OUR HOME BIRDS. 
13 
victorious arms of the Scotch and how could they 
fly if they hadn’t wings ?” 
Miss Harson sat down on a chair and laughed very 
heartily. 
“ When I was older than you, Malcolm,” said she 
presently, “ I used to read in the old Saxon Chron- 
icles about King Alfred and his troubles with the 
Danes ; and this old history used to say that ‘ this 
winter, the army came to the town of , and sat 
down before it.’ This meant that they besieged the 
place, but I used to fancy them sitting in a row 
or circle in front of the town, and wondered what 
good that could do. Beginners are very apt to make 
mistakes, and you have been mistaken about the fly- 
ing ; that is all. When Patrick complained, the 
other day, of that cross dog in the neighborhood 
that flew at all the passers by, you did not suppose 
that the animal had wings, did you?” 
“No,” was the reply, as Malcolm began to see 
things in a different light. 
“ It is a very common expression,” continued Miss 
Harson, “ to say that people sought safety in flight, 
but this does not at all mean that the person referred 
to spread a pair of wings and mounted into the air 
like a bird. Let me help you off with your wings ; 
they must be very awkward incumbrances. What 
are they made of? Mosquito-netting, I think, and 
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