hese little strangers carefully, and see that they come to no harm in
our forest. You must all pledge yourselves to befriend them on all
occasions, and if any one dares to break his promise he must fight with
me to the death--and you know very well what that means."

"We do," said a magpie, with a shrill laugh. "You'll treat us as you
did Jim Crow. Eh?"

The policeman did not notice this remark, but the other birds all
looked grave and thoughtful, and began in turn to promise that they
would take care to befriend the child-larks at all times. This ceremony
having been completed, the birds began to converse in a more friendly
and easy tone, so that Twinkle and Chubbins soon ceased to be afraid of
them, and enjoyed very much their society and friendly chatter.

[CHAPTER V] _The Oriole's Story_

"We are really very happy in this forest," said an oriole that sat next
to Twinkle, "and we would have no fears at all did not the men with
guns, who are called hunters, come here now and then to murder us. They
are terribly wild and ferocious creatures, who have no hearts at all."

"Oh, they _must_ have hearts," said Twinkle, "else they couldn't live.
For one's heart has to beat to keep a person alive, you know."

"Perhaps it's their gizzards that beat," replied the oriole,
reflectively, "for they are certainly heartless and very wicked. A
cousin of mine, Susie Oriole, had a very brave and handsome husband.
They built a pretty nest together and Susie laid four eggs in it that
were so perfect that she was very proud of them.

"The eggs were nearly ready to hatch when a great man appeared in the
forest and discovered Susie's nest. Her brave husband fought
desperately to protect their home, but the cruel man shot him, and he
fell to the ground dead. Even then Susie would not leave her pretty
eggs, and when the man climbed the tree to get them she screamed and
tried to peck out his eyes. Usually we orioles are very timid, you
know; so you can well understand how terrified Susie was to fight
against this giant foe. But he had a club in his hand, with which he
dealt my poor cousin such a dreadful blow that she was sent whirling
through the air and sank half unconscious into a bush a few yards away.

"After this the man stole the eggs from the nest, and also picked up
the dead body of Susie's husband and carried it away with him. Susie
recovered somewhat from the blow she had received, and when she saw her
eggs and her poor d