s so filled
with little bird-merchants, that you would have supposed it to be a
bird-market. However, the pretty maiden purchased all they brought, and
had them turned into the same room, with those of her former purchase.

When night came, Louisa went to bed with more pleasure than she had
felt for a long time. "What a pleasing reflection it is," said she to
herself, "to be thus capable of preserving the lives of so many innocent
birds, and save them from famine and merciless cats!--When summer comes,
and I go into the woods and groves, these pretty birds will fly round
me, and sing their sweetest notes, in gratitude for my kind attention to
them."--These thoughts at last lulled her to sleep, but they accompanied
her even in her dreams; for she fancied herself in one of the most
delightful groves she had ever seen, where all the little birds were
busied, either in feeding their young, or in singing, and in hopping
from bough to bough.

The first thing Louisa did, after she had got up in the morning, was to
go and feed her little family in the room, and also those that came into
the yard. Though the seed to feed them cost her nothing, yet she
recollected that the many purchases she had lately made of birds must
have almost exhausted her purse; "and if the frost should continue,"
said she to herself, "what will become of those poor birds that I shall
not be able to purchase! Those naughty boys will either give them to
their cats, or suffer them to die with hunger."

While she was giving way to these sorrowful reflections, her hand was
moving gently into her pocket, in order to bring out her exhausted
purse; but, judge what must be her surprise and astonishment, when,
instead of pulling out an empty purse, she found it brimful of money!
She ran immediately to her papa, to tell him of this strange
circumstance, when he snatched her up in his arms, tenderly embraced
her, and shed tears of joy on her blooming cheeks.

"My dear child," said her papa to her, "you cannot conceive how happy
you now make me! Let these little birds continue to be the objects of
your relief, and, be assured, your purse shall never be reduced to
emptiness." This pleasing news gladdened the little heart of Louisa, and
she ran immediately to fill her apron with seed, and then hastened to
feed her feathered guests. The birds came fluttering round her, and
seemed conscious of her bounty and generosity.

After feeding these happy prisoners, she went