, greatly 

 to my surprise, he actually succeeded in bending the 

 same wire once more and making his escape ! 



