"Nor do you; for you told me
the other day you did not understand how some boys could be so cruel."
"No, but you do not mind their being killed if you want their wings for
your hat," continued Joe, in a bantering tone.
"Not at all," said Ellen, triumphantly. "In future I am going to wear
only ribbons and artificial flowers on my _chapeau_. I have joined the
Society for the Prevention of the Destruction of the Native Birds of
America."
"Whew!" ejaculated Joe, with a prolonged whistle. "What a name! I
should think that by the time you got to the end of it you'd be so old
that you wouldn't care any more for feathers and fixings. I suppose it
is a good thing though," he went on, more seriously. "It is just as
cruel to kill birds for the sake of fashion as it is for the
satisfaction of practising with a sling; only you girls have somebody
to do it for you; and you don't think about it, because you can just
step into a store and buy the plumes--"
"But what about the May-baskets?" protested Frances, disappointed at
the digression.
"Oh, I forgot!" said Ellen. "Bright and early May-morning almost every
boy and girl in the village is up and away.
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