170 More Tales of the Birds 



were beginning to be less in my thoughts, and 

 I was beginning to get hammered down by hard 

 work and punishment into an ordinary dogged 

 young sinner, when something happened which 

 brought the old life into me again, like a shower 

 of rain on a crop in August. 



" One day, when I was working at the bottom 

 of the big school field, with a squad of young 

 criminals, under the eye of a task-master, I 

 heard from the other side of the thick hedge 

 the note of a yellow-hammer. Yes, it was the 

 yellow-hammer's song, ' a little bit of bread 

 and no che-e-se ; ' but I knew in an instant 

 that it was not the voice of a bird, and I knew 

 of only one human creature who could whistle 

 the song so exactly. It was the signal by 

 which Nelly used to make me aware of her 

 arrival, when she came over the fields to see 

 me and Mag at Miss Pringle's. 



" My heart, as they say, nearly jumped into 

 my mouth. I can't describe to you how it was ; 

 I only know that I went on digging with my 

 eyes full of tears for of course the first fancy 

 that Nelly was really there, fled away almost at 



