THE BIRDIES' THRENODY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2409, 3 May 1900, Page 68

THE BIRDIES' THRENODY.

A STORY FOR WITNESS LITTLE FOLK. 3y the author of' "Vis. Chiistmas Angel," j "Santa Glaus and, C 0.," ''The Dreamland Star," eie, ' j

Little Vi was looking" out 'her window one afternoon. The poor, little giiT to 'an invalid,'and iSwa/oiie of her greatest pleasures that, thanks , to .mothcrV-mahac.ement, her couch was.Vo placed that she could see all that occuT-rsd within -a radius of a couple of hundred yards. ~ Nor was that all, for Vis -biiiliant imagination caused "her to see .aany things through her window which, though net j.ctual. were none the. less real to her. On the particular afternoon which I am writing of, Vi was woi'kirg at a beautiful lace collar which she intended to' make a present cf to her friend, Miily Wilson; for though Vi was littieunore than 10, she was, nevertheless, so clever thaf^her crocheting needle that the daintiness and delicacy of her work

was tuch it could put that of many grown-urj ceople to shame. She felt very h&Dpy at her Work; all the while singing a pretty little song, -^of', which these are some of "the word's: ■ ' " -

Spring once said to a nightingale : ■ linean to give you birds a ball — Birdies great aacl birdies small, All dancing together at the bh dies' ball." . . They danced all clay till the sun was low, '±"he"mo:.her birds oagan to £,0;

One and all, fcofti yieat and small Piew home to their nest from the, birdies' ball. Vi had sung thus far when she stopped to lock out her window again. The sun was setting behind the. trees, which stood in a clump about 50yds from her window, for they were so tall that at about v half-past 4 every day they seemed to meet the sun on his journey to his other dominions. Vi dropped her work upon her lap with a little sigh, resolved to watch the shades of'evening gather. (Gradually the twilight took the place of the dj-ing daj-light, Mid a's Vi watched, the scene gradually" merged into a beautiful landscape covered with snow. 1 The'- snow was everywhere covering the ground with its soft fleecy vmiteness, wJiile, ,from. the tress there hung gigantic icicles. - The soft, pale moon &hcd its faint lustre over all, irradiating the landscape with '"an "ethereal beauty which suggested to' the watcher's eyes^ a scene from one of her books about fairyland. Perfect silenca reigned over all, unbroken save by xhe strange weird whispering sound which xho icy cold breeze made as it blew on its endless way. A bright ray of moonlight fell softly, caressingly, upon a' bough <fi one of the trees" near Vis window, on which were

perched about a dozen little sparrows. Only sparrows !! — yet Vi always regarded these little birds as her frauds. Poor little birds ! how

cold and shiver ng they seemed as they hid

their little heac'.j beneath their <soft, downy wings. As watched them huddling together for warmth's sake, one 'of the poor little creatures with a piteous chirp fell from the bough, killed by their relentless enemy, the cold. Ruthless Jack, Frcst ! Very great, indeed,

•was the havoc he accomplished tliot night;

neither rank nor size did he respect — magpies* and sparrows being victims of a common fate. Hundreds of birds, both great and small, ths

dawning of a_new day 'found dead,

Jiiglit long, as Vi watched, the awful destruction continued ; and while she still looked the landscape appeared again to be transfigured —this time by "the coming day. Soon the

sun arose, and Vi noted with a pathetic sis>h

the number of poor little dead birdies which frtrewecl the snow-covered earth. Very soon the surviving birds came together on the trees' to discuss the gloomy situation. Each

one of them had his pathetic story to iell r

iov from • almost every family Japk Frcst -had selected at least one victim. Poor birds ! Drawn together by one common bond of woe,- each poured hi? piteous tale into his neighbour's sympathetic ear. All the little jealousies- which had marred the happiness of their previous Joyful life were new forgotten; each felt friendly to the other in his clay of distress. But the younger birds were too much taken up by their sorrows to

think of the future ; tut teveral priey heads, < who had faced many a winter, gathered to-

gether to talk over what seemed to be ar> unalterabi3' hopeless situation. Of the many winters each had encountered, none had been of such severity as this. But having grown old in trouble, their experience taught them ■to look to the welfare of the survivors rather than mourn the dead too extravagantly. "For," said an old magpie. notHl for his wisdom as well as his age and his sharpness of tongue, "it is useless to mcke a fuss about things which we cannot alter, however much we try." 30. after much talking, the bird-father* re-

