"Well," murmured the confused and astonished man, "if anything means
anything, that does. Only, I wonder what it _does_ mean!"
He was a little startled, and he remained in a sitting position for
some minutes, staring at the open window, and hoping the robin would
return. Somehow he did not think it would, but he hoped it might. The
robin, however, made no sign. And, meanwhile, the dawn slipped higher
up the sky, showing the groups of trees with greater sharpness. A
draught of morning air came in.
"The dawn!" he thought; "how marvellous! Perhaps the robin came to
show me that." He sniffed the fresh perfume of dew and leaves and
earth that rise for a moment with the early light, then fade away. "Or
that!" he added, pausing to enjoy the delicate fragrance. "But for the
bird I should have slept, and missed them both. I wonder!"
He wished he were dressed and out upon the lawn; but the bed was
enticing, and it was no easy thing to get up and wash and put on
eleven separate articles of clothing. What a pity he was not dressed
like a bird in one garment only! What a pity he could not wash himself
by flying through a rushing shower of sweet rain! By the time his
clothes were on, and he had made his way downstairs, and unlocked the
big chained doors, all this strange, wild emotion would have
evaporated.
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