Don't you think he must have been very proud and happy, as he spread his wings and flew away to sip the honey from the flowers, and to play with all the other b.u.t.terflies, knowing that he would never again have to crawl about on the ground?

"Oh! Mother dear," said Johnnie Jones, "let's take this caterpillar home, so I can watch it turn into a b.u.t.terfly."

Mother considered his idea a good one, so they carried the caterpillar home on a twig, with many leaves from the tree towards which it had been crawling. When they reached the house they placed twigs, leaves and caterpillar in a gla.s.s jar, with netting over the top.

"We shall have to give it fresh leaves every day," Mother said, "until it has eaten enough and goes to sleep. We can watch it carefully through this gla.s.s jar."

Johnnie Jones knelt down beside the jar and whispered: "Ugly little caterpillar, if you will tie yourself to that branch, and change your skin, and go to sleep, next spring you will wake a beautiful b.u.t.terfly."

[Ill.u.s.tration: When he spread his wings and flew away--]

Johnnie Jones was sure the caterpillar heard what he said, because it went to sleep just as it was told. All winter long the little boy watched it, and one day, in the early spring, really saw it come out a gorgeous b.u.t.terfly. When it spread its bright wings and flew away, I wonder which was happier, the b.u.t.terfly or Johnnie Jones.

Mr. and Mrs. Bird and the Baby Birds

"Listen to that bird!" exclaimed Johnnie Jones.

"That is Mr. Bird," Mother answered. "I shall have to tell you a story about him and Mrs. Bird and their children."

Once upon a time Mr. Bird felt so happy and gay that he could scarcely be quiet a single moment. It was spring-time again and he sang beautiful songs to Mrs. Bird, about the sunshine and soft, sweet air, and about the little home they would make in the old elm tree. Mrs. Bird would listen for a while to his song and then they would both fly away to find the twigs and straws with which to build the nest. Very hard indeed the little birds worked, for each straw had to be carefully woven, in and out and out and in, so that the nest should be quite firm and round.

As soon as the nest was ready, pretty little Mrs. Bird laid four lovely blue eggs in it. She knew, and Mr. Bird knew, that there were four baby birds asleep in the eggs, and so they were happier than ever before.

But now Mrs. Bird had to sit on the nest all the day long, to keep the eggs warm. Of course, Mr. Bird had to feed her. He would fly all over the park, finding good things to eat, and carry them back to drop into Mrs. Bird's mouth. When she was no longer hungry, Mr. Bird would hop to a branch near by, and sing to her.

You may think that Mrs. Bird grew tired of sitting there on the nest day after day. You may think Mr. Bird became tired of feeding Mrs. Bird, and of singing to her, day after day. But neither one seemed to grow tired at all. They just watched and waited, as the days went by.

After a while the little baby birds began to wake up, and one day Mrs.

Bird heard a queer scratching sound that made her very glad. The babies were beginning to break open the sh.e.l.l! Peck! Peck! Peck! Soon a little head came out of the sh.e.l.l. Crack! Crack! Crack! and there was a little bird in the nest for Mr. and Mrs. Bird to love and take care of.

By the time the first pieces of sh.e.l.l had been thrown from the nest, another little bird had broken through. Then came another, and still one more, until there were four baby birds in the nest, all crying as loud as they could, "Peep! Peep! Peep! please give us something to eat."

Then both Mr. and Mrs. Bird had to fly away to seek their own breakfast, and to bring some to the children. You never saw such hungry babies!

They kept their parents busy all the day long, bringing them food. They weren't very polite to each other, either, those baby birds. They would crowd and push, and almost send each other out of the nest, trying to get every morsel, instead of each waiting his own turn to be fed. But then, they were only birds and did not know any better.

Day after day, they were fed by their parents. Night after night, they were kept warm under Mrs. Bird's wings. No wonder those baby birds soon grew big and strong. They were ever so much prettier when they grew big enough to wear feathers.

Soon, one little bird felt so strong, that he said he wanted to fly away, too, and see what the ground and other trees were like.

"Not to-day," Mrs. Bird told him. "Wait until your wings are a wee bit stronger, and then I'll teach you to fly."

When both Mr. and Mrs. Bird had flown away, this same little bird said to his brothers: "It seems quite easy to fly; all you need to do is to flap your wings. I think I'll try it alone."

"You had better not!" the others told him.

"Yes, I will," the little bird said.

He hopped to the edge of the nest, and began to flap his wings. He did not quite dare to raise his feet, though, for he felt rather timid when he looked down and saw how far away the ground seemed to be. But he flapped his wings so vigorously, pretending to fly, that he lost his balance and fell. He was not hurt, for the gra.s.s was tall and soft, but he was greatly frightened, and cried out for his mother.

Mrs. Bird was too far away to hear him, but a little girl did. She picked him up very gently, and ran to show him to her father.

"Look at this cunning little bird which I have found! May I keep it for mine?" she asked him.

"No," said her father. "See, it is only a baby bird, which has fallen from its nest, and is crying for its mother. Show me where you found it; perhaps I can reach the nest if we can discover it among the leaves."

The little girl pointed out the tree to her father. He placed a ladder against it, and, climbing up, was able to drop the little bird into its home.

In a few days Mr. and Mrs. Bird were ready to teach all their babies to fly.

"Come on," they said, "spread your wings, jump into the air, and fly just a little way, to that other limb of the tree."

Three of the little birds obeyed at once, and reached the resting place in safety. But the fourth little bird was afraid to try, because he had fallen before.

"Don't be a coward," urged his father and mother. "You fell before because your wings were not strong enough to bear you up, but now you will have no trouble."

The little bird wouldn't budge.

The parent birds knew it was time for him to learn, so they pushed the foolish little fellow out of the nest, and watched him spread his wings, and flutter to the ground. There he found more courage, and after a while he flew up to join his brothers on the tree.

"I was sitting at my window," Mother told Johnnie Jones, "and saw it all happen. Of course I can't understand the language of birds, and I am not sure I have repeated exactly what the parent birds said to the babies, or what the babies said to each other, but only what they seemed to say.

Anyway, everything happened as I have told you."

"Soon the babies could fly nearly as well and as far as the old birds, and after that the little nest was left quite empty, rocked by the wind in the old tree top."

The Coming of Little Brother

Almost all of the children who attended the kindergarten where Johnnie Jones spent his mornings, had a baby brother or sister at home. They spoke of "their babies" so often and enjoyed so much making presents to take them, that Johnnie Jones wished for a baby at his house, and talked to Mother about it.

One night, Mother said she had a secret to tell him. He was glad, for he liked to have secrets with Mother, who told him a great many, because he could keep them so well.

"It is the most beautiful secret in all the world," Mother said.

"Spring-time is coming very fast, and next month, when the trees and the flowers wake up because winter is over and gone, a dear little baby is coming to live with us."

"Oh! Mother dear, I am so glad!" said Johnnie Jones. "But why does the baby wait so long? I want him this very day."

"Dear," Mother answered, "the baby is still fast asleep, just as the little flower buds are, and we must watch and wait until he comes. It will not be very long, little son, and then how happy we'll be, you and Father and I!"