The Bird in the Box

by Mary M. Mears

THE BIRD IN
THE BOX

BY

MARY MEARS

Author of "The Breath of The Runners"

TORONTO
WILLIAM BRIGGS

All rights reserved, including that of translation
into foreign languages including the Scandinavian
Copyright, 1910, by
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
October, 1910

To
THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER
"NELLY WILDWOOD"
THIS BOOK IS DEVOTEDLY INSCRIBED

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

The soul of man at birth is immured in a prison. It is like a bird singing in a cage, heedless of the bars that confine it. But later the soul knows its bondage.

Panting with a desire for liberty, man tries in two ways to attain it, through his ability to labour, through his capacity to feel.