Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-08-13
soon made known his desire to be taken

soon made known MS 'teoiAS
downstairs to breakfast.
When one of the boys was ready 10
GO, Tootie would perch on his shoulder
and ride down to the dining-room with
perfect satisfaction. When there he
did not hesitate to fly on the table and
help himself to any bit which happened
to please his taste, and as it was useless
to try and teach him good manners he
was not permitted to remain long. The
children's papa quite spoiled him, how
ever, giving him cream out OF a silver
teaspoon. He drank it very gracefully
and evidently considered that the
proper way to take cream.
He liked to hop around downstairs
during the day, but if allowed to stay
in a lower room toward evening, he be-
came uneasy and wanted to be taken to
his own apartment. If carried into the
hall he would fly upstairs and
hop around disconsolately utter
ing his shrill "cheep, cheep,"
until permitted to enter his
right door. He had a perch in his
room which suited him, and he never
wanted it changed.
After a while Tootie was taken out
in the yard every day and allowed to
fly up in the trees and on the roofs of
the nearest houses. He enjoyed that
greatly; but as soon as he heard one of
us call "Tootie!" he would turn his
little head on one side and then on the
other in a coquettish way; and finally,
after a little more coaxing, he would
begin his shrill cry of JOY, and come
fiuttering down right into our hands
and lee carried contentedly into the
house. We never could think of put
.ting Tootie into a cage, and it became
quite a task to care for him, keep him
out of danger, and yet allow him some
desirable freedom. We loved Tootie,
but we didn't know what to do with
him. 1t was too late in the season to
turn him out alone to caro- for himself,
and all the robins seemed to have left
the vicinity.
One morning Tootie was taken out to
enjoy his daily exercise, and he flew
far UP in the tree-tops and upon the
roofs, singing and merry in the autumn
sunshine. The children lost sight of
him for awhile, and when they began
to look for him he was not to be found.
They noticed, however, a large flock of
robins flying around and pausing in
the trees on the sidewalks, apparently
chatting gayly Of their flight to a more
Southern home. Tootie had disap-
peared, and then every II began to be
sorry. The whole family went out in
the dooryard and made themselves re-
diculous, calling in high-pitched and
what they intended to be very musical
and enticing tones:
"Too-tie! Too--tie!"
And the children's papa went along
the sidewalks down town, stopping
under every tree where he fancied he
heard a robin, and looking up in the
branches and saying "Too-tie!" while
people must have thought him very
queer indeed.
But Tootie did not come again.
We preferred to believe that our
robin had recognized his friends and
joined them in their southwark flight,
and that he had escaped all prowling
cats and heartless boys, and was happy
with his own bird relations.
So when spring came the children
imagined that each pretty red-breast
that hoped rnafraid to our very doors,
or sang merrily in the trees, was our
lost pet, returned to his early home.
But if he were indeed n of them he
was far too happy among his robin
friends to ever pay much attention to
the once familiar call of "Tootie!"
NATURAL CHS n THE END OF TIE
Recent events furnish grounds for a
new and very plausible theory in re-
gard to the burning up of the world, a
H. ~