Suddenly they stopped. There, on the edge of the road, was a tiny baby-bird. It was trying to fly, but it was too little. Its wings were not strong enough.
"I believe I'll take it home," said Billy.
"O Billy," exclaimed the grasshopper, "Don't you hear its mother calling to it? There she is on that branch, flapping her wings and calling. She wants it in the nest again but she does not know how to get it there. Why don't you put it in the nest for her?"
"That's so!" said Billy. "I will!"
So they hunted in the bushes and found the nest, low enough for Billy to reach. There were two other little baby-birds in it and when Billy put in the little bird that had fallen, they all began to chirp, "Peep! Peep! Peep!" That meant "Thank you!" Then the mother-bird hopped around so gladly and said "Thank you, little boy; you are very kind!"
"You are welcome," replied Billy and he and the grasshopper went on their way.
Pretty soon they grew hungry. They sat down and opened the lunch-basket and while they were eating the bread and jelly and nuts that Billy's mother had put up for him, a little squirrel hopped out of his hole in a tree. He cocked his head on one side and watched them with bright little eyes.
"Why don't you give him a nut?" asked the grasshopper.
"That's so!" said Billy. "I will!"
So he threw a nut on the grass. The squirrel picked up the nut, cracked it with his sharp little teeth and ate it with so much relish that Billy threw him another and another. When everything was gone, the squirrel said, "Thank you, little boy. You are very kind!"