to go."

"Hoodie," whispered Magdalen, "the bird will be quite frightened to hear
you speak like that."

Hoodie looked startled.

"Oh dear," she said. "I quite forgot. You see, Cousin Magdalen, it
_will_ come. There's no good trying to keep it away."

"Yes, there is," said Magdalen. "There's good in trying to keep it away,
and there's good in trying to send it away even after it's come. You're
sending it away now, Hoodie, I think."

"Am I?" said Hoodie, doubtfully. Then with a sudden change of tone,
"Well, I _will_ then. I'll go goodly with Martin. Martin," she said
amiably, turning to her nurse, "I'm coming. I'll go out of the room kite
goodly and quiet, and then perhaps birdie won't remember about my
speaking c'oss."

"I daresay he won't," said Magdalen encouragingly. "I'll give him some
fresh seed to eat, as it's rather low in his box, and that will give him
something else to think of. But I won't speak to him, Hoodie. I never
do, because I want him to learn to know your voice."

"That's out of the Bible," was Hoodie's parting remark, as she went off
with Martin, quite "goodly," as she had promised.

Day by day Hoodie loved her bird more and more, and her love was repaid
by great success in taming the little creature. It grew to know her
wonderfully well, to hop on to her rosy finger when she called to it,
adding always, "Birdie, birdie, come and _pouch_," with a soft clear
note of delight that it was quite a pleasure to hear. Its cage was
placed in the window of a little ante-room, out of which Miss King's
room opened. There had been some talk of putting it in the nursery, but
Hoodie pleaded against this. The cat _had_ been known to enter the
nursery, for Hec and Duke were rather fond of old pussy, and Prince was
a frequent visitor there. And besides this, Hoodie could not feel quite
sure that her little brothers might not be some day "temptationed" to
touch her favourite. It was pretty clear any way that birdie's residence
in the nursery would be a source of quarrels, so Mother and Magdalen and
Martin agreed that the ante-room window would be the best and safest
place.

"It isn't as if winter was coming instead of summer," said Magdalen. "In
that case a room without a fire would be too cold for it. But every day,
now, the weather is getting brighter and warmer. What are you looking
so grave about, Hoodie?"

Hoodie looked up solemnly.

"I were just thinking," she replied, "what a pity it would be if wi