Page 140 - Adventures in shadow-land

looked at it. And when it began to grow dark,
these two took the little bird out of his cage and

picked out his tail and wing-feathers, the bird
screaming and struggling all the time, and then

they put him back into the cage. And it was
just as much afraid of Eva as it was of the jack­

daw and the Frog,

There was neither sun nor moon in this place,—
as in the forest, when the moon was gone, all the
light seemed to come from the earth. And every

morning Eva noticed that the tail and wing-

feathers of the little green bird had grown again,
though every evening either the Frog or the jack­
daw pulled them out.

I said that when Eva was told of the work she

would have to do she thought it was very queer
work. Every morning, when the light drove
away the darkness, she was to wipe off and dust

the tops of the toadstools on which the frogs sat,

and she thought it would be very easy to do. So
she tried to do it, and the jackdaw stood on one

foot and cawed at her all the time,— and the more
she rubbed and wiped the top of the toad stool

post the dirtier it became,—and she was nearly in