pick and eat the
sweet berries. So he ate and ate till his lips and fingers were red as
red wine and smelled strongly of ripe strawberries.

Suddenly, as he put out his hand for another cluster, up sprang a black
and brown and yellow bird. That was Mrs. Bob Lincoln. Little Luke put
aside the grass and there was the nest. It was so cunningly hidden that
he could never have found it by looking for it.

Mr. and Mrs. Bob Lincoln were greatly frightened. They fluttered and
quivered about, and talked to each other, and scolded at the boy. Little
Luke could not understand what they said, but part of it sounded like,
"Let it be! Don't touch, don't touch! Go away, please, p-l-e-a-s-e, go
away." So he got up and said, "All right, don't be afraid. I'll not take
your eggs, I'll go right away." And so he did.

When he had gone two or three rods, Mrs. Bob Lincoln fluttered down to
her nest and settled herself quietly over her eggs. But Mr. Bob flew to
a tall weed in front of little Luke. There he sat and swung and teetered
and sang his merriest song. To the little boy it seemed as if he was
trying to say, "Thank you, thank you, little boy."

There was an old apple tree standing near the meadow fence. On one of
its branches was the nest of O-pee-chee the Robin. Both Mr. and Mrs.
O-pee-chee had gone away to pick worms from the soft, fresh earth in the
garden.

As little Luke drew near to the tree, he saw Mee-ko the Red Squirrel
crouching by the side of the nest with a blue egg in his front paws.
He had not yet broken the shell when he saw little Luke. At first he
thought he would run away. But he wanted that egg; so he squatted very
quietly where he was and hoped the little boy would not see him.

But little Luke's eyes were very keen. He saw Mee-ko and guessed what
he was about. So lie picked up a small round stone and threw it at the
robber squirrel. His aim was so true that the stone flicked Mee-ko's
tail where it curled over his shoulders.

Mee-ko was so scared that he dropped the egg back into the nest and ran
along the branch and across to another. From the end of that he dropped
down to the fence and scampered along the rails up toward the woods on
the side of the mountain.

He went all the faster because Father O-pee-chee flew down into the
branches of the apple tree just as little Luke threw the stone. He saw
Mee-ko and understood exactly what had happened. He flew a little way
after the thieving squirrel. Then he ca