MADAM ON GUARD. 249 



on guard, hopping and flying silently from one 

 point of view to another, no doubt keeping close 

 watch of me all the time. 



Meanwhile the chat himself had not for a 

 moment ceased calling. For some time his voice 

 would sound quite near ; then it would draw off, 

 growing more and more distant, as if he were 

 tired of watching one who did absolutely nothing. 

 But he never got far away before madam recalled 

 him, sometimes by the squawk alone, sometimes 

 preceding it by a single clear whistle, exactly in 

 his own tone. At once, as if this were a signal, 

 which doubtless it was, his cries redoubled 

 in energy, and seemed to come nearer again. 



Above the restless demonstrations of the chats 

 I could hear the clear, sweet song of the West- 

 ern meadow-lark in the next field. Well indeed 

 might his song be serene ; the minstrel of the 

 meadow knew perfectly well that his nest and 

 nestlings were as safely hidden in the middle 

 of the growing lucern as if in another planet ; 

 while the chat, on the contrary, was plainly 

 conscious of the ease with which his homestead 

 might be discovered. A ruthless destroyer, a 

 nest -robbing boy, would have had the whole 

 thing in his pocket days ago. Even I, if I had 

 not preferred to have the owners show it to me ; 

 if I had not made excuses to myself, of the 

 marsh, of bushes too low to go under ; if I had 



