174 BIRDS AND MAN 



thing occurred to trouble her mind. One after- 

 noon, when sitting alone in her cottage taking tea, 

 she saw a cricket come in at the open door, and 

 run straight into the middle of the room. There 

 it remained motionless, and without stirring from 

 her seat she took a few moist tea -leaves and 

 threw them down near the welcome guest. The 

 cricket moved up to the leaves, and when it 

 touched them and appeared just about to begin 

 sucking their moisture, to her dismay it turned 

 aside, ran away out at the door, and disappeared. 

 She informed all her neighbours of this startling 

 occurrence, and sadly spoke of an aunt who was 

 Uving at another village and was known to be 

 in bad health. " It must be for her," she said ; 

 "we'll soon be hearing bad news of her, I'm 

 thinking." But no bad news came, and when 

 she was beginning to believe that the strange 

 cricket that had refused to remain in the house 

 had proved a false prophet, the warning of the 

 owl came to startle her afresh. At noonday 

 she heard it hooting in the great horse-chestnut 

 overgrown with ivy that stands at the roadside, 

 close to her cottage. The incident was discussed 

 by the villagers with their usual solemnity and 



