“I was greatly pleased with my reception, and the agreeable manners of my new mistress; but still I could not divest myself of the grief I felt for my beloved Sophia, nor of a degree of apprehension on the score of Master William; and I was, in consequence, a prey to melancholy reflections, which rendered me almost insensible to the caresses Miss Stanton lavished on me. My spirits were still more depressed by an event which occurred on the following day. Master William, it seems, had heard of my arrival, and he now sent a little girl to request that his sister would bring me to the drawing-room, as he was not allowed to stir from the sofa. She complied, and was ascending the staircase with me in my cage, when I beheld from a window a sight that made me shudder: it was nothing less than the whole brood of little sparrows, lying dead on the top of a portico. I afterwards learned, that Master William, in his haste to get home, had slipped down and sprained his ancle. The pain this accident caused him, and the bustle it occasioned in the family, united in banishing from his remembrance, and that of his attendant, the wants of his little captives: they were found dead on the following morning, and John carelessly tossed them out of the window.
“You may judge then what was my terror, when I found myself in the actual presence of the obdurate boy, who had so wantonly exposed these little innocents to a painful death, by taking them from their parents. Happily for me, my mistress did not quit the room, or allow him to touch me. I really think I should have expired through fear, if he had.
“After this unpleasant visit, I remained some time without any material interruption to my comfort. My new protectress was very fond of me, and treated me with the greatest kindness. The room I inhabited was, as I had supposed, her study; and as she was there occupied several hours in the day, I was not without company, nor often shut up in my cage. I had, indeed, abundant reason to be satisfied, as far as she was concerned; yet I was not without apprehension on account of the younger children of the family, who were all spoiled by indulgence. You, perhaps, wonder how it happened that Miss Stanton was so amiable; but I have yet to inform you, that the present Mrs. Stanton was not her own mother. She was so unfortunate as to lose the latter, when about seven years old, and her father had shortly after married a good-hearted but weak woman, who rendered her children miserable, by the very means she employed in order to promote their happiness. They were incessantly wishing for something they had not, and never satisfied with what they had; and their mother, instead of endeavouring to repress this unreasonable propensity, encouraged it, by attending, with the utmost anxiety, to their most trivial or capricious wishes, which were no sooner gratified, than new desires arose in endless succession. I could here enumerate several instances of their whims and humours, which fell under my notice, but such details of folly would rather fatigue than amuse you. I must, however, observe, that Miss Stanton was so amiable, that she conciliated the affection of the children (though she never indulged their caprices) and that of her mother-in-law, to whom she always behaved with the greatest tenderness and respect.
“You must now prepare for a more eventful period of my history, for I am about to enter on a new mode of life. I had not been two months with Miss Stanton, when she and Mrs. Stanton were invited to spend a few weeks, with a friend who lived at a considerable distance. On hearing of this, I was extremely anxious to learn how I was to be disposed of during their absence, and finding that I was to be entrusted to the servants, all of whom were entirely controlled by the children, I thought it high time to provide for my safety by flight: determining to risk any thing, rather than remain exposed to the malice and mischief of these spoiled children, or, at least, to continual apprehension from them.
“I found no difficulty in effecting my escape, for I was considered so tame, that I was sometimes allowed to be about the room when the door was open. On one of these occasions (Miss Stanton being busily occupied in finishing a drawing, which she intended as a present to the lady she was going to visit) I dexterously slipped out.
“I now found myself in the hall by which I at first entered. My heart palpitated with terror, lest I should be perceived by any one, and I anxiously sought for some opening by which I might get into the garden; fortunately, I perceived that the staircase-window was open. My joy on this discovery is indescribable. It almost deprived me of the power of flight: but making, at last, one vigorous effort, I darted into the garden, where I remained no longer than was absolutely necessary to recover myself, lest I should be pursued, and conveyed back to a place which I now considered as a prison.
“My freedom at this time was less irksome to me than formerly, for I felt a degree of courage to which I was before a stranger; and that, I imagine, preserved me from the attacks of the other birds, for they now treated me very courteously. One of them in particular, by his kindness, so engaged my affection and gratitude, that we became inseparable companions, and shortly after the commencement of our friendship, we mutually agreed to build a nest together. Ah! then it was that I first knew the delights of liberty and society. Our labours, sweetened by affection, were converted into pleasures; while hope, displaying to our imagination the little brood nourished by our mutual toils, and reared by our mutual cares, imparted a new relish to every enjoyment.
“Time thus happily spent passed quickly, and the blissful period at length arrived, when our little ones, bursting their brittle enclosure, greeted our delighted ears with their chirping, sweeter to us than the most melodious warblings. Oh, what were my feelings then! To you they must be inconceivable, for it is not in the power of language to describe them. Of the cares and anxieties of a mother, you may form some idea, by recurring to the solicitude of your own; but the sensations of delight she experiences, can be appreciated only by one in a similar situation. For some time we tended our offspring with unremitted care: they throve amazingly, and becoming strong enough to sustain a longer absence on our part, my mate and I ventured to fly abroad together. Our first excursion was short, for I was all anxiety; but finding our little ones safe and well on our return, we were, by degrees, emboldened to quit them during a longer period.
“One delightful morning, after having supplied the wants of our family, we set out together. We were allured by the charms of the weather, further than we intended. I being the soonest tired, wished to rest on an adjacent hedge: my mate followed, and had nearly overtaken me, when my cries warned him not to approach he fatal spot; for, to my utter astonishment and dismay, I found myself held, as it were by magic, and unable to raise my feet. When my first surprise was abated, I discovered that it was owing to a glutinous substance which was spread on the branch I had sought to rest upon, and from which I vainly strove to disengage myself. My poor mate, finding that he could not effect my release from this cruel snare, (for such in reality it was,) wished to remain with me and share my fate; but I besought him, in the most earnest and pathetic terms, to consider our helpless little ones, who must certainly perish, if he, their only protector, abandoned them. My entreaties had the desired effect; for, after some hesitation, he consented to go and feed them, promising to fly back quickly, in order, if possible, to ascertain my fate.
“Ah! what a dreadful moment was that of our separation. It seemed as if we were never to meet again; and the event but too well justified the forebodings of my despair, for, shortly after, two boys came to the hedge, and gently extricated me from the spray, rejoicing at the success of their plan, and reckoning the amount of what they expected to gain by disposing of me. I was a little consoled at finding they did not intend keeping me themselves; for what could I have expected from such cruel boys, or how could I have borne the sight of those, who, in a single moment, had destroyed all my happiness.