solved to call a meeting of all the birds in

creation, to decide what had better be done to defeat Ja?k Frost's cruelly. 3o a sprightly minah Avas sent to summon the boll bird from the depths of th.c woods. This was done, and shortly ofter hundreds of birds flow from everywhere" around in aiuivfr to his clear, bell-like note. They assembled on the snew beneath the tree on which Vi had seen the little sparrows shivering in the cold/ forming a semi-circle around its base. 3y unanimouS consent-, the-irritable old rup^pie already referred to became the spokesman of the assembly. When the birds had ceased arriving; as. they did in a short time. Mr Magpie stood up and addressed the birds in the followcngr manner : — • _ •'My dear children," he said, <wilh a majectic sweep, of both hi 3 wings, which evoked an approving "caw" from the other mag■pies, "I need not dwell on the cause of our meeting here this morning; it is indeed a and occasion. Each of us has caute for

mourning" — here a sad sound rippled '] among the assembled birdc — ''and co 1 shall ', rot bring to your moinds our very sad

troubles ; but let me briefly state the purpose of our meeting in council. We have a most dread enemy, his name is Jack Frp3t." " As he spoke the much-hated name a shiver passed through the whole company. "JSToav, it is very clear," continued the magpie, ''that if we don't do something, we too shall in turn become victim? to his evil influence. >-But whpt ii to be done? We older birds have already discussed the r^atter, but we cannot find a remedy, so when cur good friend Mr Thrush suggested that we should call a "meeting of the council and see what could then be agreed, I at once saw Lhe wisdom of the suggestion, and we have, os you see, acted upon it accordingly. Nov., I put the question to the meeting: What arc we to do to defeat Jack Frost's awful power? Le,i no one be afraid to ofTer a suggestion. And now, my children, 1 leave you to discus,-* the question for a few minutes among yourselves."

Old Air Mag-pie stepped down amidst enthusiastic appfaupe from his audience, who ivere plepsed to see that they had &t:ch a wi«e head at the top of their altahw. Even the old jackasses forgot to laugh, ib they usually did at everything, so great was their resnect for old Mr Magpie. After some minutes hid elapsed lie again stood up and ordered silence. Instantly all chirping and twittering was hushed as though by magic. -'"Anyone having a remedy to susgesfc is requested to come forward,'" hf> Pfid. "Do not be afraid, my children, of being laughed at, as thia is a matter of life or death."

IL ' • Mr Magpie sat clown and awaited the result of; his oiatory. But no effects were apparent, save the dead silence which succeeded his 'reseating himself. At' last the- father birds j began to think that all their tiouble was vseless, and were about to disperse the council, when there was a little flutter in one corner of the semicircle of birds, and into the enc-losed spacs walked a little robin redbreast. i With stately step and slow the audacious ! little bird calmly made his way to where I the group cf elders stood : and with a graceful I bow announced that he had a plan which, if i put into execution, would assuredly defeat the S enemy. Instantly many of the smaller birds I stretched "their necks to obtain a better view ! oi_ the little genius. I 'Master Robin, however, did not appear at all discountenanced by their scrutiny. ' but, ' on the contrary, he seemed to enjoy it im- ! mensely. Soon some of the older birds, ! eager to hear the boastful redbreast's plan, requested him to show" all the birds the truth I of hi° assertion by telling them what it was. So with admirable composure, -he confronted the birds' council and addressed the meeting : "My dear fellow sufferers,'' he began, "I want "you to listen patiently to my plan and not to think little of it until I have told it all. We all know," he continued after having paused a second or two to allow every bird's attention to become fixed, "who has done all the mischief : it is Jack Frost. We have all sustained some loss, as our good f riond Mr Magpie has already said ; you have most of vmi los^ some relative, but I have received a greater blow than any of you." "Here Robin blushed till he was redder than ever, and a spasmodic sob gathered beneath his little red waistcoat. Lifting his head. Eob continued his speech. "'My loss," he said, "is none other than Jenny Wren — my poor, dear,' loving Jenny. li came as such a blow to mo, when' l heard it that I determined to avenge her death. Bub whom was Tto be avenged upon? Jack Frost. But 1 am, indeed, nothing against the cold and might of our enemy, and so I set to work to discover who is.

