Mrs. Polly was right. It was not very long before there was trouble again in the sparrow’s household. One afternoon the bright-eyed sparrow looked very anxious. She flew backward and forward, and perched on the top of the tallest trees and looked about in every direction, and then she flew home again and peered out of her little house with a very distressed expression.
“I know what it all means,” said Mrs. Polly; “that scamp of a husband of hers is off again. I must give him a talking to. He ought to set a better example to his young family.”
“Good-evening, my dear,” she called to the bright-eyed sparrow, who was just then looking out of her house; “hasn’t your husband come home yet? He ought to be in by this time.”
“Oh! he’ll come soon, I dare say,” answered the bright-eyed sparrow cheerfully; “he’s probably been detained by business.”
“Don’t feel anxious, my dear,” said Mrs. Polly; “nothing will happen to him.”
“Oh, I’m not at all anxious,” said the bright-eyed sparrow, with a great attempt at cheerfulness; but her voice was not as hopeful as her words, and it had a sad tone that quite touched Mrs. Polly.
“He’s been away all day long,” whispered the canary to Mrs. Polly; “I saw him go off early this morning, and if she sees him before to-morrow morning it’s more than I think she will.”
“I declare it is too bad, too bad!” said Mrs. Polly, shaking her head gravely.
The canary was right. Just before daybreak the next morning they heard the sparrow come home; and although the dining-room window was closed, they knew from the sounds that reached them that the sparrows had a quarrel. Mrs. Polly waited until the sparrow was awake,—for he slept late after his dissipation, and it was afternoon before he was fully awake,—and then she called to them that she had something to say to them.
Both of the birds flew down and seated themselves on the flowering-currant bush before the dining-room window, where Mrs. Polly could converse easily with them.