The Tale of Bobby Bobolink | Page 6

himself. And he said it was much too fast for his taste.

VIII
THE HOUSE IN THE MEADOW
BOBBY BOBOLINK and his wife had talked a good deal about the home they were going to have.
And unlike some people, who are forever planning things but never begin the actual doing of them, they soon set to work to build their nest.
First, of course, they had to find a pleasant place for it. So they looked the ground over carefully. Bobby Bobolink favored the exact center of the big meadow building site, for he said that if Johnnie Green ever came into the meadow he was more likely to take a short cut across a corner of it than he was to walk straight through the middle.
"You may not know," he said to his wife, "that Farmer Green doesn't care to have the grass on the farm trampled down."
But Mrs. Bobolink replied that there were other things to think of. She said that she liked to live in a rather moist place--that such a spot was comfortable in hot weather. And furthermore she wanted to be near water. "If you need a drink on a warm day it's not always convenient to go far out of your way for it," she pointed out.
Well, Bobby Bobolink saw at once that Mrs. Bobolink had made up her mind, and there was no use trying to change it. Besides, he wanted to please her.
"Then, my dear, where would you like to have our house built?" he asked.
"I should prefer to settle in the lower end of the meadow, near Cedar Swamp," she replied. "The ground thereabouts is just damp enough to suit me. And there's always plenty of water to drink in the swamp.... Besides," she added, "it's somewhat marshy in that part of the meadow.
"And you won't find Johnny Green trespassing down there. He might get his feet wet!"
Bobby Bobolink turned his head away so that his wife wouldn't notice the smile that flitted across his face. He saw that Mrs. Bobolink didn't know Johnnie Green very well.
In summer Johnnie almost always went barefooted. And he never minded getting his feet wet any more than Paddy Muskrat did.
But if his wife wanted their nest near the swamp, Bobby Bobolink was willing to oblige her.
"Very well!" he said. "Let's go down there now and look for the best place to build."
So off they flew. And after a careful search they discovered a snug little hollow in the ground that entirely suited them both.
Since the spot was somewhat moist, early in the season as it was the grass grew thick and high all around, making a fine screen to prevent prying eyes from seeing what was to be hidden there.
Having decided on their building site, Bobby Bobolink and his wife began to gather weed stems, leaves and coarse grasses, all left over from the year before and dried by the spring sunshine. Those served for the outside of the nest. As for the inside, they lined that with soft, fine grasses, because they expected to keep something precious in that nest before a great while.

IX
JOHNNIE GREEN INTRUDES
BOBBY BOBOLINK and his wife had finished their new nest.
"There!" Mrs. Bobolink exclaimed, as she gave the lining of soft grasses a final pat. "There's not another thing to be done to it."
"It's perfect!" Bobby told her. "But I think I can make one slight improvement, for we mustn't forget Henry Hawk." And while his wife looked on somewhat anxiously he bent a few grass stalks over so that they completely hid the nest from anybody passing overhead.
"Henry Hawk will never spy our nest now," Bobby remarked a few minutes later, as he flew back and forth over the spot and tried in vain to catch a glimpse of their new home. "If I can't see it as near as I am, Henry Hawk will never find it as he sails high above the meadow, for all his eyes are terribly sharp."
Mrs. Bobolink then told her husband that his improvement was a fine one. And Bobby was so well pleased that he sang a song for his wife, while she rested from her labors.
After that they flew off and told all their friends that their new home was built. But they didn't invite anybody to a house-warming, for that was not their way. They never so much as told people where their house was hidden. They were afraid that some gossip might drop a hint to old Mr. Crow, or his noisy cousin, Jasper Jay, or perhaps Mr. Blackbird. And later there would be something in the nest that would have made a dainty meal for any one of those rascals. No! Mr. and Mrs. Bobolink did not intend to have their nest robbed of its treasure--not if they could help it!
Now,