CHAPTER IV. 
BLUE- BIRDS. 
“AH, Miss Harson, such a beautiful bird!” cried 
Clara, rushing in excitedly the next morning. 
“ He was all blue, and he sat down on a little branch 
and sang so sweetly, and then he flew away.” 
“ And we almost caught him,” added Edith regret- 
fully. 
“You might have quite caught him,” said her 
brother, looking very wise, “if you had only put 
some salt on his tail.” 
“ What good would that do ?” asked Clara in aston- 
ishment. “ Can’t birds fly with salt on their tails ?” 
Malcolm laughed long and loud, but the governess 
said kindly, “It would do no good at all, dear; it 
only means that if you can get near enough to a bird 
to put salt on its tail, you can get near enough to 
catch it. But we do not w T ant to catch the pretty 
birds, who come to us with such sweet tidings of 
spring, and make them miserable by shutting them 
up in cages.” 
“ No, ma’am,” replied Clara. “ If I had caught 
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