for them."

She swooped down toward the terror-stricken grower of plums, and slipped
the coin into the pocket of his jacket, and in a few flaps she had
rejoined the others.

The farmer sat down on the grass, suddenly and heavily.

[Illustration: The farmer sat down on the grass suddenly and heavily]

"Well--I'm blessed!" he said. "This here is what they call delusions, I
suppose. But this here threepenny"--he had pulled it out and bitten
it,--"_that's_ real enough. Well, from this day forth I'll be a better
man. It's the kind of thing to sober a chap for life, this is. I'm glad
it was only wings, though. I'd rather see the birds as aren't there, and
couldn't be, even if they pretend to talk, than some things as I could
name."

He got up slowly and heavily, and went indoors, and he was so nice to
his wife that day that she felt quite happy, and said to herself, "Law,
whatever have a-come to the man!" and smartened herself up and put a
blue ribbon bow at the place where her collar fastened on, and looked so
pretty that he was kinder than ever. So perhaps the winged children
really did do one good thing that day. If so, it was the only one; for
really there is nothing like wings for getting you into trouble. But, on
the other hand, if you are in trouble, there is nothing like wings for
getting you out of it.

This was the case in the matter of the fierce dog who sprang out at them
when they had folded up their wings as small as possible and were going