The Tale of Rusty Wren   By: Arthur Scott Bailey (1877-1949)

ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

[Illustration]

Tuck Me In Tales (Trademark Registered)

[Illustration: "It's All Right," Said Solomon]

[Illustration: The Ant Soldiers Rushed at Daddy]

[Illustration: Mrs. Ladybug Directs Mr. Potato Bug.]

[Illustration: "What's The Joke?" Asked Rusty Wren]

[Illustration: Jasper Shrieked at the Top of His Voice]

[Illustration: "This Boy's Stuck Fast In Our Door!"]

[Illustration: Betsy Listened With Amazement to Mrs. Ladybug.]

[Illustration: Jolly Robin And Jimmy Rabbit Inspect The Snow Man]

THE TALE OF RUSTY WREN

Tuck Me In Tales (Trademark Registered)

BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

Author Of Sleepy Time Tales (Trademark Registered)

THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN THE TALE OF OLD MR. CROW THE TALE OF SOLOMON OWL THE TALE OF JASPER JAY THE TALE OF RUSTY WREN THE TALE OF DADDY LONGLEGS THE TALE OF KIDDIE KATYDID THE TALE OF BUSTER BUMBLEBEE THE TALE OF FREDDIE FIREFLY THE TALE OF BETSY BUTTERFLY THE TALE OF BOBBY BOBOLINK THE TALE OF CHIRPY CRICKET THE TALE OF MRS. LADYBUG THE TALE OF REDDY WOODPECKER THE TALE OF GRANDMOTHER GOOSE

[Illustration: "That Won't Do," Said Rusty Wren Frontispiece ( Page 2 )]

Tuck Me In Tales (Registered Trademark)

THE TALE OF RUSTY WREN

by

ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

Author of "Sleepy Time Tales" (Registered Trademark)

Illustrated by Harry L. Smith

New York Grosset & Dunlap Publishers

Made in the United States of America

Copyright, 1917, by Grosset & Dunlap

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. A PLEASANT HOME 1

II. JOHNNIE GREEN'S IDEA 6

III. THE ALARM CLOCK 11

IV. RUSTY IS JEALOUS 16

V. THE NEW BIRD 21

VI. MR. CROW TO THE RESCUE 27

VII. A NEAT HOUSEKEEPER 33

VIII. RUSTY IN TROUBLE 38

IX. ALL'S WELL AGAIN 42

X. BAD NEWS 47

XI. THE NOISE ON THE ROOF 52

XII. THE UNWELCOME VISITOR 57

XIII. BOY WANTED! 62

XIV. TOO MANY CALLERS 67

XV. MR. CHIPPY'S SON 72

XVI. THE ACCIDENT 77

XVII. HELP! HELP! 82

XVIII. THE PUZZLE 87

XIX. A FRIEND, INDEED 92

XX. AN INVITATION 99

XXI. OFF TO BLACK CREEK 104

XXII. THE FORGOTTEN GUEST 109

XXIII. A STRANGE MISTAKE 114

THE TALE OF RUSTY WREN

I

A PLEASANT HOME

Now, Rusty Wren had found and shown to his wife a hollow apple tree and a hole in a fence rail, either of which he thought would make a pleasant place in which to live.

But since the little couple were house wrens , Rusty's wife said she thought that they oughtn't to be so far from the farmhouse.

"Why not build our nest behind one of the shutters?" she suggested.

But Rusty shook his head quickly and with decision.

"That won't do," said he. "Somebody might come to the window and close the shutter; and then our nest would fall to the ground. And if we happened to have six or eight eggs in it, you know you wouldn't like that very well."

Rusty's wife agreed with him on that point. But she still insisted that she wanted to live near the farmhouse; and she said that she expected her husband to find a good spot for their nest, for she certainly wasn't going to spend the summer in a hole in a fence rail, or in an old apple tree, either.