Presently out popped the pretty heads of the captives, the soft eyes glanced about in all directions; they withdrew, they ventured forth again, they came timidly out on "the veranda," as little Franz expressed it; then, as though suddenly startled, the whole party took wing, with the shrill whizzing sound peculiar to the flight of pigeons, and circling above us as they rose higher and higher, finally darting quite out of sight. While we were yet gazing after them, they reappeared, and settled quietly on the dovecot; but as we congratulated ourselves on a return which showed that they accepted this as a home, up sprang the three blue pigeons, the noble foreigners, for whom chiefly I had planned the house, and rising in circles high in air, winged their rapid way direct toward Falconhurst. Their departure had such an air of determination and resolve about it, that I feared them lost to us forever. Endeavoring to console ourselves by petting our four remaining birds, we could not forget this disappointment, and all day long the dovecot remained the center of attraction. Nothing, however, was seen of the fugitives until about the middle of the next day; when most of us were hard at work inside the cavern, Jack sprang in full of excitement, exclaiming: "He is there! He is come; he really is!" "Who? Who is there? What do you mean?" "The blue pigeon, to be sure! Hurrah! Hurrah!" "Oh, nonsense!" said Ernest. "You want to play us a trick." "Why should it be 'nonsense'?" cried I. "I fully believe we shall see them all soon!" Out ran everybody to the dovecot, and there, sure enough, stood the pretty fellow, but not alone, for he was billing and cooing to a mate, a stranger of his own breed, apparently inviting her to enter his dwelling; for he popped in and out of the door, bowing, sidling, and cooing, in a most irresistible manner, until the shy little lady yielded to his blandishments, and tripped daintily in. "Now, let's shut the door. Pull the cord and close the panel!" shouted the boys, making a rush at the string. "Stop!" cried I, "let the string alone! I won't have you frighten the little darlings. Besides, the others will be coming--would you shut the door in their faces?" "Here they come! here they come!" exclaimed Fritz, whose keen eye marked the birds afar, and to our delight the second blue pigeon arrived, likewise with a mate, whom, after a pretty little flirtation scene of real and assumed modesty on her part, he succeeded in leading home. The third and handsomest of the new pigeons was the last in making his appearance. Perhaps he had greater difficulty than the others in finding a mate as distinguished in rank and beauty as himself. However, we fully expected them, and the boys talked of the arrival of "Mr. and Mrs. Nicobar" as a matter of course. Late in the day Franz and his mother went out to provide for supper, but the child returned directly, exclaiming that we must hasten to the dovecot to see something beautiful.