And he said, "Mary, dear, did you come and hear my bird whistle?" "Oo, ay," replied Mary. "It was real bonnie; and I thocht a’ the time o’ wee Charlie." "But why did ye run awa’ and mak’ a noise on the Sabbath morning? Ye shouldna hae been sporting on the Lord’s day." "I was frichtened for the minister," replied Mary. "Why were ye frichtened for the good man?" "I dinna ken," said Mary; "but the boys ran, and I ran, and Archy Walker fell ower me and hurled me. I wasna meaning ony ill;" and Mary threatened to give way again. "Whisht, Mary," said the Sergeant. "I wasna blaming you; but ye ken I didna hang Charlie’s bird oot to harm you, or mak’ sport, but only because he wasna weel." "What was wrang wi’ him?" asked Mary. "There’s an awfu’ heap o’ measles gaun aboot." "Not that," said the Sergeant, smiling; "but it was to mak’ him weel, no’ to mak’ you play, that I pit him oot. But ye see God kens aboot the bird, and it was Him that made him, and that feeds him; and see hoo he sleeps ower your new bed,--for that’s whaur Charlie used to sleep; and ye’ll sleep there, dear, and bide wi’ me; and God, that takes care o’ the wee birds, will tak’ care o’ you." Mary said nothing, but turned her face and hid it in the Sergeant’s bosom, next his heart; and he was more than ever persuaded that his heart was not wrong in wishing the orphan to lie there. "Mary," the Sergeant whispered to her after a while, "ye maun aye ca’ me faither." Mary lay closer to his heart. Katie, who had been sitting in the same arm-chair which she had occupied in the morning, heard her husband’s words, and rising, bent over the child, and added, "And, Mary, ye maun aye ca’ me mither." The starling, who was asleep, suddenly awoke, as if startled, shook himself, elevated his yellow bill above the round ball of feathers, turned his head and looked at the group with his full bright eye, and although too drowsy to say "I’m Charlie’s bairn," he evidently remembered the relationship, and would have expressed it too--partly from jealousy, partly from love--had he not been again overpowered by sleep. "We’ll hae worship," said the Sergeant, as he put Mary down, and placed her in a little chair which had never been occupied since his boy died. After reading the Scriptures--the portion chosen was the 23rd Psalm--the Sergeant prayed, Mary concluding at his request by repeating the Lord’s Prayer aloud. They then retired to rest--Charlie’s cot once more occupied; and the quiet stars never shone on a more peaceful home. CHAPTER X THE SERGEANT ALONE WITH THE STARLING