A NEW ACQUAINTANCE 241 



impossible not to surmise that the hummer had 

 selected this particular spot for his summer 

 hom.e, and as such meant to hold it against all 

 comers, exercising over it all the rights of sov- 

 ereignty. Let the verdin and the phoebe go 

 elsewhere. 



The phcebe pretty certainly would have gone 

 elsewhere, hummer or no hummer. As to what 

 the verdin wiU conclude to do, things being as 

 they are, my mind is less clearly made up. He 

 is not so swift as his buUet of a rival, but I fancy 

 him to be a pretty dogged fighter, able to be 

 whipped a good many times without finding it 

 out. Still, as between the two, if I were com- 

 pelled to wager, I think I should risk my money 

 on the hummingbird. 



