ELIZABETH  AND  HER  GERMAN  GARDEN     27

and  then  to  my  dismay  one  lying  dead  on  the
ground.  The  third  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  and
is  probably  safe  in  its  nest.  The  parents  must
have  torn  at  the  bars  of  the  cage  until  by  chance
they  got  the  door  open,  and  then  dragged  the  little
ones  out  and  up  into  the  tree.  The  one  that  is
dead  must  have  been  blown  off  the  branch,  as  it
was  a  windy  night  and  its  neck  is  broken.  There
is  one  happy  life  less  in  the  garden  to-day  through
my  fault,  and  it  is  such  a  lovely,  warm  day — -just  the
sort  of  weather  for  young  soft  things  to  enjoy  and
grow  in.  The  babies  are  greatly  distressed,  and
are  digging  a  grave,  and  preparing  funeral  wreaths
of  dandelions.
Just  as  I  had  written  that  I  heard  sounds  of
arrival,  and  running  out  I  breathlessly  told  the
Man  of  Wrath  how  nearly  I  had  been  able  to  give
him  the  owls  he  has  so  often  said  he  would  like  to
have,  and  how  sorry  I  was  they  were  gone,  and
how  grievous  the  death  of  one,  and  so  on  after  the
voluble  manner  of  women.
He  listened  till  I  paused  to  breathe,  and  then
he  said,  "  I  am  surprised  at  such  cruelty.  How
could  you  make  the  mother  owl  suffer  so  ?  She
had  never  done  you  any  harm."

Which  sent  me  out  of  the  house  and  into  the


28     ELIZABETH  AND  HER  GERMAN  GARDEN

garden   more  convinced  than  ever  that  he   sang
true  who  sang —

Two  paradises  'twere  in  one  to  live  in  Paradise  alone.
