e thin. And though
he still sang as merrily as ever, his wife noticed the change that
had come over him.

Naturally, that made her worry. And since worrying was bad for her
nerves, she began to grow worse instead of better.

"I don't know what's going to become of us," she said at last. "As
the children grow bigger they need more to eat. And I can see
plainly that you're never going to be able to provide enough for
them."

"Oh! they'll soon be old enough to leave home and catch their own
insects," Rusty told her hopefully. "And until that time comes I'll
manage somehow, even if I have to work after dark."

But that plan did not suit his wife at all.

"I shouldn't care to stay alone in the house at night with six
small children," she said. "That will never do."

"I have it!" Rusty cried suddenly. "I'll get somebody to help me!"

Well, his wife didn't think much of that plan, either.

"I don't like the idea of any strange bird coming into my house,"
she objected. "And you know yourself that you've always felt the
same way about strangers."

"I know----" he replied--"but this is different. I'll find a brisk
young fellow somewhere. And after a day or two you won't mind his
being here. He'll seem just like one of the family."

It took a good deal of urging before Mrs. Rusty consented. But at
last she said she was willing to give the plan a trial, though she
felt sure it was bound to cause trouble, somehow.

So that is how Rusty Wren came to hang a sign outside his door,
which said:

BOY WANTED

XIV

TOO MANY CALLERS

The news of Rusty Wren's sign, "Boy Wanted," spread like wildfire
through the whole of Pleasant Valley. Rusty had put the sign out at
daybreak. And before sunset as many as fifty of the field and
forest people had come shyly to Farmer Green's dooryard.

Some of them came to apply for the position, and some of them
merely wanted to see the sign--for it was a most unusual sight in
that neighborhood.

There were others, too, such as Fatty Coon and Tommy Fox, who said
that while they didn't care to visit Farmer Green's place in the
daytime, they expected to call there during the night and take a
look at Rusty Wren's home and the odd sign upon it.

Yes! So quiet a person as Rusty Wren, who never wandered far from
home, had become famous in a day.

Yet it proved to be a very bad day for Rusty's family, because he
had almost no time at all in which to try to