COMMUTER'S WIFE 287 



of the bridegroom, has asked me to have the owls 

 killed, as, if they cross her path the night of the 

 wedding, ill luck will surely follow her. A nice way 

 to cast the sure result of her own folly upon Fate 

 impersonated by me ! But the owls are quite safe. 



The improvident song sparrows that built in the 

 rose spray have not learned wisdom by experience. 

 Yesterday afternoon as the wind that foretells a 

 shower was sweeping the garden, Bertie discovered 

 their second nest, in which were three young birds. 

 It was set squarely upon a broad corymb of feverfew 

 which, having gone to seed, was ready to snap at 

 any moment and the other foliage that had sheltered 

 it was beaten down. Silly sparrows ! In whose gar- 

 den were you raised ? Were there no honest bushes 

 there ? 



We slipped an improvised platform under the 

 nest and braced it with four corner stakes using an 

 inverted strawberry box as a canopy, making a 

 structure that, as Evan said, looked like the judge's 

 box on a race track. The birds seemed satisfied, 

 however, and stayed by the nest, which was thus 

 enabled to weather the storm. 



I believe that those sparrows were orphans and 



