The weekly sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1886-11-25

'sIsn't he magnifcents' said the visitor. II
should think he would weigh nearly twenty
pounds. Oh isn't he a treasured"
The Mikado heard this remark and almost
tainted with delight. "Ah," he thought, II
was right in always believing myself an i'm
portant parsonage. I hear it now from the
lips Of those who have heretofore pretended
to be my superiors."
ssWhat do you feed him ons" asked the
visitor
Goat meal scalded in hot milk and various
little dainties. It's joy to see him eat"
At this the Mikado felt himself bursting
with pride.
my daughter is to be married on Thanks
giving day, and he is to be the great feature
of the table," said the hostess.
"Oh, N.Y. thought the Mikado, won't that
be finer l am to figure at wedding, to be
the great feature Of the whole proceeding, it
seems. I must order something nice to wear"
The cat on the fence post also heard, but
she only licked her lips and smiled knowingly.
The days went and the Mikado only
grew fatter and more domineering every
hour and the other fowls became more and
more cast down.
On Thanksgiving morning his doors were
opened and he was invited to come forth.
This was the day on which he was to receive
greater honors than ever, and he waddled
out, numbered by his excessive flesh, with
more arrogance than usual. He was little
surprised when the hired MAN grabbed him
by the legs and suddenly inverted him. It
was an undignifed attitude for bird Of his
plumage, to say the least; but he reflected a
moment and concluded that it was but fit
ting, after ALL for creature of his distinc
ton to be carried, and of course this awk-
ward fellow didn't know how to carry him
gracefully or even comfortably.
He had no time to frame other thoughts,
for in moment more the hired man had as
sassinated him, and his head was lying on
one side of the ohopping block and his body
on the other.
His late envious associates ran in all direc-
lions, chilled with horror. nor were they seen
again that day. He graced the feast, to be
sure; he was the great feature Of it, but not
in the capacity he had SO conceitedly antici-
pated. Instead of the fine suit of fashionable
garments he had expected to be arrayed in,
he appeared shorn of his feathers, with his
skin cruelty Drowned and his legs cut off at
the knees, a sorry and humbled Mikado,
surely.
In short time his very memory was for
gotten, or recalled only with sheer, or to be
cited example of what conceit will bring
any one to.
The day after Thanksgiving there was
little talk over his head and his bones, which
We're found in ditch by his despised COM
rades His fate was a lesson to them.
'sAfter ALL" said one, 1--WE might have
known that such a sudden rise into affiuence
could bode no good. Up like a rocket and
down like a stick, you know"
''Do you remember my words" said the
cat, who came strolling along, bulging in
body more than usual from having enjoyed
extraordinary Thanksgiving blessings. Il
told you to envy no one; that it was
To
the Mikado enjoyed. Poor fool he did enjoy
it while it lasted"
aCould it be- said the young turkey with
the eyeglasses and taste for metaphysics,
"could it be that my doctrines led him
astray9 Still, he was q good illustration of
the truth of what I have been preaching
that if you persistently desire the best you
will get it But the best, in his case, didn't
seem to be really good for him, after all, and
now the question arises: IS it good for any
of US? I must admit that I am somewhat
confused on this point, and, in spite of the
Mikado's grave faults of character, 1 lament
the tragedy in which he was the victin. For
some reason, his death was the occasion of
general rejoicing in the house, and l have
even picked up word here and there which
goes to show that the people who were the
cause of his death gave thanks over his body.
They actually called the day Thanksgiving,
so grateful were they that he was gone. Per-
haps they feared that in his excessive love Of
power he would rise some day, seize the
reins of government, and trample them all
under his feet If so, l half excuse the
murder, though l am too much of Bud
dhist to sympathize with a festival which
sanctions the destruction OF living creatures,
and the eating of them, too. In the round Of
existence, depend upon it, my friends, all such
things are evened up. They who kill shall
be killed in turn; if not in this life, in some
embodiment in the far future"