n where they were going,
he said that they didn't know, but they were hoping to find some
peaceful neighborhood where they had no relations."

"That's strange!" Jolly Robin exclaimed. "We are very fond of each
other--my cousin and I. By the way," he added, "did you happen to
notice what sort of waistcoat he was wearing?"

Mr. Crow said he had noticed; and that it was a light-colored one with
dark spots.

"Dear me!" said Jolly Robin. "I was hoping he had put on a red one.
But since he moved in such a hurry, perhaps he hadn't time to
change."

Whether that was the case, Jolly Robin never learned. For he never saw
his cousin the Hermit again.

XVI

JEALOUS JASPER JAY

The feathered folk in Pleasant Valley were all aflutter. They had
heard a strange tale--the oddest tale, almost, that had ever been told
in their neighborhood.

It was Jolly Robin who had started the story. And since he was not in
the habit of playing jokes on people, everybody believed what he
said--at least, everybody except Jasper Jay. He declared from the
first that Jolly Robin's tale was a hoax.

"I claim that there's not a word of truth in it!" Jasper Jay said.

Now, there was a reason why Jasper spoke in that disagreeable way. He
didn't want the story to be true. And, somehow, he felt that if he
said it was a hoax, it would really prove to be one.

"I know well enough," said Jasper, "that there's no golden bird in
Pleasant Valley--and nowhere else, either!"

You see, Jolly Robin had hurried to the woods one day and told
everyone he met that a wonderful golden bird had come to Pleasant
Valley.

"He's not just yellow, like a goldfinch. He's solid gold all over,
from the tip of his bill to the tip of his tail. Even his feet are
golden. And he glistens in the sunshine as if he were afire!" That was
the way Jolly Robin described the marvellous newcomer. "He's the
handsomest bird that ever was seen," he added.

Perhaps Jasper Jay was jealous. You know he was a great dandy, being
very proud of his blue suit, which was really quite beautiful.
Anyhow, Jasper Jay began to sulk as soon as he heard the news.

"Where is this magnificent person?" he asked Jolly Robin with a sneer.
"Do let me see him! And if he wants to fight, I'll soon spoil his
finery for him. He won't look so elegant after I've pulled out his
tail-feathers."

But Jolly Robin wouldn't tell anybody where he had seen the wonderful
bird. He said the golden bird was three