“Is that well done?” asked Mary Frances, holding up her first two stitches.
“Oh, my, no!” said Sewing Bird. “You’ve gotten the thread all twisted. Please unthread your needle and take out the work. Then try once more.”
[Illustration: “Dear me!” sighed Mary Frances]
“Dear me!” sighed Mary Frances, “one can’t be perfect before one learns!”
“Try! Try again!” sang Sewing Bird, flapping her wings,
“It is the Thimble People’s pride That they have ever, always, tried: Whenever they fail,―this is no tale, As you can easily guess,― They twist the failure round about, They twist and turn it inside out; Then drop it down a big, black hole, Discovered in back of the North Pole,― And up it jumps―Success!”
“My, I wish my failures would do that! Maybe they will,” mused Mary Frances, finishing the row of stitching very carefully. “Oh, there comes Grandma up the street!”
“Our lesson is Now at an end,― That’s all to-day, My little friend,”
[Illustration: “Our lesson is Now at an end”]
“I forgot to ask,” said Mary Frances, “May I show Grandma, or tell her about―about our lessons?”
“That I already Should have shown; I cannot sing Where people grown Can hear: if they hear now Or even ever, I may become A Never-Never!”
“Oh, ho,” smiled Mary Frances, softly smoothing the little bird. “I’m so glad I haven’t told. I am certainly glad, dear little Teacher Bird―I don’t want you to be a Never-Never,―whatever that is.”
[Illustration: “Oh, ho! I’m so glad I haven’t told”]
“A secret let Our secret be― Too much for one, Enough for two, And not enough For three,”
“Say no more, Oh, say no more! I hear your Grandma At the door!”
fluttered the little bird; and Mary Frances quickly put away her work.
Grandma smiled when she saw Sewing Bird on the table.
“How you love my little helpful bird, don’t you, dear?” she asked.
“I love her with all my heart,” said Mary Frances.
[Illustration: How you love my little helpful bird, don’t you, dear?”]
MARY FRANCES heard this through the sewing-room door:
[Illustration: “Peep! sweet, sw-e-et! Che-e-ep!”]
“Great kind of bird, Upon my word! Who cannot do a thing But sing and eat, And then sing sweet, And then again sing-sing.”
“Peep! Sweet, sw-e-et! Che-e-ep!” sang Dick Canary.
“Of course, you have a pretty voice; Of course, you love to make a noise― If this rhyme sounds a bit contrary, It’s good enough for a canary; But, Dick, what I’d really like to know, Is this: why don’t you learn to sew?”