MORE TALES OF THE BIRDS 



THE LARK'S NEST 



A STORY OF A BATTLE 

 V 1 



I 



IT was close upon Midsummer Day, but it 

 was not midsummer weather. A mist rose from 

 moist fields, and hung over the whole country- 

 side as if it were November; the June of 1815 

 was wet and chill, as June so often is. And 

 as the mist hung over the land, so a certain 

 sense of doubt and anxiety hung over the hearts 

 of man and beast and bird. War was in the 

 air as well as mist ; and everything wanted 

 warmth and peace to help it to carry out its 

 appointed work ; to cheer it with a feeling of 

 the fragrance of life. 



The moisture and the chilliness did not 



B 



