The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1881-08-20

them all the time, you may be sure.
Finally, the bravest of the sparrows-it
was little lady sparrow-alighted on
the board. She was SO anxious to know
who this strange looking bird was, that
she couldn't stand it any longer. DR..
Black bowed to her very politely, and.
putting his best and blacklist claw FORE
most, he said he was very glad to see
her; that he had built this bath at great
expense. and hoped that the birds of
the neighborhood would patronize him
literally. He was a doctor, he said,
and had studied at Crow College-the
little scamp!
Little Mrs. Sparrow was greatly
amazed. The bath had always been
free before; why wasn't it free now?
But DIR. Black soon made her believe
that the bath had always belonged to
him, though he had never charged any
thing for the use of it. because he loved
to do good to his fellow-birds. But
now-and here he gave his breast lit
tie heave and pretended to wipe tear
from his eye-he had been unlucky; he
had lost his money and he was forced
in his old age, to work to get enough to
eat. Here the little humbug turned
away from Mrs. Sparrow, and worked
his shoulders up and down in such a
way that she, kind-hearted little thing,
thought he was sobbing hard. The
truth was he was winking to himself at
the thought of his own smartness, and
thinking what soft-hearted little lady
bird she was.
Perhaps you don't know where these
little baths for the sparrOws come from.
Well, every year every man in New
York who owns house pays some money
to the city. This is what is called paying
taxes. When all the money has been put
together, the Mayor and the other city
officers meet and make up their minds
how it must be spent. Some of it goes
to pay the firemen-the brave men who
put out fires and save peoples lives;
some of it to pay the policemen; some
of it to pay men for keeping the streets
clean; some of it for the meat the lions
and tigers eat in Central Park, and
some of it for the little baths for the
sparrows. So, you see that when DIR.
Black said he had been paid for that
bath, he had told what the boys call a
"whopper."
But little Mrs. Sparrow believed it
all. Dear me! Sparrows never will be
able to understand politics. She flew
to her friends and told them all about
DR.. Black. She said that be charged
very little for the use of the bath. He
would take worms, or pieces of cake or
bread, or almost anything good to eat.
You see, the Doctor was hungry, al
though he didn't tell Mrs. Sparrow so.
She said. too. that he was u splendid
doctor, and when her husband, Mr.. ID.
Thomas Sparrow, asked her how she
knew, she said that she wasn't going to
be talked to as if she were a mere child
and didn't know anything. She knew
he was splendid doctor. Anyhow, he
had beautiful black eyes!
What do you suppose happened?
There was a most alarming outbreak
of sickness among the birds. They had
been the healthiest, sturdiest sparrows
in the world before-fat and chubby,
and with tremendous appetites. But
now there were invalids on all sides,
among the lady-sparrows. And so, sly
DIR. Black soon had all the pa
tients he wanted. and all the
fees he could eat. He became
the fashion, and no lady-sparrow felt
that she was doing her duty to society
unless it was known that he was her
physician.
The gentleman-sparrows of the
Square made great deal of fun about
all this. They didn't believe in DIR.
Black, and said so, and very few of
them went to his bath. 1t was strange
scene in the mornings when DIR. Black
received his patients. He looked so
wise and grave. and pushed the little
birds into the water with such a polite
way, and made such handsome bows
when they paid him his crumbs. Mean
while, the nurses and children who
were in the park would be very much
astonished to see fifteen or twenty little
gentlepen sparrows sitting around the
edge of the fountain and trying to sheer.
Yes, to sneer. 1t is not an easy thing
to do, for the gentleman-sparrow is
usually a good-natured, nice little fell
low. When he does try to sheer, the
effect is very dreadful, and if you had
been there, you also might have been
astonished.
But one morning there was q new
sensation among the sparrows in Stuy-
vesant Square. A young gentleman
sparrow, who had been great traveller,
had arrived, and there was as much of
a stir in the best sparrow circles as an
English Duke or French nobleman
could make in higher society. You see,
thasa citv eparrOws usual1u ctov IN tho
park where they are born. Very few
of the birds in Stuyvesant Square knew
that there was any world beyond Third
Avenue. and so when this young gentle
man came who had crossed the city
five times to the Battery, and had once
actually spent whole summer in New
Jersey, he was looked upon as sort Of
explorer, and treated with great respect.
They called him Mr.. Jersey Sparrow,
as nice way of reminding people how