POOR MISS JENNY'S HEART 



tance, but as the wild bird's distrust of me 

 decreased, I gradually shortened the space 

 between us. 



In this way I was enabled to make a dis- 

 covery that accounted for his peculiar note, 

 and perhaps also for his bachelorhood at a 

 season when all robinkind had established 

 itself in families. He would sing a few 

 notes, and cough; no ordinary bird-sneeze, 

 but a hard, rasping cough. I felt that I had 

 the key to the situation. He was a con- 

 sumptive. An undesirable suitor under or- 

 dinary circumstances, but here was a wife 

 with a dowry, and it would not be necessary 

 for him to work for her support. 



It was all very satisfactory to the birds, 

 no doubt, and certainly most romantic; but 

 Jenny would starve without me, and I could 

 not spend my life as her travelling maid; so, 

 when she came to me again, I put her in her 

 cage and carried her to the house; the wild 

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