e to say, the next morning the very same accident
happened again.

"I don't see what's come over me," said Farmer Green. "I don't hear
that wren singing right under my window any more. I thought that
maybe the cat had caught him. But there he is this very moment, on
that limb!"

Everybody said it certainly was odd, for the wren always sang as
soon as it began to grow light.

Well, that night Farmer Green went to bed before dark, declaring
that he must be up bright and early in the morning.

"I wish that new clock I brought home day before yesterday was an
alarm clock," he said. "Then I wouldn't have to worry about waking
up on time.... Anyhow, I ought to hear the wren again to-morrow
morning."

But Farmer Green hoped in vain. Though the cat had not caught
Rusty, and he had not moved away, either, he no longer sang beneath
Farmer Green's window at dawn.

For three mornings he had gone to the orchard to trill his dawn
song; and though they did not know the reason, that was why the
Green family rose late for three mornings running.

Once Rusty Wren had been proud to be called Farmer Green's alarm
clock. But now something had happened that made him resolve to stop
waking the household.

It was all on account of one of those surprises that Farmer Green
had brought home from the village. For without intending to do any
such thing, Farmer Green had surprised Rusty Wren as well as
Johnnie and his mother.

Now, a surprise may be one of two kinds--pleasant or unpleasant.
And, strangely enough, the very thing that delighted the Green
family sent Rusty Wren into a spasm of jealous rage.

Of course, it was very silly of him to lose his temper. But he was
too upset to stop to think of that.

V

THE NEW BIRD

Farmer Green had not been home long, after his trip to the village,
when Rusty Wren heard a sound that for once made him keep quite
still for at least five seconds.

"Cuckoo! cuckoo!" The cry came from inside the farmhouse. And since
the windows were wide open, Rusty could easily hear it from the
tree near-by, where he lived.

"There's a new bird in there!" Rusty Wren exclaimed to himself as
soon as the sound reached his ears. He listened intently. But the
call was not repeated.

"Farmer Green is not satisfied with my singing!" Rusty cried. And
thereupon he flew into such a rage that when his wife came home, a
few minutes later, she was actually frightened.

"What in the world is the matter?" she