sang Sewing Bird frantically.

“Why, what is the matter, dear little bird?” again asked Mary Frances.

Sewing Bird replied:

“While I was sitting here in state,

Just what happened I’ll now relate:

“A gentle scratching at the door,

A gentle foot-step on the floor,

Then Jubey, black as a blackberry,

Looked up at pretty Dick Canary,

And what he said, to me seemed clear:—