"I thought you would be asleep by this time," said Kathleen.
"I thought I would, too," returned Mrs. Fabian. "Come here and let me show you how careless Cap'n James has been."
They followed her to the shelter of the windbreak where her favorite hammock hung, and whirring wings nearly brushed Phil's face as they entered. The nook was enclosed on two sides with glass, and Mrs. Fabian pointed to the snug lofty corner where the swallows had nested. The young were grown and one had ventured out upon a beam.
"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Kathleen, with soft delight. "We're in time for the coming-out party. Come here, mother, you're frightening them." And Mrs. Fabian found herself seized unsympathetically and drawn to a safe distance.
"But I must sleep, Kathleen. I'm exhausted. I was just dozing off when those creatures swooped across me chattering. I nearly jumped out of the hammock. It was a nervous shock."
"I suppose," said the girl, "they were saying, 'Why couldn't those big clumsy human beings have stayed away just one more day!' You must be a mascot, Phil, so many fortunate happenings for your first day."
She was quite unconscious that the name had slipped out, and the guest smiled and seated himself on the railing near her while Mrs. Fabian in a rocking-chair began to be consoled for her lost nap.
"Perhaps you would prefer to go on exploring," added Kathleen, "but I really can't miss this function."
"I wouldn't miss it for a farm," responded the guest, eyes fixed on the nest.
Mrs. Fabian pulled her chair so that its rockers scraped the boards.
"We must all be still as mice," warned Kathleen softly.
Her mother looked up at the seething nest with disfavor. Since her young people considered the show such a treat, she would be obliged to edit the lecture she had been preparing for Captain James. The parent birds flew in and out in a state of great excitement, and one of them fed the venturesome little fellow on the beam, whereupon the others stretched their necks and vociferated with wide mouths.
"But they're so slow," complained Mrs. Fabian. "Why don't they fly and be done with it? I can hardly keep my eyes open."
"They may not go for an hour, or perhaps all night--oh, if they are so unkind as to wait until we're all asleep to-morrow morning!" said Kathleen.