in it."

[Illustration: JACK AND THE THRUSH'S NEST.
_Page 36._]

"Oh," said Jack, "how splendid! What a treasure! It does seem a shame,
though, to take it from the birds."

His delight soon got the better of his scruples, especially when he
heard the gardener say,--

"There are too many birds about here already. Missus does encourage them
so, that they are as bold as possible. I can tell you, Master Jack, who
gets most of the cherries. It is not us that does; it's them birds,
especially the thrushes and blackbirds. I'm up early, and I see; and I
hear 'em too before I'm up. There they are, at the fruit as soon as 'tis
light. They have their breakfasts hours before you get yours. One
wouldn't grudge them a few cherries now and again; but to clear the
trees as they do is downright greediness, I say. And I wouldn't be hard
on them for taking a few currants, for we have plenty of them; but they
just go and strip off the largest and reddest of them, and leave the
stalk hanging, and that's all that's left of a fine bunch. Then as to
the pease--you like pease, don't you, Master Jack? your grandpa's
uncommon fond of 'em--well, I have to sow the pease pretty thick, or,
I'll warrant ye, we shouldn't have a tidy row come up at all. I have to
dodge about with netting and scarecrows to keep what we do get; for I
hate a patchy row, I do. Last winter was a very cold season. I don't
know how you found it in London, Master Jack, but here there was a long
hard frost for three weeks. We'd had a good deal of rain; then it turned
to snow, and froze and snowed again till the snow lay pretty thick all