THE CRIPPLE
The wounded jackdaw hopped out of the Shrubbery across the road while I stood look- ing out of my bedroom window. Four others, Perched on the iron railing, watched the progress of their comrade. The stricken one trailed a wing that had been badly mauled and it was plain that it would never be able to fly again. For a few yards the bird toddled an the road. One of the birds on the fence glided down and stood still on the road, as though intercepting the cripple. A second hopped down and brought up the rear. I began to see it as something sinister. The cripple stopped and looked nervously about before hopping back into the shrubbery. The two still an the fence sidled a bit to see what he was doing in the depths of the laurels, and the two on the road took up positions on a tree stand- ing among the shrubs. They might, of course, have been keeping watch to save their brother from further molestation, but I think they were really bent upon putting him out of his misery. He seemed to know that, and kept out of their way, but sooner or later, given the chance, they would do what had to be done.
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