56 THE SWALLOW 



to arise and go to labor. Go. May you be 

 blessed ! " 



The bat, who was not far away, and who 

 heard these words, then set up a screech of 

 scorn. 



" Naughty little bat ! " then said Jesus ; 

 " Never more shall you sing, but you shall 

 henceforth shriek as you have just now 

 done. From this time on you shall be a 

 bird loathsome and wild. You shall rise 

 but a few cubits from the earth, and only at 

 night time, in the dark, shall you flutter 

 about in abandoned houses or in melancholy 

 graveyards. Go, naughty little bat 1 " 



And so it has been. From the pretty 

 bird it was at first the bat became what you 

 all know. And the swallows became known 

 as " The birds of God." 



One thing I nearly forgot. The swallow 

 has on her breast a little red spot, like blood 

 long dried. May it not be a sign of this 

 merciful act performed for the good Jesus 

 upon the cross ? 



