ne he knew. Nobody--except his wife,
maybe--would have guessed that he wasn't perfectly happy.

Jolly spent a very lonely night. When he went to the roost where the
whole Robin family had been sleeping for several weeks, he found it
distressingly silent, after the gay chatter that he had grown
accustomed to hearing there. And try as he would, he could not keep
just a hint of sadness out of his good-night song.

But in the morning he felt better. And he welcomed the dawn with a
carol that was joyous enough for anybody. For this was the day when
Jasper Jay was going to show him the new way to travel. Yes! he, too,
would soon be hurrying southwards, where the sun was warm.

It was no wonder that he sang, "_Cheerily-cheerup, cheerily-cheerup_,"
right merrily.

As soon as he had eaten his breakfast, Jolly went to the place where
the beeches grew, to find Jasper Jay. And Jasper was there, just
finishing his own breakfast. But he was too busy, he said, to bother
with Jolly Robin just then.

"You meet me in the orchard this afternoon," he said, "when the sun's
over the mountain, and I'll start you on your journey."

So Jolly Robin had to wait all the long day, while Jasper Jay did a
hundred silly things, such as mocking Farmer Green's cat, and teasing
a sleepy young owl, and making the woods echo with his hoarse screams.
Jasper was late, too, in keeping his appointment in the orchard. Jolly
Robin waited for him until almost sunset before Jasper Jay appeared.
But Jolly was so glad to see Jasper that he never once thought of
being angry with him.

"Come along!" said the blue-coated rascal. "Follow me and you'll soon
learn the new way to the South. And if it isn't a good one I hope I'll
never eat another beechnut."

Jolly Robin laughed. He was sure, then, that he had nothing to worry
about. For everybody knew that Jasper Jay was specially fond of
beechnuts.

IX

JOLLY'S MISTAKE

With Jolly Robin following close behind him, Jasper Jay flew directly
to the crossroads, almost half-way to the village. Once there, he
perched himself upon the sign-post at the four corners. And Jolly
Robin seated himself upon one of the boards that were nailed to the
post.

"Here we are!" said Jasper Jay. "You see how easy it is."

"When will the post begin to move?" Jolly Robin inquired, a bit
anxiously. He had waited a whole day to begin his long journey to the
South, so it was only natural that he should want to start at once