"So it is," said Rollo; "and I verily believe there is a little bird in it."
Jonas jumped off of the horse, handed the bridle to Rollo, and took up a long stick lying on the ground, and very gently and cautiously drew the nest, in to the shore. He took it up with great care, and brought it to Rollo.
There was a little bird in it, scarcely fledged. Jonas said he believed it was a robin, and that it must have been washed off from its place on some bush, by the freshet in the brook. The bottom of the nest was soaked through by the water, as if it had been floating some time; and the little bird kept opening its mouth wide. The poor little thing was hungry, and heard Jonas and Rollo, and thought they were its mother, come to give it something to eat.
"What shall we do with him?" said Rollo.
"He will die if we leave him here," said Jonas, "for he has lost his mother now. I think we had better carry him home, if we can, and feed him, till he is old enough to fly."
"He is hungry," said Rollo; "let us feed him now."
"We have not any thing to feed him with. Perhaps I can catch a fly, or a grasshopper."
"O, that will not do," said Rollo; "you might as well kill him as kill a grasshopper."
Jonas could not reply to this, and they concluded to carry nest and all carefully to the mill, and show it to Rollo's father there. But how to carry it was the difficulty. If either of them undertook to hold it in one hand, he was afraid the bird might be jolted out; and neither of them had but one hand to spare, for Rollo must have one hand to hold on with, and Jonas one to drive. At last Jonas took off his cap, and placed it bottom upwards on the saddle before him, and put the nest, with the bird in it, in that, and then drove carefully along. The road grew much smoother and better after they passed the brook; and, after going on a short distance farther, they came in sight of the mill.
They had been detained so long that the chaises had reached the mill before, them; and the party in the chaises were looking out down the path where they expected the boys were to come out, watching for them with considerable interest:
"There they come at last," said Lucy, as she perceived a movement among the bushes, and saw Old Trumpeter's white head coming forward.
"Yes," said Rollo's mother, "but they have met with some accident. Jonas has lost his cap."
By this time the boys had emerged from the bushes, and were coming along the path slowly, Jonas bareheaded, and Rollo holding on carefully. Lucy saw that Jonas was holding something before him, on the saddle, and wondered what it was. Rollo's mother said she was afraid they had got hurt.
As soon as they came within hearing Rollo heard his father's voice calling out to him,
"Rollo, what is the matter? Have you got into any difficulty?"
"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "we had some difficulty; and I should be sorry I did not take your advice, only then we should not have found this little bird."
"What bird?" said they all.
By this time, they had come up near the chaises, and Jonas carefully lifted the birdsnest out of his cap, and held it so that they could all see it, while Rollo told them the story. They all looked much pleased but Lucy seemed in delight. She wanted to have it go in their chaise, and asked Rollo to let her hold the nest in her lap.
Rollo did not answer very directly, for he was busy looking at the bird,-seeing him open his mouth, and wishing he had something to give him to eat.
"Father," said he, "what shall we feed him with? Jonas was going to catch a grasshopper, but I thought that would not be right."
"Why not?" said uncle George.
"Because," said Rollo, "he has as good a right to his life as the bird, has not he, father?"
"Not exactly," said his father: "a bird is an animal of much higher grade than a grasshopper, and is probably much more sensible of pain and pleasure, and his life is of more value; just as a man is a much higher animal than a bird. It would be right to kill a bird to save a man's life, even if he were only an animal; and so it would be right to destroy a grasshopper, or a worm, to save a robin."
"But I read in a book once," said Lucy, "that, when we tread on a worm, he feels as much pain in being killed as a giant would."
"I do not think it is true," said he. "I think that there is a vast diversity among the different animals, in respect to their sensibility to pain, according to their structure, and the delicacy of their organization. I think a crew of a fishing-vessel might catch a whole cargo of mackerel, and not cause as much pain as one of their men would suffer in having his leg bitten off by a shark."
"Well, father," said Rollo, "do you think we had better give him a grasshopper?"
"O no," said Lucy; "a grasshopper would not be good to eat, he has got so many elbows sticking out. Let us give him some blueberries."
"O yes," said Rollo, "that would be beautiful."
So he slid down off of Old Trumpeter's back, and ran to the side of the road to see if he could not find some blueberries.
He brought a few in his hand, and his father took them, saying that he would feed the bird for him. He squeezed out pulp of the berries, and then made a chirping sound, when the bird opened his mouth, and he fed him with the soft pulp, and threw away the skins. After giving the bird two or three berries in this way, they put him back into the nest, and gave the nest to Lucy to hold in her lap, and all the party prepared to go on.
They rode along about a mile farther, and then came to the place where they must leave the horses, and prepare to ascend the mountain on foot. They unharnessed them, so that they might stand more quietly, and then fastened them to trees by the side of the road.
While they were thus taking care of their horses, Rollo and Lucy were standing by, with Rollo's mother looking at the bird.
"What are you going to do with him, Rollo?" said his mother.
"Why, I should like to carry him home, and keep him, if you are willing."
"I am, on one condition."
"What is that?"
"You must keep him in a cage with the door always open, so that, as soon as he is old enough to fly away, he may go if he chooses."
"Then he will certainly fly away, and we shall lose him forever," said Lucy.
"That is the only condition," replied Rollo's mother.
"But why, mother," said he, "why may we not keep him shut up safe?"
"If I were to tell you the reasons now, they would not satisfy you, you are so eager to keep him. I think you had better determine to comply with the condition, good-humoredly, and say no more about it, but try to think of a name for him."
"Well, mother, what do you think would be a good name?"
"I do not know: you and Lucy must think of one."
Just then uncle George finished tying his horse, and came along to where the children were standing, and, hearing their conversation, and finding that Lucy and Rollo were perplexed about a name, he told them he thought they might, not improperly, call him Noah, as, like Noah, by floating in a sort of ark, he was saved from a flood.
"I think he was more like Moses than Noah," said Lucy.
"Why?" said her father.
"Because Moses was a little thing when they found him, and then the ark of bulrushes was something like a birdsnest. I think you had better name him Moses, Rollo," said she.
Rollo seemed a little at a loss: he said he thought he was a good deal like Moses, but then he did not think that Moses was a very pretty name for a bird.
"Do you think it is, mother?" said he.
"I do not know but that it would do very well. You might alter it a little; call him Mosette, if you think that would be any better for a bird's name."
Rollo and Lucy repeated the name Mosette to themselves several times, and concluded that they should like it very much. By this time, the horses were all ready, and Jonas recommended that they should hide Mosette away somewhere, until they returned from the mountain, for it would be troublesome to them, and somewhat dangerous to the bird, to carry him up and down.