rd she liked best. She took a handsome, yellow one, called
Barry. He was a good singer, and a great favorite of Carl's. The boy put
him in the cage, wrapped it up well, for it was a cold, snowy day, and
carried it out to Mrs. Montague's sleigh.

She gave him a pleasant smile, and drove away, and Carl ran up the steps
into the house. "It's all right, mother," he said, giving Mrs. Morris a
hearty, boyish kiss, as she stood waiting for him. "I don't mind letting
her have it."

"But you expected to sell that one, didn't you?" she asked.

"Mrs. Smith said maybe she'd take it when she came home from Boston, but
I dare say she'd change her mind and get one there."

"How much were you going to ask for him?"

"Well, I wouldn't sell Barry for less than ten dollars, or rather, I
wouldn't have sold him," and he ran out to the stable.

Mrs. Morris sat on the hall chair, patting me as I rubbed against her,
in rather an absentminded way. Then she got up and went into her
husband's study, and told him what Carl had done.

Mr. Morris seemed very pleased to hear about it, but when his wife asked
him to do something to make up the loss to the boy, he said: "I had
rather not do that. To encourage a child to do a kind action, and then
to reward him for it, is not always a sound principle to go upon."

But Carl did not go without his reward. That evening, Mrs. Montague's
coachman brought a note to the house addressed to Mr. Carl Morris. He
read it aloud to the family.

MY DEAR CARL: I am charmed with my little bird, and he has whispered to
me one of the secrets of your room. You want fifteen dollars very much
to buy something for it. I am sure you won't be offended with an old
friend for supplying you the means to get this something.

ADA MONTAGUE.

"Just the thing for my stationary tank for the goldfish," exclaimed
Carl. "I've wanted it for a long time;--it isn't good to keep them in
globes; but how in the world did she find out? I've never told any one."

Mrs. Morris smiled, and said, "Barry must have told her," as she took
the money from Carl to put away for him.

Mrs. Montague got to be very fond of her new pet. She took care of him
herself, and I have heard her tell Mrs. Morris most wonderful stories
about him--stories so wonderful that I should say they were not true if
I did not how intelligent dumb creatures get to be under kind treatment.

She only kept him in his cage at night, and when she began looking for
him at