boles marked and scarred, and both held in their mouths sticks
which gave off smoke, a thing beyond the comprehension of the little
bird, and more than interesting to his diminutive mind. Here were new
wonders, creatures who walked on two legs, but not as birds--the one
with the beard like a goat's must be the husband of the one who had
none; and both breathed from their mouths the vapour of the morning
mist.

The Bush Robin followed them, and when they paused to rest on the soft
couch of ferns beneath a _rimu_ tree, the bird alighted on the ground
and hopped close to them.

"I could catch the little beggar with my hand," said one.

"Don't hurt him," said the other, "he'll bring us luck."

"Then give me a match--my pipe's gone out."

The match was lighted, and the cloud of smoke from the re-lit pipe
floated up to the boughs overhead. The Bush Robin watched the miracle,
but it was the yellow flame which riveted his attention. The lighted
match had been thrown away, and before the smoker could put his foot on
it, the little bird darted forward, seized the white stem and, with the
burning match in his beak, flitted to the nearest bough.

The men laughed, and watched to see what would happen.

Pleased beyond expression with his new prize, the Bush Robin held it in
his beak till a fresh sensation was added to the new things he was
experiencing: there was a sudden shake of his little head, the match
fell, and went out.

The men undid their swags and began to eat, and the Bush Robin feasted
with them on white crumbs which looked, like the match-stick, as if they
might be grubs, but tasted quite different.

"Tucker's good," said the man with the beard, "but, I reckon, what we
want is a drink."

"The billy's empty," said the other--"I spilt it when I came that
cropper, and nearly broke my neck."

"Then there's nothing for it but to wait till we come to a stream."

They rose, tied up their swags, and journeyed on; the bearded man
continuing to blaze the track, the younger man following him, and the
Bush Robin fluttering beside them.

The creek was but a little way off. Soon the noise of its waters greeted
the ears of the travellers. The thirsty men hurried in the direction of
the sound, which grew louder and louder, till suddenly pushing through a
tangled screen of supple-jacks and the soft, green fronds of a small
forest of tree-ferns, they stood on the bank of a clear stream, which
rushed noisily over a bed of g