d. Chick, D.D. and his family were tending his orchard!

Yes, Minister Chick was a servant in the good world he lived in. He
saved leaves for the trees, he saved rosy apples for city girls and
boys to eat, and he saved many dollars in time and spray-money for the
Farmer Boy.

And all he charged was a living wage: enough suet in winter to tide him
over the icy spells, and free house-rent in the old hollow post the
Farmer Boy had nailed to the trunk of one of the apple trees.

That old hollow post was a wonderful home. Chick, D.D. had crept into it
for the first time Christmas afternoon, when he had eaten until dusk
overtook him before he had time to fly back to the shelter of the fir
forest. He found that he liked that post. Its walls were thick and they
kept out the wind; and, besides, was it not handy by the suet?

In the spring he liked it for another reason, too--the best reason in
the world. It gave great happiness to Mrs. Chick. "Fee-bee?" he had
asked her as he called her attention to it; and "Fee-bee," she had
replied on looking it over. So he said, "Chick, D.D." in delight, and
then perched near by, while he warbled cosily a brief song jumbled full
of joy.

Chick and his mate had indeed chosen well, for it is a poor wall that
will not work both ways. If the sides of the hollow post had been thick
enough to keep out the coldest of the winter cold, they were also thick
enough to keep out the hottest of the summer heat. If they kept out the
wet of the driving storm, they held enough of the old-wood moisture
within so that the room did not get too dry. Of course, it needed a
little repair. But, then, what greater fun than putting improvements
into a home? Especially when it can be done by the family, without
expense!

So Mr. and Mrs. Chick fell to work right cheerily, and dug the hole
deeper with their beaks. They didn't leave the chips on the ground
before their doorway, either. They took them off to some distance, and
had no heap near by, as a sign to say, "A bird lives here." For,
sociable as they were all winter, they wanted quiet and seclusion within
the walls of their own home.

And such a home it was! After it had been hollowed to a suitable depth,
Chick had brought in a tuft of white hair that a rabbit had left among
the brambles. Mrs. Chick had found some last year's thistle-down and
some this year's poplar cotton, and a horse-hair from the lane. Then
Chick had picked up a gay feather that had float