Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1881-01-28

tlnued for some time shouting 'stOOt-oOt,
oot,'' ETC., in imits tion of the firing of
rifles.
The old gentleman was thunderstruck,
and no wonder, for Polls pronunciation,
while delivering hims If of these words of
drill, the infection Of his voice, and entire
attitude, ale so perfect, that a Captain Of
Volunteers told me that the first time he
heard him at it he was waiting for Mr..
Trueitt in the adjoing drawing room, and
could scarcely believe, even after the truth
was made known to him, but that he, be-
ing volunteer, had engaged a drill in
structor to post him up for the evening.
Indeed he added, 81 never heard a drill
sergeant whose articulation was to be COM
pared to that of a parrot" After this eff :
fort, as if conscious of having done good
mornings work, Poll wishes us 'good-
bye" and leaping into his ring, said no
more until the one O'Clock gun, which is
fred from the castle, went off; ''Polly
wants his dinner. Jennie lay the cloth.
sherry" and ceased not until the cloth
Was laid and the table set.
1t will be necessary to pass over the af-
ternoon performance of this wonderful
bird, as description of them would take
up too much space. In the evening, four
ladies were present, and among them
clergyman S wife, who was more than de-
lighted with Polls singing. AS if certain
that be would be desired to sing, he made
the following request to himself. ''Poll,"
he said, ''slng a pretty song 70 the LADIES'
then, coughing like nervous young lady
about to entertain a party, he sang the fol-
lowing verses, giving to each it's appropri-
ate tune:''
o, dear, what can the matter be?
Jockey stays long at the fair,
He promised to buy me a bunch OF blue
ribbons
To tie up my bonnie brown hair.
For Polly7s Jolly good fellow,
Polls jolly good fellow,
Poll's a jolly good fellow,
Which nobody can deny.
Down among the Goals,
Down among the Goals.
IOlly . d Glover Cudp.
Down among the Goals.
| wish I was a swell,
A rowing down PalI-Mall,
Upon the street to spread my feet,
l wish was a swell,
Don't /, rather!
He sang other verses during the evening
such as Charlie is my darling" but Of
course substituted Polly for Charlie; ''Up
in Balloon Boys" my Dear Boys, My
Dear Boys, He is pal o. Nine" and
Champagne Charlie is my name, up to
every little game, my toys;' and amused
and delighted us all by dancing to one or
two of tunes. His singing OF "Polly's a
jolly good fellow" was .nimitable; but
when asked to repeat it by the clergyman's
wife, he very sharply told her to Ego to
the kitchen"
That he objected to being encored was
evident, so we allowed him to sing, dance,
speak, laugh, or be silent, just as he
pleased. Polly is capital Laughter. He
bends and unbends, and does it so heartily
that it is difficult to believe that he is not
consciously amused. Then he cries, too,
most mournfully, and generally INDUCES
In it when he hears any one speaking in
piteous tones.
When the company had dispersed on the
evening in question, he looked as if aware
that he had shown himself off to some ad-
vantage, and, indeed, went the length of
saving: poll is very pretty bird He's
a good little boy" When drawing near
the later hours, he interrupted an inter-
esting conversation by saying: care you
not going to your beddies? Polly is going
to his beddie. Yes? Good night, good
night He then leaped into his ring and
retired for the night. evidently highly sat-
isfied with days performance.
I am certain that have not recorded
the half of what I heard Poll say, but
enough has been quoted to show that he is
most wonderful bird. A lady offered
twenty guineas for him lately, and was as
tonished to find that hundred guineas
would not buy him. Polls linguistic &C
complishments clearly show what extraor
binary lengths bird can be taught to
speak, not by mere note, but with wond-
erful degree of nationality and adaptation
to circumstances. Chambers Journal.