"
"What is the matter?" said the little girl.
"A baby bird has fallen out of the nest, and I am too lame to-day to
venture down the steps; and papa and mamma are in great distress, and
the babies in the nest half-starved, and can't have their dinner
because the old birds dare not leave poor chippy a moment lest some
stray cat should get him. See the little thing down there in the grass
just under the woodbine!"
Florence descended the piazza-steps at two jumps, and was back with the
young bird in her hand.
"Now where shall I put him, Miss Ruth?"
Ruth Elliot pointed out the nest. It was in the thickest growth of the
woodbine, just over their heads; and when Florence had climbed in a
chair, she had her first look at a nest of young birds. The little city
girl was delighted.
"How cunning!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how awfully cunning! four in
all--three of them with their mouths wide open. No wonder this little
fellow got pushed out. Here, you droll little specimen, crowd in
somewhere! He isn't hurt at all, for he seems as lively as any of them."
As Florence jumped down from the chair, Susie and Mollie and the Jones
girls came up the walk.
"What are you two doing?" Mollie called out.
"Florence has just restored a lost baby to his distressed family," her
aunt answered.
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