THE HERO ENTERS SUDDENLY 



tion, to cleanliness, to cheeriness (for, hav- 

 ing made them dependent on me for every- 

 thing, their happiness became my duty), 

 and as many other demands as you can 

 fancy, and you will have some idea, but not 

 a perfect one, of what my possession of the 

 robins involved. 



" But," you suggest, " what if in our 

 rambles we are confronted by the problem 

 of an injured or a helpless bird? Are we to 

 leave the little creature to die? " 



If you choose to pick the waif up with the 

 thought of giving it a chance of recovery 

 and its freedom at the earliest possible date, 

 well and good; but remember that it would 

 be far more merciful to leave the little crea- 

 ture to starve or to fall into the jaws of the 

 cat than to teach it to look for and be de- 

 pendent on your care, only to perish miser- 

 ably through your neglect. 



There is really no excuse for taking a 

 23 



