Downs and Dungeons 129 



cage-door ; in a moment it was open, and Lintie 

 was gone. 



I cannot tell you whether those linnets were 

 his own friends and relations ; but I think that, 

 thanks to the Ornithologist's true instinct, he was 

 not far from his old home. And as the summer 

 was all before him, and the hearts of linnets 

 are kind, and Nature in sweet air repairs all 

 damage quickly, I cannot doubt that his sky soon 

 cleared, and that the heavy London thundercloud 

 rolled far away out of his horizon. 



