off an' leave a gun like that. Poor fellow! I do hope, Abram,
you didn't come down on him too awful strong. Maybe he lost his
mother when he was jest a little tyke, an' he hasn't had much
teachin'."

Abram was completely worn out, and went early to bed. Far in the
night Maria felt him fumbling around her face in an effort to
learn if she were covered; and as he drew the sheet over her
shoulder he muttered in worn and sleepy tones: "I'm afraid they's
no use denyin' it, Maria, I WAS JEST MORTAL FIERCE."

In the sumac the frightened little mother cardinal was pressing
her precious babies close against her breast; and all through the
night she kept calling to her mate, "Chook! Chook!" and was
satisfied only when an answering "Chip!" came. As for the
Cardinal, he had learned a new lesson. He had not been under
fire before. Never again would he trust any one carrying a
shining thing that belched fire and smoke. He had seen the
hunter coming, and had raced home to defend his mate and babies,
thus making a brilliant mark of himself; and as he would not have
deserted them, only the arrival of the farmer had averted a
tragedy in the sumac. He did not learn to use caution for
himself; but after that, if a gun came down the shining river, he
sent a warning "Chip!" to his mate, telling her to crouch low in
her nest and keep very quiet, and then, in broken waves of
flight, and with chirp and flutter, he exposed himself until he
had lured danger from his beloved ones.

When the babies grew large enough for their mother to leave them
a short time, she assisted in food hunting, and the Cardinal was