dge," said he. "He catches
flies and grubs, just as I do, but there are enough here for both of us,
so we shan't fall out."

"Look at the cray-fish crawling down below!" cried she. "And there's the
roach ... and the perch ... and oh, look, there's quite a green wood at
the bottom of the pond and fish swimming between the branches and
caddis-grubs rocking in their cases!..."

"Yes, it's charming here," he said, in a tone as though it all belonged
to him.

"And they all look so nice," she said, "and so happy. I feel sure they
are all newly married like ourselves."

"Of course," said the reed-warbler. "Every one gets married in the
spring. But I don't believe there's anybody in the wide world as happy
as we are."

And then he stretched out his neck and sang, for all to hear:

There's not in the wide world a sweetheart like mine,
So fair, so fine,
And no singer on earth sings better!
Let others go worship whomever they will,
I'm true to my beautiful sweetheart still
And shall never, forget her.

"And so you're only going to love me for the summer?" she said.

"That's just a way of talking," said he.

CHAPTER II

A Man of The World

[Illustration]

Little Mrs. Reed-Warbler heaved five deep sighs and, at each sigh, she
laid an egg. Then she sat down on the eggs and sighed again.

And the reeds swayed in the balmy wind and the nest swayed and the eggs
swayed that lay in the nest and the dear little brown bird that sat on
the eggs. Even the husband swayed. For, when one rush sways, the other
sways too; and he was sitting on one just beside the nest.

"You're no worse off than others, darling," he said. "Look down into the
water and see for yourself."

"I can see nothing," she said sadly.

"Fiddlesticks!" said the reed-warbler. "You can peep over for a minute,
if you sit down again at once."

And so she peeped over.

It was certainly very busy down below.

[Illustration]

The pond-snail was swimming with her pointed shell on her back. She
stood right on her head in the water and made a boat of her broad foot,
which lay level with the surface of the pond and supported the whole
fabric. Then she stretched out her foot and the boat was gone and she
went down to the bottom and stuck a whole heap of slimy eggs to the
stalk of a water-lily.

The pike came and laid an egg in a water-milfoil bush. The carp did the
same; and the perch hung a nice nest of eggs in between the reeds