A Boyhood in Scotland 



But here is an illustration of the better side 

 of boy nature. In our back yard there were 

 three elm trees and in the one nearest the house 

 a pair of robin-redbreasts had their nest. When 

 the young were almost able to fly, a troop of 

 the celebrated "Scottish Grays," visited Dun- 

 bar, and three or four of the fine horses were 

 lodged in our stable. When the soldiers were 

 polishing their swords and helmets, they hap- 

 pened to notice the nest, and just as they were 

 leaving, one of them climbed the tree and 

 robbed it. With sore sympathy we watched 

 the young birds as the hard-hearted robber 

 pushed them one by one beneath his jacket, 

 all but two that jumped out of the nest and 

 tried to fly, but they were easily caught as 

 they fluttered on the ground, and were hidden 

 away with the rest. The distress of the be- 

 reaved parents, as they hovered and screamed 

 over the frightened crying children they so long 

 had loved and sheltered and fed, was pitiful to 

 see; but the shining soldier rode grandly away 

 on his big gray horse, caring only for the few 

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