Baby Pitchers Trials | Page 6

in; but the space was
very narrow, and she was so eager that she could not see very well. So
he separated his hands a little more, and then she saw the bright eyes
and round head of a bird.
"Oo!" she exclaimed.
"Robin," said Bertie.
"Alive?"
"Can't you see?"
He stopped, and Flora took another look.
"It is alive. I am so glad."
"But you must not clap your hands. That makes a wind, and he is
awfully afraid of a wind. It makes him shake like everything. I wish
you could feel his heart beat."
Flora eagerly held out her hands.
"Do let me," she pleaded, earnestly. But Bertie said, "Not yet; wait till
he gets acquainted."
"Will he, do you think?"
"Oh, yes. He knows me first rate now. I have had him ever since last
night. I was home yesterday, sick. I am home sick to-day. That is why I
am here. I didn't go to school. I got my feet wet."

"Through your rubber boots?"
"Over them. I went in knee deep, filled my boots full. Took them off,
and emptied out the water; but that didn't do any good. The cold stayed
in. I had caught it, you know, and there was no shaking it out. When
you once catch a cold, it sticks. There is something growing in my
throat. Tonsils, mother calls it, I believe; but I guess it won't amount to
much."
"Does it hurt?"
"Oh, no! It was awful in the night, though. You see I could not get out
yesterday for the rain."
"No more could I."
"It was precious dull staying in the house with the tonsils, so I kept
looking out of the window, and wishing it would clear off."
"Just like me," said Flora, gleefully.
"And I got awful tired of that window!"
"Me, too."
"I wanted to smash my fist through it, but that would not have been
doing the proper thing, so I kept my feelings to myself. By-and-by I
heard something go, peep! peep! I couldn't think at first what it was."
"It was the robin."
"Yes, but I did not know it was the robin. I thought it was some other
bird up in a tree. By-and-by it came again. Peep! peep! right under the
window, and then I began to look about me. But I did not see anything
for a long time. At last I opened the window, and there, hopping about
the wet piazza, was Mr. Robin. I went out and got him in a twinkling."
"Did he want to be caught?"

"Couldn't help himself."
"I should have flied away."
"With that?" Bertie pointed to a broken wing.
"With two of them."
"You could not fly if you had a dozen wings like that. It is broken."
"Oh!"
"And that accounts for his being on our piazza. I don't know what
lamed him, but I think it was the gale or a stone."
"I guess it was something," said Flora, eagerly.
"And it was lucky that I happened to hear him when he cried peep,
peep, instead of puss. If puss had been round, wouldn't she have
snapped at him?"
"Wouldn't she?" echoed Flora.
"She would have made mince meat of Mr. Robin. There would not
have been so much as a feather left. I tell you what I mean to do. Nurse
him up till he gets well."
"Me, too."
"Yes, you can be the doctor, while I am at school; and if he does get
well, won't I make a tip-top cage for him?"
"He will get well."
"Perhaps. But you must be careful about his diet. Don't give him
anything hurtful to eat, you know."
"I won't. Give him milk and sponge cake."

"And worms. You must not forget the worms."
"Dig some?"
"Yes."
"Dig some now?"
"That wouldn't be a bad idea. He was not hungry last night, and he
would not eat this morning. Perhaps a nice fat worm will tempt him."
Flora knew where to look for nice, fat worms, so she left Bertie to take
care of Dinah and the robin, while she went in pursuit of a breakfast for
the birdy. There was a family that lived under a certain plank, and as it
was a large family there was always somebody at home. When she tried
the door it would not open; that is to say when she got to the plank she
could not lift it. The wet clay sucked it down so hard that although she
tugged till she was red in the face, she could not move it.
"Oh, dear!" she cried.
And then she went to the other end of the plank and tried that. But it
stuck fast. It would not move an inch. Then she got angry