"Whiz!" A cannon ball struck the ground quite near to a company of
soldiers. But they marched straight onward. The drums were beating,
the fifes were playing.

"Whiz!" Another cannon ball flew through the air and struck a tree
near by. A brave general was riding across the field. One ball after
another came whizzing near him.

"General, you are in danger here," said an officer who was riding with
him. "You had better fall back to a place of safety."

[Illustration]

But the general rode on.

Suddenly he stopped at the foot of a tree. "Halt!" he cried to the men
who were with him. He leaped from his horse. He stooped and picked up
a bird's nest that had fallen upon the ground. In the nest were some
tiny, half-fledged birds. Their mouths were open for the food they
were expecting their mother to give them.

"I cannot think of leaving these little things here to be trampled
upon," said the general.

He lifted the nest gently and put it in a safe place in the forks of
the tree.

"Whiz!" Another cannon ball.