d lay hot and naked in the afternoon glare and the enclosing wall
had never looked more formidable; but from his lofty perch Jimbo could
see beyond into soft hayfields and smiling meadows, yellow with cowslips
and buttercups. Everything that flew he watched with absorbing interest:
swift blackbirds, whistling as they went, and crows, their wings purple
in the sunshine. The song of the larks, invisible in the sea of blue air
sent a thrill of happiness through him--he, too, might soon know
something of that glad music--and even the stately flight of the
butterflies, which occasionally ventured over into the yard, stirred
anticipations in him of joys to come.

The day waned slowly. The butterflies vanished; the rooks sailed
homewards through the sunset; the wind dropped away, and the shadows of
the high elms lengthened gradually and fell across the window.

The mysterious hour of the dusk, when the standard of reality changes
and other worlds come close and listen, began to work its subtle spell
upon his soul. Imperceptibly the shadows deepened as the veil of night
drew silently across the sky. A gentle breathing filled the air; trees
and fields were composing themselves to sleep; stars were peeping; wings
were being folded.

But the boy's wings, trembling with life to the very tips of their long
feathers, these were not being folded. Charged with excitement, like
himself, they were gathering all their forces for the supreme effort of
their first journey out into the open spaces where they might touch the
secret sources of their own magical life.

For a long, long time he waited; but at last the trap-door lifted and
Miss Lake appeared above the floor. The moment she stood in the room he
noticed that her wings came through two little slits in her gown and
folded down close to the body. They almost touched the ground.

"Hush!" she whispered, holding up a warning finger.

She came over on tiptoe and they began to talk in low whispers.

"He's on the watch; we must speak very quietly. We couldn't have a
better night for it. The wind's in the south and the moon won't be up
till we're well on our way."

Now that the actual moment was so near the boy felt something of fear
steal over him. The night seemed so vast and terrible all of a
sudden--like an immense black ocean with no friendly islands where they
could fold their wings and rest.

"Don't waste your strength thinking," whispered the governess. "When the
time comes