One day, just after he got back, Mrs.
Montague drove up to the house with a canary cage carefully done up in a shawl.

She said that a bad-tempered housemaid, in cleaning the cage that morning, had gotten angry with the bird and struck it, breaking its leg.
She was very much annoyed with the girl for her cruelty, and had dismissed her, and now she wanted Carl to take her bird and nurse it, as she knew nothing about canaries.
Carl had just come in from school.

He threw down his books, took the shawl from the cage and looked in.

The poor little canary was sitting in a corner.

It eyes were half shut, one leg hung loose, and it was making faint chirps of distress.
Carl was very much interested in it.