"I always have believed your stories," replied Mrs. Browne, smiling.
"Thank you!" returned Ella, kissing her mother's cheek. "Well, this morning is the first time I have been down to the summer-house since we came back here, and as soon as I opened the door I saw the funniest sight! There lay the mat in the chair, and a bird's nest on the mat, with three eggs in it. It seems that we left the window open, and the birds thought it was a good place for a nest. And there sat the bird on a branch just outside, singing away as if its little body was full of happiness."
"I hope you did not touch the eggs?" said Mrs. Browne.
"Indeed I did not! I just took a peep and ran off for fear of frightening the bird."
"Have you told the boys?"
"No, not yet. They will find it out; but, mamma, do you think they will disturb the nest?" asked Ella anxiously.
"I do not think they would, but we will talk it over together before they find it out. They might rush into the summer-house and frighten the birds so as to make them desert the place."
"And can't we go to the summer-house at all!" exclaimed Bennie when they were talking it over. That summer-house was a favorite resort. It was a large, pavilion-like structure, a little distance from the house, where they took their games, books, or work; sometimes they had luncheon or tea there, a rustic table affording accommodations for the tea-tray.
"It will not be so very long that you will have to stay away," replied Mrs. Browne; "you surely would not wish to drive the birds away from their home?"
"Can't we build a rustic booth, or something, down in the woods?" asked Tom. "It would be something new, and by the time we were tired of that the young birds will have hatched and flown away."