Page:The art of story-telling, with nearly half a hundred stories, y Julia Darrow Cowles .. (IA artofstorytellin00cowl).pdf/153

 shall teach you to fly as soon as your wings are strong enough."

"Humbug!" cried Tip-Top, balancing with his short little tail on the edge of the nest. "Look at those swallows, skimming and diving through the blue air! That's the way I want to do."

"My dear boy," said his mother, "do go into the nest and be a good little bird, and then you will be happy."

"I'm too big for the nest," said Tip-Top, "and I want to see the world. It's full of beautiful things, I know. Now there's the most lovely creature with bright eyes, that comes under the tree every day, and wants me to come down in the grass and play with her."

"My son, my son, beware!" said the frightened mother; "that seemingly lovely creature is our dreadful enemy, the cat—a horrid monster, with teeth and claws."

At this all the little birds shuddered and cuddled deeper into the nest—all but Tip-Top, who didn't believe it.

So the next morning, after the father and mother were gone, Tip-Top got on the edge of the nest again, and looked over and saw