"GENERAL BEM." 283 



gently pecking my face and hands, and tried to make me 

 speak by tugging at my dress ; he sang to me a meek, loving 

 song, so softly in my ear, as he sat on my shoulder, that I 

 could not wickedly resist the good angel my precious Bern ! 



There was yet another charming trait of our pet which I 

 must mention. He was, of course, always astir very early 

 in the morning, and then, after flitting about the room impa- 

 tiently for some time, he would alight upon one or the other 

 of our foreheads, and begin to peck at our eye-lashes and 

 lids until he had succeeded in waking us both fully, then he 

 would dart away and commence singing in great glee. He 

 had grown tired of loneliness, and had no toleration for the 

 thought of wasting his sweetness ! 



His faith in our friendship was so charming. One night 

 Mr. Webber was sitting at the window, I on my knees, gaz- 

 ing out into the gathering twilight ; Bern forsook his ordinary 

 perch for the night, and alit upon my shoulder, nestling 

 closer and closer to my cheek, until his warm breast and 

 throat were pressed close to my cheek. How we loved the 

 dear little fellow I Oh, to think that I should have lost my 

 sweet pet the very next day. That, that was to be his last ca- 

 ress ! My heart feels very sad and lonely when I recall that 

 night when I remember the last farewell of my pet Bern ! 



The next morning I went from my room into another 

 the door was left open Bern followed in search became 

 finally alarmed, and darted from an upper window into the 

 wilderness of leaves below. He found his way back, and 

 would have been my own again, but a wicked woman who 

 had less soul than a wild cat-bird, startled him again and 

 again, until, panic-stricken, he fled. That evening came a ter- 

 rible storm, and my poor, poor Bern never returned. 



I leave this " ower true tale " to tell for itself the story of 

 this branch of the illustrious family of the Turdinae, as it 

 appears when so strangely humanized by being thrown into 

 intimate relations to the higher spiritualities of our race. 