"Who is the one against whom even Jack Frost's extremes}; cold has no effect? Why, our friend and wellwisher old Father Sun, of course ! He can chase Jack Frost away, and can, if need be. utterly defeat him. 4 Bui v, ill he do this? T cannot tell for sure, but I think he will if we ask him. And so T propose that we go in a body to old Father Sun this evening as he sets, and entreat him to deal with Jack Eros', on our behalf. Perhaps! if we co and ask him nicely he will do this for us ; for he hos always been ot:r .friend. And now, thanking you for your very kind attpntion, J shall step down." Robin suited the deed to the wore 1 . Never had. he been so utterly triumphant, so graciously received and applauded as on this ccci&ion; never had his words been listened to with greater attention; never had the nation of ,birds valued his services so highly, and so, fairly well pleased both with himself and the world at large, Eobin rejoined his frisilds.

And then the birdies began to become excitecl. They chirped and chattered and talked about the wisdom of Robin's plan till they would have inevitably turned the little fellow's head, had he not been seized with crief about his dead love, and £oiie into the forest to bury her beneath the now fast-rnelt-insr snow.

Very soon, as Vi watched, she saw all the birds form a line in double file and troop over towards the west, headed by Hobin Redbreast, who' liad returned from liib last farewell to Jenny Wren. And a* they slowly walked, the little watcher at her Window distinctly hoard them singing this song of lamentation :

To ihee, old Father Sun, we come, Each with his tale of woe, To ask thy help to guard our home 'G-ainst our remorseless foe.

Oh. Father Sun, pass us not by, For we aie dwellers 'neath thy sky, And will thon help u^ in our lieccl, To fic,ht the cold Jack Frost? Fo • if thou wilt not, then, indeed, In truth wp all are lost. Oh. Father Sun, pass us not by, For we are dwellers 'neath thy sky.

Across th.° broad stretch of intervening swa^e the sun looked brightly down upon the little group gathered around, and his, face brightened more and more as ho looked down upon the birds. And, to Vis astonishment, ho replied : My children all, be of good cheer, Thy foe will never more come near, For ere la-morrow's mom is lost

I'll kill thy foe, the bad Jack Frost!

Vi was very much amazed to hear" the sun speaking co kindly to the little birds ; but he pui prise graw greater as Robin Redbreast stepped forward, and th.us addressed the sun : We thank thee kindly, Father Sun, For help that thou wilt give, And when to-morrow's work is done We'll in thy glory live.

But as Robin spoke the words the whole scene became indistinct; the sun lost hid resplendent brilliance ; the whole company of birds seemed to melt inlo air, and the scene assumed the same appearance as it had had when Vi looked at it first, only it was much darker.

If Vi had been astonished by the certainly remarkable events Avhich had taken place be-

foro her ej-es,, si c wa= oven jaoi'e amazed by the singular way in which the vision fadad.

"Could J have been dreaming ii all?" she asked hcr..eit\ '\E don't think 1 did, but yet '' and Vi laugliEcl to herself as the reflected how stiange it all had been. Just thwn the dcov opened, and mother came in.

''Awake already, dai-linf;?"' she a=ked. "I wasin hope* thai, you would sloop nil morning."'

"Was I asleep, mother?" Vi aslcod half incredulously, eyeing hsr mother es she lit the lamp. "Yes, dear, and very sound asleep, too. Were you dreaming?" _A far-away look came into Vis bright eyes, giving them a dreamy expression, strange to see in one &o young. ''Ye?, mother, I suppose I must have been."' But Vi did r.ot feel altogether sure of it, for in the morning when she awoke she found, on looking out her wirclow, that the landsoap.; wa? quite bright with sbiiiishine, a.nd that several little birds wore perched on the si me bough as that v.Lich Vi had seen occupied before—then, shnering with the cold; r.ov.-, chirping happily in the sunlight. ''C4ood old sun!"' Vi whioosred to herself as she looked up to the sky where the sun tihone in all his golden glory. "So he xspi his promise to the lixlle birds after all! £ow very glad they all seem." A. 0. W.

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