CK geegee-lokh-sis. 143 



between a chickadee and other birds ; no one else 

 ever instructed the younger. Yet somehow both felt, 

 and still feel after many years, that there is a differ- 

 ence. It is always so with boys. They are friends 

 of whatever trusts them and is fearless. Chickadee's 

 own personality, his cheery ways and trustful nature 

 had taught them, though they knew it not. And 

 among all the boys of that neighborhood there is 

 still a law, which no man gave, of which no man 

 knows the origin, a law as unalterable as that of the 

 Medes and Persians : Never kill a ehiekadee. 



If you ask the boy there who tells you the law, 

 " Why not a chickadee as well as a sparrow ? " he 

 shakes his head as of yore, and answers dogmatically : 

 " 'Cause you must n't." 



CHICKADEE'S SECRET. 



If you meet Chickadee in May with a bit of rabbit 

 fur in his mouth, or if he seem preoccupied or ab- 

 sorbed, you may know that he is building a nest, 

 or has a wife and children near by to take care of. 

 If you know him well, you may even feel hurt that 

 the little friend, who shared your camp and fed from 

 your dish last winter, should this spring seem just as 



