Up against the tree they put the step-ladder; and although it was
almost out of reach, a sharp jack-knife cut the twigs that held it up,
and down it fell from the high tree with a heavy thud on the hard
earth, and the five little orioles never breathed again! Of course the
boys didn't know there were any birdies in the nest, or they wouldn't
have done it for the world; but that didn't make it any easier for the
papa and mamma bird.

Now, dear children, never let me hear you say, "It's no matter,
they're only birds, they don't care."

Think about this nest: how the mother and father worked at it, weaving
hair and string and wool together, day by day! Think how the patient
mamma sat on the eggs, dreaming of the time when she should have five
little singing, flying birds to care for, to feed and to teach! and
then to have them live only two short days! Was it not dreadful to
lose her beautiful house and dear little children both at once?

Never forget that just as your own father and mother love their dear
little girls and boys, so God has made the birds love their little
feathery children that are born in the wonderful nests he teaches them
to build.




DICKY SMILEY'S BIRTHDAY.

"In order to be especially beneficial and effective, story-telling