mind to break away from his wife,
even if he had to leave his coat-tails behind him, and dash out of
doors to see what was the matter.

Then all at once a different sound fell upon their ears. And as
soon as they heard it they knew at once that the sky was not
falling, anyhow.

"_Jay! jay!_" Jasper Jay's harsh voice was unmistakable. He had
been playing one of his sly tricks on the Wren family; and they had
never guessed that it was he!

XII

THE UNWELCOME VISITOR

"It's Jasper Jay!" Rusty Wren cried, as soon as he and his wife
heard the hoarse cry outside their house. "He's playing one of his
tricks on us. And I'm going out and tell him exactly what I think
of him."

"Don't forget to tell him what I think of him, too!" Mrs. Rusty
said, as she let go of her husband's coat-tails.

Then Rusty hurried through the little doorway. And there was
Jasper, sitting on a limb above the house, with a cherry in his
bill, which he let fall with a sly smile.

The cherry struck the roof of Rusty's house with a loud _bang_! And
then came the same _clatter_, to which the Wren family had been
listening.

"Here! Stop that!" Rusty cried.

Jasper Jay shrieked with laughter.

"Go away!" said Rusty.

"Go away yourself!" retorted Jasper.

"This is my home," Rusty Wren told him hotly. "And you've no right
to come here and frighten my wife and children like this."

"How shall I frighten them, then?" Jasper Jay asked him. "Perhaps
you like this way better!" he shouted. And with that he flew
straight at Rusty Wren. He was so big and he looked so cruel that
Rusty turned tail and dashed back into his house again. And he was
glad that his doorway was not much bigger than a twenty-five-cent
piece, because he knew that Jasper Jay could never squeeze through
so small an opening.

Jasper alighted on top of the house and jumped up and down on the
roof, striking it with his bill and screaming angrily.

"Don't be afraid!" Rusty said to his wife. "He can't do any harm.
And after a while he'll grow tired of staying here and he'll go
away."

Well, Rusty was half right, at least. For Jasper Jay went away at
last; but he didn't wait until he had grown weary of his rowdyish
sport.

Now, Johnnie Green happened to hear Jasper's harsh cries. And,
looking out of the window, he saw Jasper's strange performance.

"That blue jay is teasing my little wrens!" Johnnie Green cried
indignantly. And, catching up a potato from the kitchen t