m from the barn all day, an' there's
somethin' kind o' human in his notes 'at takes me jest a little
diffrunt from any other bird I ever noticed. I'm really curious to set
eyes on him. Seemed to me from his singin' out to the barn, it 'ud be
mighty near like meetin' folks."

"Bosh!" exclaimed Maria. "I don't s'pose he sings a mite better 'an
any other bird. It's jest the old Wabash rollin' up the echoes. A
bird singin' beside the river always sounds twicet as fine as one on
the hills. I've knowed that for forty year. Chances are 'at he'll be
gone 'fore you get there."

As Abram opened the door, "Wet year! Wet year!" pealed the flaming
prophet.

He went out, closing the door softly, and with an utter disregard for
the corn field, made a bee line for the musician.

"I don't know as this is the best for twinges o' rheumatiz," he
muttered, as he turned up his collar and drew his old hat lower to keep
the splashing drops from his face. "I don't jest rightly s'pose I
should go; but I'm free to admit I'd as lief be dead as not to answer
when I get a call, an' the fact is, I'm CALLED down beside the river."

"Wet year! Wet year!" rolled the Cardinal's prediction.

"Thanky, old fellow! Glad to hear you! Didn't jest need the
information, but I got my bearin's rightly from it! I can about pick
out your bush, an' it's well along towards evenin', too, an' must be
mighty near your bedtime. Looks as if you might be stayin' round these
parts! I'd like it powerful well if you'd settle right here, say 'bout
where you are. An' where are you, anyway?"

Abram went peering and dodging beside the fence, peeping into the
bushes, searching for the bird. Suddenly there was a whir of wings and
a streak of crimson.

"Scared you into the next county, I s'pose," he muttered.

But it came nearer being a scared man than a frightened bird, for the
Cardinal flashed straight toward him until only a few yards away, and
then, swaying on a bush, it chipped, cheered, peeked, whistled broken
notes, and manifested perfect delight at the sight of the white-haired
old man. Abram stared in astonishment.

"Lord A'mighty!" he gasped. "Big as a blackbird, red as a live coal,
an' a-comin' right at me. You are somebody's pet, that's what you are!
An' no, you ain't either. Settin' on a sawed stick in a little wire
house takes all the ginger out of any bird, an' their feathers are
always mussy. Inside o' a cage never saw you, for they ain'