The Sorrows of a House Martin 37 



his head, while the bag was lying in the dust 

 with its mouth open. He shouted angrily, 

 scolded the boy, and bade him bring back the 

 bag directly ; and when he came, gave him a 

 kick in the back that made him squeal. Then 

 he turned round again, seized me with a rough 

 dirty hand, and wrenched my claws loose. Oh, 

 the dreadful misery of that moment ! But it was 

 only a moment. At the very instant when he 

 got me loose, the steps were pulled from beneath 

 him, and as he struggled to save himself he let 

 go his hold of me. Away I went as fast as I 

 could fly, only looking back for a moment to see 

 the man on his face in the dust, and the boy 

 running away with all his might. I owe my life 

 to that urchin's mischief. He served his master 

 out well, and I hope he didn't get beaten for it 

 afterwards. 



" Well, I flew off, as I said, and it was a long 

 time before I rested again. I was afraid that 

 sticky stuff would hold me fast again, and I 

 dipped into the rivers and scraped myself in the 

 dusty roads, till I felt I had pretty well got rid of 

 it. And no other misadventure happened while 



