The Secret

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Secret

By DOROTHY JOY WILSON

Three girls lived alone in a big house on the edge of a forest while their father and mother went to England.

There names were Elsa, Vera, and Mina. Elsa was the big sister, and Vera and Mina were the two little .sisters.

For a while they thought it was good fun doing all the house-keeping themselves, but they soon got tired and would have liked to play instead. " I wish I were a bird," sighed Vera one day. " Then I wouldn't have to wash dishes, or sweep floors or make beds." Perhaps Vera was a little lazy at times.

" Wouldn't it be lovely!" sighed Mina too. " I should love to be a fantail with pretty coloured feathers." She may have been a little vain.

" Well," said Elsa, who was always very sensible, " I think we should go and ask Mother Owl if she can do anything about it for us. I should love to build a nest, and have some little birds of my own."

Mother Owl v/as at home, and very pleased to see the girls. " The blackbirds and thrushes have told me how kind you are to the birds," she said, " giving them such a lot of crumbs to eat." •

Elsa told her what they had come about, and Mother Owl said she'd think about it. How happily they skipped away home. They knew what that meant, and next morning they got up early, and cleaned out the bouse and locked the door before they went to see Mother Owl.

" Cross your fingers and count one hundred," she said at once, " and don't worry me again 'til winter."

That was easy. In a minute the big sister and the two little sisters had all turned into three little birds, the prettiest little birds in the world, with soft blue feathers all over except their wings, which were tipped with gold.

At first they didn't know each other. Then Vera twittered, " I'm the Verabird. Which are you?" and the others twittered back, " I'm the Elsa-bird." " I'm the Mina-bird." And for a little while they just stood and looked at each other, and told each other how pretty they were. All that day they had a lovely time flitting about in the tree-tops, eating seeds and berries and drinking tiny drops of water at the edge of the river. Now, they decided, it was time they got busy building a nest. Each of them had found a very nice father bird to help. The Mina-bird began collecting pieces of stick and dry grass at once. " I've got a lovely place," she said. "It's in the crook of a branch just above the river. I shall be able to watch the fish swimming about below me as I sit." She really wanted to see herself in the water whenever she peeped over the edge of the nest. I'm afraid she was rather vain. , " I've got a better idea than that," said the Vera-bird, " I shall make my nest on a sheep's back. Then I will be able to travel all over the place on her back and see all sorts of interesting things." She certainly was lazy. All she had to do to make her nest was to perch on the sheep's back and pull some wool out with her beak. The Elsa-bird was busy making her nest too. She had chosen a strong

tree, sheltered from wind, and rain, and sun, and well out of the reach of little boys and girls. She was always sensible.

They worked for a week, and then their nests were ready. Next they all laid three eggs in their nests and they were ready to sit. The Mina-bird was very comfortable. She just loved sitting on her nest listening to the bubbling stream, and watching the fish swimming in the water below. And, best of all, she loved to peep over the edge of her nest and see how pretty she was.

The Vera-bird was enjoying herself too. Her nest was as soft and downy a bed as you could wish, and she was quite happy, jogging all over the place on the sheep's back. The Elsa-bird was quite contented. She loved to dream of the day when

she would have three dear little blue birds in her nesfc. Then it began to rain, and all the little birds sat tight in their nests to keep out the rain dampness. The Mina-bird was rather alarmed as the river began to rise. ' Surely it won't sweep my nest away," she cried, and that is just what it did. The Minabird fluttered off just in time to see •her nest and three spotted eggs go sailing away down the river. " It's very discouraging," she sighed. " I shali not build another nest." And she said goodbye to her father bird and she went hunting for worms in the garden. The next day the sun shone again, and all the birds were happy. All except the Vera-bird, and she was very miserable. Early in the morning she had been wakened by the barking of a dog. It was mustering time, and before she knew what was happening she found herself cooped up in a shed with hundreds of other sheep jostling her sheep hither and thither. She sat over her three dear little eggs as long as sho could, but before long a man grabbed the sheep and the Vera-bird flew up into the ralters just in time. " Did you ever see the like of this!" the man called out to his friends, and they all crowded round to have a look. Of course they had to pull the nest to pieces to shear the sheep, and they put the eggs on n ledge. The Verabird looked at them very sadly, but there wasn't anything she could do about it so she flew away and played with the Mina-bird under the rose bushes in their own garden. She didn't know where her father bird had gone. And all the time the Elsa-bird sat on. The very next day sho heard a tiny "cheep cheep!" and a small downy birdling crept out of one of the spotted eggs. The next day another was hatched, and the next another, and all three had wide-opon hungry mouths. So the Elsa-bird went to hunt worms for them in the garden. Flere she found her sisters playing in the bushes, and she really felt very sorry for them. "I've got so much to do," she said, " and my father bird is very lazy. Would you help me get seme breakfast for my babies?" " Oh, I know where to find a lovely fat grub," said the Vera-bird. " Just wait a minute." Soon they were all very busy. When Father bird saw so many women about he decided he wasn't wanted, and flew off to find his mates. All the summer long the three sisters fed the Elsa-bird's babies, and they grew big and strong, and noisy. And they were just like the sisters to look at too, soft blue bodies and their wings tipped with gold. Then tile berries began to ripen on . till® tteees., " It's. time, we went, home,"

said the Elsa-bird. " Juiit think, soon mother and father will be back from England." So the three sister:? and the Lisabird's babies wont to csll on Mother Owl. She was delighted to see them- " Put the key on the fro::rt door-step, she said, " cross your lingers upside down and count backwards from a hundred." It took longer to tu: - u back into a girl again, but at last even the Vera- • bird, who was very bad at counting backwards, managed to gut right down to number ono. Of course the little birds couldn't do it. The girls kept them for a present for their father and mother. And you c£:n guess how pleased they were. "I've never seen such pretty little birds before," their mother said. " Where did you get them?" " Elsa found them in f. bush," said Vera. Wasn't that clever of her?" Their mother thought it was very clever. " They must be very rare, she said. " I've never seen any like them before." . Of course the girls didn't tell tneir secret. As for the little birds, they lived the rest of their lives in the carden. Sometimes they would fly away into the bush for the day, but they always came back to sleep Everyone said they were the prettiest birds in the world, and sometimes v isitors would go out iuto the bush and look for mord of them. The three girls didn't W * word, and of course none over guessed