Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-12-15

Ell Iin(lS ID 1lHke tIltIl IclntulDcl.
I" Yes en-" said kistv meehly.
Five minutes after. Norah knocked ut
the door. Kisty sat on the bed, her club
by wrists bound together with neckrib-
bon Here's tin cents, matm. rs found
under the kitchen-table," said Nora
{" Thinks l. it's yourself rs dropped it y
"Ki>ty didn't take mammns money,
did her?' shouted the little gypsey glec-
fully. Isn't it 50 nice kisty didn't take
mammals money!"
The next time punish kisty. | will
try to be sure We both know what th"p pun
ishmcnt is for" thought Mrs Reed, as
between laughing and crying She united
the child's hands How shall l ever
learn to bring up my baby ?"-Hcarh aud
Home,
Our Billy.
My dear little happy heart if you only
knew our Billy, am sure you would adj
mire him just as much as we 90; 80 am
going TO tell you about him. He is Il beau
tiul mocking bird brought Us many Years
ago by Il dear friend. who knew how much
We All Lowell birds and bird >onT> in our
home. He had become 4 great pet with
the entire family; and a more interesting
and amusing pet it would he hard to
find. unless it be some of the little bright
eyed pets who now and then come t" 81,
him, and are sure to be delighted with his
funny WAYS and his sweet songs.
Bily's first home WAS in the sunny
South. Perhaps among the glossy leaves
and sweet blossoms Of the magnolia tree
or perhaps famed by loft grtv moss
swinging from some lofty oak. But about
this h, has never told us indeed. | doubt
whether he remembers anything about it
himself for while vet u Wee bit of a bird
too young to take much notice of the world
about him. he. with all hi> fellow things,
WAS taken p session OF by Il litl!c lad
who wished to secure one of this tribe Il
resent for some Northern friends
though SO early deprived OF ptrcnttl care
| do not think Billy was ever allowed to
suffer He WIS diligently fed and c.treI
for till the time came for sending !! i'm /"
hi northern home When he reached u.
though a full grown bird. he hid not Yet
learned the art of feeding himself but had
to have this Office perform Il FL him. Be,
tween brides grredinc>> and our ineNpc-
Renee it was awkward business; but We
did the best we could m it was not Ion.
before he began to reward Us for our care
be- the sweetest of hlrd-songs. Faint little
pipinrs ut first but his musical powers
developed rapidly. an! in a few months he
had become the delight and admiration of
AL who heard him. Like all of his tribe.
Billy possessed wonderful and varied vo-
cal powers. He MARBLES like Il robin.
peeps Ike :; chi, ken, twittsr> like Il spar
row, crows Ikea Young rooster. and wis
lies like Il boy. Now he Seems - he trv
ING To pass himself off for Il trrr;old, and
now for Il steam whistle. going from one
thing t. another faster than YOU ,':ln talk.
even if Won are :, regular little chatter
box. Now lie is w;,rhlng ono of ;le sweet
est of songs but while You are listening
with intrn>est del yht he finishes oft with
The new of = cat on >omcthin. equally
absurd. 1t has been said that the mock
inr- bird is no beauty; bat We consider our
Billy very handsome. His 81 '>sv steel
colored coat, wi,h its dainty white facingS.
is in perfect taste. and his aShcn vest
harmonzes perfectly with the rest of hi
suit. Nothing could be more elegant
than his slender form He is the very en-
bodimcnt of grace as he darts lightly from
side To side in his cage. hi beautiful wing
out>pr, al and in Il cons ant tluttcr or rs
he stands with head pois-d on one side,
list ming intently to some sound that at
tracts him.
Billy has a vctv decided character of hi
own He is extremely atfcctionatc, loving
dearly to he pclted He is fond of COM
panv and likes to he noticed, really Sc, NJ
Ing to feel neglect. O ten. within his
reach. he has given my dress 4 twitcli
with his bill. as Il reminder of his pres
cnce and Il hint that he would like To re-
ccivc Il little alten ion He has 4 note of
alarm that lie invariably sounds on seeing
n cat or any other enemy. He soon learned
that This note always brought come one TO
his relief. and 80 the cunning fellow con
cluded 10 use it for the purpose of Secur-
ING company. If left alone longer than
he f.ncied, he would screech it out till
some one came to see what was the mat
ter.
But alas. our Billy is too human to have
all 20 Il traits and no bad ones He j.
JEALOUS rs we'll rs atfectionatc For Il lon.
time he seemed quite offended if any
member of the family spoke 10 Beauty.
the canary bird. When sweet Baby
Charles and Grandma. who had been Bill
ly'> best friend bestowed more of her at
tcntion upon Baby than upon birdie. the
latter moped and sulked terribly.
One day in the early spring Billys cage
WAS placed in IN open doorway. that he
might enjoy the warm. bright sunshine
Near was weeping willow, in which Il
pair of robins had built their nest and
We're rearing Their Young. Soon Madame
Robin espied Billy. and her nclhcrly heart
wa> touched at tho i:ht of poor caced
bird, unable t. dig worms and hunt bugs
for himself She seemed very anxious to
20 som thing to relieve his sad fate.
Round and round she flew. lighting first
on one side of the cage and then on the
other Finally she took !. straight course
to ii with ii long wcrm. which size prob
ably considered Il very dainty mor>el,
dangling from her bill. This she tried to
urge upon Billy; but h.. ungrateful EEL
low. refused to accept it, and that in the
most ungraciOuS manner, DriStling up rs
if ready to fight his good friend and
scolding in most unmnsctl tones But
MaIame Robin was not to be easily dis
shaded from her benevolent designs, and
so she tried again and again to persuade
Billy to accept some of her dainlies.
But he pcr>istently refused to do so, and
meantime conceived such II dislike t. the
whole tribe OF robins that Ter {: long time
he could not see one without scol,ling and
screechinG at it in most disagreeable
manner.
Bat Billy does not refuse to accept
bugs, spiders, flies and other such deli
caccs from the fingers OF his friends. lie
eagerly snaps them up when presented.
Some of us who have never bad any es-
recial affection for such creatures have
come to be on quite familiar terms with
them by picking Them up for Billy. If
OF cricket be given him, he
does not devour it ut once. but first has a
regular frolic with it, much % a cat does
IA mouse. He seems to think it great fun
to let it hop away almost out of his reach.
hen catch it. give it Il shaking, and let it
90 again. only to &c captured anew
Another performance that Billy enjoys
most heartily is bitliinc, When the dish
hat he uses for this purpose is filled with
L.,