Then the eagle flew away, and when he was gone Policeman Bluejay also bade them good-bye. "I'll be back this afternoon, without fail," he said. "Just now I must go and look over the forest, and make sure none of the birds have been in mischief during my absence. Do not go very far from your nest, for a time, or you may get lost. The forest is a big place; but when you are more used to it and to your new condition you can be more bold in venturing abroad." "We won't leave this tree," promised Twinkle, in an earnest voice. And Chubbins chimed in with, "That's right; we won't leave this tree until you come back." "Good-bye," said the policeman. "Good-bye," responded Twinkle and Chubbins. So the bluejay darted away and was soon lost to sight, and Twinkle and Chubbins were left alone to seriously consider the great misfortune that had overtaken them. [CHAPTER III] _The Child-Larks_ "Folks will be worried about us, Twink," said Chubbins. "'Course they will," Twinkle replied. "They'll wonder what has become of us, and try to find us." "But they won't look in the tree-tops." "No." "Nor think to ask the birds where we are." "Why should they?" enquired Twinkle. "They can't talk to the birds, Chub." "Why not? We talk to them, don't we? And they talk to us. At least, the p'liceman and the eagle did." "That's true," answered Twinkle, "and I don't understand it a bit. I must ask Mr. Bluejay to 'splain it to us." "What's the use of a p'liceman in the forest?" asked Chubbins, after a moment's thought. "I suppose," she replied, "that he has to keep the birds from being naughty. Some birds are just awful mischiefs, Chub. There's the magpies, you know, that steal; and the crows that fight; and the jackdaws that are saucy, and lots of others that get into trouble. Seems to me P'liceman Bluejay's a pretty busy bird, if he looks after things as he ought." "Prob'ly he's got his hands full," said Chubbins. "Not that; for he hasn't any hands, any more than we have. Perhaps you ought to say he's got his wings full," suggested Twinkle. "That reminds me I'm hungry," chirped the boy-lark. "Well, we've got the basket," she replied. "But how can we eat cake and things, witched up as we are?" "Haven't we mouths and teeth, just the same as ever?" "Yes, but we haven't any hands, and there's a cloth tied over the top of the basket." "Dear me!" exclaimed Twinkle; "I hadn't thought of that." They flew together to the basket and perched upon the edge of it. It seemed astonishingly big to them, now that they were so small; but Chubbins remarked that this fact was a pleasant one, for instead of eating all the good things the basket contained at one meal, as they had at first intended, it would furnish them with food for many days to come.