134 Next to the Ground 



to go back the way they had come. Instead 

 they ran round and round, sticking their heads 

 through the cracks, and trying vainly to make 

 their bodies follow the heads, until Joe came 

 to see about them. 



Patsy came too. Joe took out his captives 

 one by one, very carefully so as not to hurt 

 them in the least. He meant to tame them, 

 and see if he could not raise whole flocks from 

 them. He passed them over to Patsy, charging 

 her strictly to be also careful. He was on his 

 knees beside the coop. She stood right be- 

 hind him. When he got up, with the last 

 bird in his hand, her hands were empty. Patsy 

 was not over-tenderhearted — she was even 

 then severe upon Joe if he missed a shot. But 

 he saw tears in her eyes, and her lips trembled 

 as she said, trying to speak airily : >■' I could n't 

 hold the birdies Joe — not after — I felt their 

 little hearts — flutter so. I thought, what if 

 you an' me, an' Pappy, an' — yes — an' mother 



— were all in a great b-i-g jail — with a 

 giant as high as the sky pickin' us up — an' 



— an' — we couldn't get away — an' knew 

 the old giant meant to — to eat us — an' then 



— well ! I just had to let 'em go." 



Joe was a boy, not an angel, so of course 

 he scored Patsy roundly for her breach of trust, 

 but down at the bottom of his heart he was 

 just a little glad she had done what she had 



