Henry’s 
Magpie. 
(22) THE BIRD WORLD. 
“ Let us see which way she goes/’ said 
Henry. And the two children walked 
after her, Emily bringing the light wicker 
cage with her. 
Mag knew as well that they were after 
her as if she had been what the country 
people call a Christian, meaning a 
human creature. And she walked on, 
not taking to the shrubs, which grew 
thick about the hut, but along a bit of 
grass plot, at the farthest end of which 
was a row of laurels and other ever¬ 
greens. These trees hid the backyard of 
the house from the garden and small 
portion of land near to it, which Mr. 
Fairchild had given up to flowering 
shrubs and ornamental trees. 
Behind these evergreens was a row of 
palings, and as Mag drew near to these 
laurels, Henry ran forward, crying,— 
“ She will get through the palings if 
we don’t mind, and into the yard.” 
Mag let him come near to her, and 
then gave a long hop, standing still till 
he was only at arm’s length from her. 
Then she gave a second hop, alighting 
under a branch of laurel, and when 
Henry rushed forward to catch her there, 
she made another spring, and was hidden 
among the leaves. 
“ Stop ! stop ! ” cried Henry. “ Stop 
there, Emily, where you are; and I will 
run round and drive her back; and you 
must be ready to catch her.” And away 
he ran to the nearest wicket, and was on 
the other side of the laurels and the 
paling, in the fold-yard, not a minute 
afterwards. 
Emily heard him making a noise on 
the opposite side of the shrubs, as if he 
thought Mag was between him and his 
sister, among the laurels; and he called 
also to her, bidding her to be ready when 
the bird appeared. 
Emily watched and watched, but no 
bird came out, and not a minute after¬ 
wards she heard Henry cry,— 
“ Oh, there ! there ! I see her going 
across the yard towards the barn ! Come 
round ! Leave the cage! Come quick, 
Emily! ” 
She obeyed the call in an instant; 
down went the cage on the grass. She 
was at the wicket and in the fold-yard in 
a minute, and there she saw Mag, pacing 
along the yard in her coronation step 
towards the barn, being, to all appear¬ 
ance, in no manner of hurry, and seem¬ 
ing to be quite unconscious of the near 
neighbourhood of her master and his 
sister. 
“ Hush, hush ! ” whispered Henry; 
“ don’t make a noise.” And the two 
children trod softly and slowly towards 
the side of the yard where the bird was 
as if they had been treading on eggs, or 
groping through the dark and afraid of 
a post at every step. They thought that 
Maggie was not conscious of their 
approach, though Emily did not quite 
like the cunning way in which the bird 
laid her head on every side, as if the 
better to hear the sound. 
Once again Henry was at arm’s 
length from her, and had even extended 
himself as far forward as he could, and 
stretched out his hand to catch her, 
when his foot slipped, and down he came 
at full length in the dust. At the same 
instant Maggy made a hop, and turned 
to look back at Henry from the very 
lowest edge of the thatch of the barn, 
or, rather, of a place where the roof of 
the barn was extended downwards over 
a low wood house. Henry was up in a 
minute, not heeding the thick, brown 
powder with which his face and hands 
an 1 pinafore were covered; and Emily 
had scarcely come up to the place where 
he had fallen before he was endeavouring 
to catch at the bird on the low ledge to 
which she had hopped. 
But Maggy had no mind to be thus 
caught. She had gotten her liberty, and 
she was disposed to keep it a little 
longer, and when she saw the hand near 
her she made another hop, and appeared 
higher up on the slanting thatch. 
After some little talking over the 
matter, Henry proposed getting up the 
thatch; and how he managed to persuade 
Emily to do the same, or whether she 
did not want much persuasion, is not 
known ; but this is very certain, that they 
both soon climbed upon this thatch, 
having found a ladder in the yard, which 
John used in some of his work, and 
having set it against the wood house, 
and from the top of the wood house 
made their way to the roof of the barn. 
