said she should sit down by a bend in the stream and be comfortable, for
she was sure she could not listen well if she were afraid of rolling
into the water; while little Annie sat by her sister's side, holding her
hand and shutting her eyes.

If you had seen those children then, you would have wondered what they
were doing, they were so serious and intent; but by the quiet look upon
their faces they seemed to enjoy the music of the softly-flowing stream.
So low was the sound, that you would hardly have noticed it if you had
not been thinking about it.

Often during this visit they would have games at "harking," as they
called it; for they said, "We may as well hear as much as we can, as our
father and uncle and aunts did when they were children." They would shut
their eyes for some minutes, and then they would tell each other what
they had heard. I can tell you their ears grew very sharp with all this
practice; for, like other children, they had their quiet moods, when
under the lofty forest trees or in the garden nooks they would listen,
not for fun but for enjoyment.




III.

_TOM'S BIRDS' EGGS._

"The goldfinch, and blackbird, and thrush,
Are brimful of music and glee;
They have each got a nest in some bush,