near neighbourhood of her master and his
sister.

"Hush, hush!" whispered Henry; "don't make a noise." And the two
children trod softly and slowly towards the side of the yard where the
bird was, as if they had been treading on eggs or groping through the
dark and afraid of a post at every step. They thought that Maggy was
not conscious of their approach; though Emily did not quite like the
cunning way in which the bird laid her head on every side, as if the
better to hear the sound.

Once again Henry was at arm's length from her, and had even extended
himself as far forward as he could, and stretched out his hand to catch
her, when his foot slipped, and down he came at full length in the
dust. At the same instant Maggy made a hop, and turned to look back at
Henry from the very lowest edge of the thatch of the barn, or rather of
a place where the roof of the barn was extended downwards over a low
wood-house.

Henry was up in a minute, not heeding the thick brown powder with which
his face and hands and pinafore were covered; and Emily had scarcely
come up to the place where he had fallen, before he was endeavouring to
catch at the bird on the low ledge to which she had hopped.

But Maggy had no mind to be thus caught; she had gotten her liberty,
and she was disposed to keep it a little longer; and when she saw the
hand near her, she made another hop, and appeared higher up on the
slanting thatch.

After some little talking over the matter, Henry proposed getting up
the thatch; and how he managed to persuade Emily to do the same, or
whether she did not want much persuasion, is not known; but this is
very certain, that they both soon climbed upon this thatch, having
found a ladder in the yard, which John used in some of his work, and
having set it against the wood-house, and from the top of the
wood-house made their way to the roof of the barn.

"Now we shall have her!" cried Henry, as he made his way on his hands
and knees along the sloping thatch; and again his hand was stretched
out to seize the bird, when she made another upward hop, and was as far
off as she had been when she sat on the edge of the thatch and he lay
in the dust.

"What a tiresome creature!" cried Henry.

"I am sure she does it on purpose," said Emily, "only to vex us; and
there she sits looking down upon us, and crying, 'Oh, pretty Mag!' I
knew, when she was in the hut, that she was in a wicked humour."

"Let us sit down here a little,"