geable can be depended upon."

Here the pigeon interrupted him to tell him what the wind had said of a
storm coming, and he promised to look toward the east for it. The wind
had certainly got up, there was no doubting it; the weathercock and
pigeon were right, it was going to rain, big drops were pattering down
on the roof.

[Illustration: Beside him stood the turkey-gobbler]

Laurie looked round to find the pigeon, but he had disappeared, no doubt
for fear he would get his feathers wet. "Serves you right, serves you
right!" sounded close to Laurie's ear, and beside him stood the
turkey-gobbler. "So you thought the pigeons just flew round in a silly
sort of way, picking up crumbs did you," he said--or gobbled I should
say, his voice was so cross--"and you didn't suppose we had our work to
do as well as the people on the farm, did you?" he really looked very
alarming as he ruffled up his feathers and spread out his tail like a
great fan. "Serves you right, to be left out in the rain this way," he
went on, "next time you'll have better manners, I hope, than to call any
one a rude bird." Laurie was very much frightened indeed--it was raining
harder and harder; he started to run: patter, patter, patter, sounded
the feet of the turkey behind him, "gobble, gobble,"--patter,
patter,--no, it was only the rain drops this time, he was quite out of
breath, where was he?

[Illustration: The turkey-gobbler]

He looked about him, he was no longer in the barnyard--of course he knew
where he was now, but--how frightened he had been; he rubbed his eyes,
it was morning, the sun shone and there was Aunt Laura clapping her
hands in the doorway to waken him. "Wake up, wake up, Laurie," she
said--"why dear me," she added in a puzzled way, looking up at the
mantelpiece, "how did I happen to forget to shut the cupboard door last
night?"

[Illustration: "How did I happen to forget to shut the cupboard door
last night?"]

Perhaps she forgot to shut it, or the pigeon forgot, I do not know;
anyway that is the end of the Pigeon Story, children;--and maybe
to-morrow, when the stockings are all darned, and the toys put neatly
away, I shall tell you the Field Mouse Tale, or the Duck Tale or the
Windmill Tale, for there are four altogether--would you like to hear
them?

[Illustration: Flower ornament]

_Printed in Bavaria._

[Transcriber's Note: The original varied spelling has been retained in
this ebook. The following typo has been