of two— two that bored holes in barns and tin 

 rain-pipes, for the fiends possessed them. 



Out in the broad grain-fields near my home, a 

 farmer built a large barn. It was tight, well- 

 shingled, and sided with white pine-boards that 

 lapped at the edges, so that not a streak of day- 

 light crept in anywhere. 



It was early spring. One day shortly after 

 the barn was finished, and while it was still 

 empty, a flicker lighted upon the ridge-pole and 

 hammered. She (I am not sure of the sex in 

 either of the cases) jumped into the air at the 

 first rap. How it sounded ! Never before had 

 she struck anything with such a ring to it. 

 What a glorious hole for a nest there must be in 

 there ! "Why, if the brood should happen to 

 come twenty strong (which was not past hoping 

 for), each young one could have a bed and a 

 room all to himself— a condition of affairs alto- 

 gether unheard of, up to this time, in flickerdom. 



Now I saw the fiicker when she discovered this 

 barn, and while I must say that she did not 

 utter one of these exclamations, yet I do believe 

 she thought them all, for she instantly set to hunt- 

 ing for a good place at which to begin boring. 

 [180] 



