o his place by the river for the sake of
the little birds. He knew that not only has every letter in the
holy books its hidden, mysterious meaning, but so also has
everything which God allows to take place in nature. He had thought
out the meaning of the wagtails building in his hand. God wished
him to remain standing with uplifted arms until the birds had
raised their brood; and if he should have the power to do that, he
would be heard.

But during that day he did not see so many visions of the Day of
Doom. Instead, he watched the birds more and more eagerly. He saw
the nest soon finished. The little builders fluttered about it and
inspected it. They went after a few bits of lichen from the real
willow-tree and fastened them on the outside, to fill the place of
plaster and paint. They brought the finest cotton-grass, and the
female wagtail took feathers from her own breast and lined the nest.

The peasants, who feared the baleful power that the hermit's
prayers might have at the throne of God, used to bring him bread
and milk to mitigate his wrath. They came now too and found him
standing motionless, with the bird's nest in his hand. "See how the
holy man loves the little creatures," they said, and were no longer
afraid of him, but lifted the bowl of milk to his mouth and put the
bread between his lips. When he had eaten and drunk, he drove away
the people with angry words, but they only smiled at his curses.

His body had long since become the slave of his will. By hunger and
blows, by praying all day, by waking a week at a time, he had
taught it obedience. Now the steel-like muscles held his arms
uplifted for days and weeks, and when the female wagtail began to
sit on her eggs and never left the nest, he did not return to his
hole even at night. He learned to sleep sitting, with upstretched
arms. Among the dwellers in the wilderness there are many who have
done greater things.

He grew accustomed to the two little, motionless bird-eyes which
stared down at him over the edge of the nest. He watched for hail
and rain, and sheltered the nest as well as he could.

At last one day the female is freed from her duties. Both the birds
sit on the edge of the nest, wag their tails and consult and look
delighted, although the whole nest seems to be full of an anxious
peeping. After a while they set out on the wildest hunt for midges.

Midge after midge is caught and brought to whatever it is that is
peeping up there in