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“But Master Mustardseed came to you of his own accord,” replied Godmother in her kind, low voice, “and I think a canary might find it very difficult to fend for himself if you set him free in England. All the same, when you are grown up, you need never keep any caged birds if you do not want to.”

“Well then, you know the picture in the schoolroom with the baby in it, and the bird pecking at the ear of corn,” continued Philomène. “I had just made up such a nice story about it all, when Miss Mills told me that it was a ‘Flight into Egypt,’ and that I ought not to make a play of it. But how was I to know? They hadn’t any halos. And, O Godmother, I had just planned that the ugly idol had enchanted a prince and princess and had turned them into the donkey and the bird, and that the grass and the corn they were eating would turn them back again. Then I asked Miss Mills what the idol and the bird really did mean, but she could not tell me. She only said she supposed it must be some silly legend. Whenever Miss Mills does not know the answer to what I ask her, she says it must be a silly legend. What do they mean, Godmother?”