A Lucky Magpie 183 



a terrible scrape, but mine for disobeying Miss 

 Pringle and keeping the bird in the stable ; and 

 Nelly's, too, for leading me on to it. And we 

 must take great care of Mag now that he had 

 got us out of the scrape, and keep him, to re- 

 mind us not to get into any more. 



11 And we kept him to the last day of his life ; 

 and as for scrapes, I don't think we ever got into 

 any more, at least, not such bad ones as that was 

 eh, Nelly?" 



And seeing me open my eyes wide, he 

 laughed, and asked me whether I hadn't found 

 it out long before the story came to an end, 

 and then, putting his arm round his bonny wife, 

 he added, "Yes, lad, here's my old Nelly, and 

 she'll climb a tree for you to-morrow, if you 

 ask her." 



I gave my old friend Nelly a good kiss (with 

 the entire approval of her husband), made my 

 bow to the magpie, and ran home to my grand- 

 father's. And as we sat together that night, I 

 got him to tell me the story over again, from 

 the moment when he took a fancy to the boy 

 who caught his horse, to the time when he gave 



