. Because he was half starved himself, he knew that she
must be almost famished. Holding it where she could see, he hopped
toward her, eagerly, carefully, the gadfly in his beak, his heart in
his mouth. He stretched his neck and legs to the limit as he reached
the fly toward her. What matter that she took it with a snap, and
plunged a quarter of a mile before eating it? She had taken food from
him! That was the beginning. Cautiously he impelled her toward the
sumac, and with untiring patience kept her there the remainder of the
day. He carried her every choice morsel he could find in the immediate
vicinity of the sumac, and occasionally she took a bit from his beak,
though oftenest he was compelled to lay it on a limb beside her. At
dusk she repeatedly dashed toward the underbrush; but the Cardinal,
with endless patience and tenderness, maneuvered her to the sumac,
until she gave up, and beneath the shelter of a neighbouring grapevine,
perched on a limb that was the Cardinal's own chosen resting-place,
tucked her tired head beneath her wing, and went to rest. When she was
soundly sleeping, the Cardinal crept as closely as he dared, and with
one eye on his little gray love, and the other roving for any possible
danger, he spent a night of watching for any danger that might approach.

He was almost worn out; but this was infinitely better than the
previous night, at any rate, for now he not only knew where she was,
but she was fast asleep in his own favourite place. Huddled on the
limb, the Cardinal gloated over her. He found her beauty perfect. To
be sure, she was dishevelled; but she could make her toilet. There
were a few feathers gone; but they would grow speedily. She made a
heart-satisfying picture, on which the Cardinal feasted his love-sick
soul, by the light of every straying moonbeam that slid around the
edges of the grape leaves.

Wave after wave of tender passion shook him. In his throat half the
night he kept softly calling to her: "Come here! Come here!"

Next morning, when the robins announced day beside the shining river,
she awoke with a start; but before she could decide in which direction
to fly, she discovered a nice fresh grub laid on the limb close to her,
and very sensibly remained for breakfast. Then the Cardinal went to
the river and bathed. He made such delightful play of it, and the
splash of the water sounded so refreshing to the tired draggled bird,
that she could not resis