hen, with a triumphal smile, he shut the window fast,
leaving the fledglings to perish in the fumes that rose, thick and deadly
from the basin.

"For hours he worked, and, at last, to his great joy, he figured out the
amazing problem that was to be a gain to the whole world. He was so tired
that he clean forgot the little birds, and flung himself, face down, on his
bed to rest. He did not wake until the next morning at seven. It was so
dark that he had to strike a light to see the face of his watch. Now he
knew that it should not be dark at either seven in the morning or seven at
night; and he felt very strange. The room was full of the unclean smells of
his chemicals, and he groped his way to the window to get air. But the
outdoor air was murky and he saw that a heavy cloud had settled just above
the chimney pots. This cloud seemed to palpitate, as though made of a
million beating wings. Down below he could hear the clatter of wooden clogs
on the cobble stones, as people were running in a panic to the Town Hall.
The big bell of it began to ring, but in a muffled way as though borne down
by the cloud. The student guessed that a meeting was being called.

"He remembered the sparrows then, and he craned his neck to see the nest.
There was the little mother-bird sitting in the nest with her wings
outstretched to protect the nestlings from the deadly fumes. Her beak was
wide open and she was quite dead."

The Seraph's breast heaved and his tears began to drop on the cobbler's
leather apron. Coppertoes squatted beneath his swing, striking it angrily
with his shoulders so that it swung violently. All the other birds were
silent.

Steadily working at the shoe the cobbler proceeded: "The terrible truth was
borne to the student then, and he knew that the cock sparrow, on finding
his mate and her young ones thus foully murdered, had flown swiftly to the
king of all the birds, and told him of the deed. The king had summoned
great battalions of birds, from fierce eagles and owls (these last rushing
from their dark hiding places) down to fluttering little wrens and tomtits.
'Twas of those that the great cloud was made, and it hung just over the
town like a dark wave that would soon smother the townsfolk.

"The student caught up the paper where he had writ the great discovery and
made for the street, running along with the rest of the folk, and ready to
drop with fear of the great press of wings above them. When he got to the
Tow