Katy did so, and presently, with a beating heart, from the bush mounted to the nest.
"O Molly!" she cried, "if you had been with us, I should have been the happiest bird that ever lived."
"How like her mother she grows!" said Mr. Robin to himself as he gazed lovingly upon his youngest child.
"Every time I picked up a crumb I thought of you," said Jack--"of you alone here in the nest."
"I have scarcely been alone a moment," said Molly. "Either father or mother has been with me, and they have treated me to a delicious feast.
I shall soon become quite reconciled to my situation. But where is d.i.c.k?"
"He is eating, as usual," said Mr. Robin, in a stern voice.
Jack and Katy now repeated the adventures of the morning, to which their sister listened with great interest.
"I can"t help thinking about Mr. Robin," said grandpa, taking his cane and walking out of doors as soon as breakfast was over. "Birds have a wonderful instinct; and I have no doubt he was asking my aid about something. They will often fly to man for protection when pursued by an enemy."
"I wish you would tell us a story about a bird," said Annie, earnestly.
The old gentleman seated himself in his chair, and after resting his chin on the top of his cane for a moment, he began: "A beautiful pair of goldfinches once built their nest on a small branch of an olive tree.
The female laid the eggs and hatched the young brood, when the parents perceived that the weight of the growing family would soon be too great for the strength of the branch which supported the nest. This fact was evident to the family who lived near, and had watched with interest the proceedings of the birds.
"One morning the goldfinches found their nest was giving way, and that something must be done at once, or it would fall. They consulted together, then picked up a string, and with their beaks drew it around the slender twig, and then fastened it to a stronger and higher branch of the tree. Thus they saved their falling house."