The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-09-29

Dapsy and Mopsy in despair. ooh!
will he take our pretty eggs9 Don't!
don't"
But in spite of their p:tiful en-
treaties, the heartless boy picked up
the eggs before their very eyes, put
them in his coat pocket, and then
stalked away with them, followed by
the plantive cries of the sparrows.
AS soon as he was gone they crept
to the nest with throbbing hearts, and
found it robbed of every one of its
precious treasures. They could
scarcely believe their own eyes. AL
most heart broken, they dragged
themselves about, proclaiming their
misfortune to all their friends. Then
number of birds from the marsh
and the adjoining woods and fields
gathered in solemn council to con-
dole with Dapsy and his wife, and to
discuss certain questions that Dave
Lenkers and every other boy should
think about. If Dave could have
heard all they said, no doubt his face
would have burned with shame.
cit was heartless deed, deed
worthy of Modoc Indian" piped
the brilliant cardinal grossbeak.
"That it was," cried the rested tit,
in his shrillest tones. eff the boys
only knew how much suffering they
cause a bird by robbing its nest,
they'd think forty times before they
committed such crime. How would
they like to be robbed of something
they valued very highly9"
"That's SO, that's SOL" assented the
nuthatch, scuttling up and down
sapling bole. II saw that very boy
who stole your eggs, Mopsy, riding
bicycle the other day. Wouldn't he
make an ado, though if somebody
should steal that from him and run
away with it, How angry and sorry
he would be!'
"And yet he wouldn't feel half as
badly as l do over the loss of my
eggs," sobbed Mopsy. ooh, my
pretty treasuresl What a sweet little
family I should have hadl And how
they would have sung by and byl"
81 tell you, friends, what we ought
to do" chartered the red winged
black bird, sitting atilt on an elder
berry stalk. "It would only serve
that boy right if we should desert
this farm altogether and go else
where; then he'd never hear another
bird song"
"And that isn't all that would hap
pen," whistled the meadow lark from
the grass. eff we weren't here to kill
the worms and insects, they would
destroy all the fruit and grain. 1
wonder how the boy would like
that"
"He wouldn't like it at all" scolded
the bobolink; she's too fond of ap-
Piles and peaches and berries, the sell
fish glutton! He wants his dish of
fruit at every meal, and I heard the
chickadee say that he eats two or
three apples every evening in winter.
And then how he does relish the
white, spongy bread that his mother
makes out of the wheat that grows in
these rich fields which we clean of
worms!"
"But what do you suppose he will
do with our eggs?" asked Dapsy, who
could not be consoled; to which none
of the company could make salts
factory reply.
However, l happen to know that
David put the eggs on shelf in his
room, thinking them very pretty or
naments; but in a few weeks all of
them burst open, scattering the shells
on the floor Thus his cruel robbery
never did him any real good, and yet
caused a number of birds a great
deal of suffering. After that day the
birds of the marsh were always shy
of him, crying, whenever he came
near:
"Nest robber! nest robber"
"Of all persons, farmers and farm
ers' sons ought to be the most gentle
with the birds" moralized the wise
red wing. "We will always be their
friends if they will let u.s. Er-