inside the cage.

"Now," said the vicar when he was seated in the arm-chair, with Ambrose
settled comfortably on his knee, "we shall see what Ambrose and this
little gentleman have to say to each other."

He lifted off the covering, and there was the dearest little brown and
white owl in the world, sitting winking and blinking in the sudden
light.

Ambrose clasped his little thin hands, and his eyes sparkled with
pleasure.

"Oh, father," he cried, "what a darling dear! Is he for me? I always
_did_ want to have an owl so!"

He was in such raptures when he was told that the owl was to be his very
own, that when the tea was brought in he could hardly be persuaded to
touch it. Pennie, too, almost forgot her troubles in the excitement of
pouring out tea, and settling with Ambrose where the owl was to live.

"The nicest place will be," at last said Ambrose decidedly, "in that
corner of the barn just above where Davie's rabbits are. You know,
Pennie. Where it's all dusky, and dark, and cobwebby."

"I think that sounds just the sort of place he would feel at home in,"
said their father; "and now, would you like me to tell you where I got
him?"

"Oh, yes, please, father," said Ambrose, letting his head drop on Mr
Hawthorn's shoulder with a deep sigh of contentment. "Tell us every
little scrap about it, and don't miss any."

"Well, last night, about nine o'clock, when I was writing in the study,
I wanted to refer to an old book of sermons, and I couldn't remember
where it was. I looked all over my book-cases, and at last I went and
asked mother, and she told me that it was most likely put away in the
garret."

Ambrose stirred uneasily, and Pennie thought to herself, "They said I
wasn't to mention the garret, and here's father talking about it like
anything."

"So I took a lamp," continued Mr Hawthorn, "and went upstairs, and
poked about in the garret a long while. I found all sorts of funny old
things there, but not the book I wanted, so I was just going down again
when I heard a rustling in one corner--"

Pennie could see that Ambrose's eyes were very wide open, with a
terrified stare as if he saw something dreadful, and he was clinging
tightly with one hand to his father's coat.

"So I went into the corner and moved away a harp which was standing
there, and what do you think I saw? This little fluffy gentleman just
waked up from a nap, and making a great fuss and flapping. He was very
angry when I ca