The Virginia enterprise., 1900-01-05
The Rearing of F.nff.

The Rearing of Fluff.
One morning Mary and | rushed down
from lessons III Il great hurry. The men
had been trimming the ivy on the house
all the morning. and we were very any
ious to see what they had done.
Ont at the garden door we went and
round the corner OF the house | was
first.
"Oh, Mary: Here's IL >parrowS neS,
those Eorrid. cruel m,n have thrown
down." | cried.
1t WAS Il very untidy nest, with straw
loosely woven outside. hut inside such i,
mass of warm feathers. it warmed your
fingers when YOU pat them in. There it
WAS lying on the ground among the trim
mings of the ivy.
rs there nnyth ny in it," asked Mary,
coming up.
felt carefully all round it.
No: only some tiny bits of hrokcn-,l
feathers are trodden down so flat ut the
bottom.
'Oh. there's Il DOR little sparrow be-
side it,. exclaimed Mary.
Sure enough so there waS. sitting on
the ground with its ugly round, I'M
frdged body and tiny wings. in which
the wing feathers that were To he We're
eyes and heak. which ii lifted and
dropped again as looked at it.
"Oh. Mary. just look. The poor little
thing isn't t1edyed. DO you think [
could rear it ?" l said
II don't know" said Mary douhtfully.
Il hardly think SO.
| looked at it. hesitating for a few
u,
have :, cll;lnrr and h'si,ltS I hated the
thought OF touching the little ftutherleSS
1hing-it W;lS almost as bad as picking
up Il frog, and | hadn't hardened myself
to that yet although could just make
myself catch Il tadpole.
But the poor little thing looked SO help
less and forlorn. could not leave it
there for the first cat that might come
alcng, so | picked it up very yingerly and
put it into the nest.
Il shall try to rear it," | said. IN
get 4 box and put the hest i'll. and keep it
en- the windnw sill in the $choulro,m.
Miss Wilkins went nind if ask her,
and if it dies it will die comfortably any
how
:" Went boldly MP to the Srloolroom
with my little foundlin.. Miss Wilkins
Was putting UP the books.
Miss Wilkins" | said IL was ht ginning
I" love it alrrat!y' Those hnrril men
had thrown it down ont Of its nest On t.
the gravel. Its Il wonder it wasn't killed.
Just look at it
viNtu it Il little. and it put up Il Very
>haky head ont of the round hole in the
nest and opened its yellow frinytu b,ak
oh what an ugly little wretch" cried
Miss Wilkins. And it hasn't Il feather
"n it: youth certainly not lie able to rear
Il Want to try" l answered. May I
1ow-Sil. and then it will get all the
warmth OF the sun in the ,laytmc?"
We'll, | don't mind: but it's sure to
die, and you can't have all that untidy
straw making il mess in the roonl."
u want to find Il box and put ct all
Miss Wilkins was really very kind. She
found me Il box. and we put the nest into
it. and set it in the Garner where | want
ed it to be-
The next thing WAS to feed it, This
needed >ont care. Oatmeal and water
was the food wanted for it. but the nat-
meal bin >toc,l i'll IA corner Of the kitchen.
and if our cook was not in Il good temper
it might be Il little difficult to get a sou-
Ger and some meal!
| hoped she would not be in the kitch-
that if she was not there. | would go
steadily about the business and not hurry
too much, for if | hurried | should be
sure to break the saucer or spill the
meal, and then l should get /, ScndinS i'll
stead of what | wanted
Mrs. jrnc> Wa> not there: so very Qui-
city and carefully | went to the china
cupboard. climbed upon a chair. and Sc
cured the saucer. got safely down again
and went across the kitchen to the meal
bin. 1t WAS hard not tn hurry.
| managed to open the heavy lid and
set it back against the wall. and was just
div ing for the meal when | heard Il voice
behind me.
What be you a-,loing of YOU little
mShtitf?'
l jumped so that the saucer slipped out
of my hand-fortunately into the meal
and the ld of the bin came down crash
ON my hand.
You'll kill Yourself one o these days"
cried Mrs. Jones. catching the iii and
putting it up again. IF your head
wasn't pretty thick it Il have been
cracked that time.
You startled me Sn." I said. strug-
Cling to keep the tears back, "and
only wanted Il little oatmeal for my
sparrow.
"The re, take what You want. and don't
rcme hCthering me again." said Mrs.
Jones. but what Won should want with