turned to him and told him that he might begin at once.

So Bobby alighted on the end of a fence-rail and such a torrent of song
burst upon the ears of his listeners as they had never heard before. The
notes came tumbling so quickly one upon another that most of the members
of the Singing Society began to look bewildered. Bobby Bobolink's
singing was almost too fast for even their sharp ears.

He hadn't sung long before somebody interrupted him. Somebody called in
a loud voice, "I object!"

It was Buddy Brown Thrasher that spoke. Bobby Bobolink stopped short in
the middle of his song. And at once a great clamor arose, when all the
other members asked Buddy what he meant.

"I mean," said Buddy Brown Thrasher, as soon as he could make himself
heard, "I mean that Bobby Bobolink is playing a trick on us. He has
about half a dozen of his friends hidden in the pasture. And they're
helping him. They're singing with him."

Everybody was astonished. And as for Bobby Bobolink, he couldn't seem to
say a word for himself.

Luckily he didn't need to. For just then his wife came bustling up and
settled herself right in the midst of the Singing Society.

Proud as she was of her husband's voice, she hadn't been able to stay
away from the meeting. So she had hovered near-by, where she could hear
everything without being seen.

"Sir!" she said to Buddy Brown Thrasher. "Kindly point out these hidden
friends of my husband!"

Buddy Brown Thrasher looked somewhat uneasy.

"I--I haven't _seen_ anybody in the bushes," he stammered.

"Find them!" Mrs. Bobolink ordered. Her manner was so stern that Buddy
Brown Thrasher did not dare disobey. He searched high and low. But he
couldn't find a bird anywhere in the pasture.

"You see you were mistaken," Mrs. Bobolink told him severely.

Everybody agreed with her. And then and there they made Bobby Bobolink a
member of the Pleasant Valley Singing Society. There was no doubt that
he had sung his song without a bit of help.

"It was wonderful!" everybody exclaimed--everybody but Buddy Brown
Thrasher. He muttered that it was no wonder he made a mistake, for he
didn't know the song himself. And he said it was much too fast for his
taste.

VIII

THE HOUSE IN THE MEADOW

BOBBY BOBOLINK and his wife had talked a good deal about the home they
were going to have.

And unlike some people, who are forever planning things but never begin
the actual doing of them, they soon set to w