Show birds bird of old orchard worried by meanness of bully sparrow I 1 by THORNTON BURGESS J JENNY ENNY WREN was upset no nc doubt about it jenny wren was upset you had only to look at her to know that her tall tail which she usually carries in the most pert and saucy way imaginable actually drooped she had done what she had set out to do she found out who the stranger in the old orchard was but she had been treated so rudely and she had been told such astonishing things by the stranger that her usual high spirits were quite crushed 1 I never felt so small in all my life said she as the other feath 41 1 I never felt so small in all my life said she ered folk of the old orchard crowded around her after the call on the stranger then you must have felt mighty small chuckled goldie the oriole you know jenny wren really is a very little bird jennys eyes snapped and she turned her back squarely on goldie he actually told me that he liked my house very much and if the doorway was a little larger he would take it Pim himself self now what do you think of that no one knew what to think never since anyone could remember had they heard of such a thing do you mean to say that he had the nerve to say that he would have turned you out of your own home if the doorway was larger asked chippy the sparrow jenny nodded and her eyes snapped with anger yes she replied more than that he said that there are several houses that he likes the looks of and when he makes up his mind which will suit him best he is going to move in and if there is anyone living there they will have to move out everyone gave a little gasp of astonishment ment and for a few minutes no one could find a word to say it was hard to believe that anyone could even think of such a thing to say nothing of boldly saying that they meant bant to do it 1 I I 1 never heard of such a thing in all my life declared chippy did he say who he is jenny wrens eyes sparkled mischievously chievous ly yes she replied he said that he is a relative of yours no such thing declared chippy hopping up and down with indignation dig nation no relatives of mine ever talked that way what he said persisted jenny wren he said that he belonged to the sparrow family that his name is bully that he has come out from the city to enjoy country life and that his ancestors by which I 1 suppose he means his great great ever so great grandparents had come from a place called england now you know all that I 1 was able to find out you must feel proud of your relative chippy I 1 say that he looks like a foreigner broke in welcome robin while poor little chippy hung his head 1 I knew the minute I 1 looked a at him that he belong here but comes from a distant country but he come from a distant country said gentle winsome bluebird it was his ancestors who came from england its all the same insisted welcome robin he belong here and the sooner we can get rid of him the better never in all my life did I 1 ever meet anybody so bold and impudent if he had been reasonably polite I 1 say a word but it looks to me as if he would make a lot of trouble in the old orchard we ought to do something about it then everybody began to talk at once and their voices were sharp and indignant as they tried to decide what should be done bully the english sparrow heard them as he went about trying to decide which house would suit him best but he seem to be at all troubled by what he heard in fact he chuckled as he listened 0 T W burgess service |