Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-11-16
NICODEWUN.


morning call upon a neighbor. The old ad-
age, That the next but one be voud is one s
neighbor,' would have made a long neigh
borhood in our case, as the G.. 5 were among
our nearest neghbors, aud a call upon them
involved a ride Of some forty miles, going
and coming. ! am afraid even the Good
Samaritan himself would have looked as
kance at the additional forty miles with the
real neghbor at its end
We had left the fort, early in the morn
ing, in an open buggy, with pair Of rear
ing, kicking, jumping mules as our motive
power. The orderly had held them fast by
the head while we climbed in and balanced
| ourselves.
Then at the word GO ~ they had shot
out across the plain, declining to be guided
INTO the road, and bumped us over prairie.
dog holes, rattlesnake cact and Spanish
bayonet clumps for about mile when they
suddenly settled into an distracted walk
1t was certainly a relief to get into the
road, and find that we and the buggy were
still together. In our wild flight, our whole
minds had been concentrated upon holding
| on.
During our residence at the fort | found
this TO be the regular proceeding ON the
! part OF the mules kept there When they
were first taken from the corral they re-
sisted being harnessed with all the tireless
! persistency of the mule. One particularly
vicious, use-colored one named Calami-
! ty, had to be thrown when harnessed and
when released and allowed to rise. she al
ways sprang straight into the air. and it
took the combined strength of several men
to attach her to the buggy or ambulance.
| suppose our unambitous span had gone
through all these preliminary performances
u Na.aN..s l...a.. 4.
jump across the country for the first mile
was quite the thing to do. After the first
/ fleet spurt, we literally worked our pas
sage. Moral suasion and the whip were
used until tongue and arm were alike ex-
| hausted
But Nicodemus is the subject Of my tale
While humping over the hills Of an old
corn field on our return-the captain had
taken short cut, II saw in the bushes
that bordered the Huerfano number Of
magpies. They seemed TO be tormenting
something, as with scream and chatter and
sudden flight they rose aud fell at a spot in
the bushes
My curiosity was aroused and. the
mules easily consenting 10 a halt | got out
and went to see what was the cause of all
the commotion, and found a magpe lying
nearly lifeless on the ground
| never learned the cause of this attack,
for, although the victim in time developed
an almost human intelligence, he never al.
luded to this fearful scene in his history.
but | have always believed him to have
been n tame bird that had strayed from his
home
took him in my arms and carried him
back TO the buggy lie was a sorry look.
ing magpie. His handsome black and
white plumage was sadly bedraggled : and
his usually flippant tail hung deiectedly
down, with several feathers missing from
it.
He was nearly plucked along the back,
and his white scapulars were a dirty gray.
| knew the ornithologists gave him bad
character. and that all mankind had de-
clared that his handsome plumage covered
a thoroughly depraved heart but his sad
plight aud his confidence that | had been
sent to help him appealed to me, and
could not leave him TO his murderous kin
He did not move during the tiresome drive
to the fort and on my arrival there, with
the help of Jimmy, soon had him com
fortably housed
Jimmy was very fond of pets but he was
quite skeptical as to the benefits to he de
rived from adding this last treasure to the
collection
Indeed, num- think | will have very
little left in my kitchen, when he gets
about, mum"
But, in spite of dismal representations
and doubtful Inheritance, Nicodemus-for
SO ] named him-grew in grace and beauty
Possibly the severe lesson he had received
caused him to abjure the evil of his ways
He was soon let out of his cage, and walk
ed about with a demure and respectful air
He would come upstairs in the morning
and gravely wish me buenOS didS. He al
ways looked over my toilet cushion, but
virtuously refrained from taking any of
the various attractive articles.
The baby's crib was hung on springs, so
that the least motion would swing it. Nico-
demus soon discovered the capabilities of
this crib, and on these early morning visits
would light on the side and swing both him
self and the baby. This was an unfailing
cause Of joy to both bird and babe,
On one of his trips downstairs, Nicode
mus saw centipede crawl out of a crack
in the wall He made a dash for it but
the centipede did not wait for him, and the
magpie did not get him. This incident was
never forgotten, and the bird never passed
the crack without examining it and max
ing much talk about it.
He gradually recovered his pristine beau
ty His feathers grew apace, and he seem
ed much rejoiced at his improved appear
ance He would spread his handsome tail
and admire himself without the least dis
guise He became very fond of baby, and
seemed to take it upon himself to guide
and protect his infant footsteps.
The big tiger cat, Abb, was given to go
ing out on short expeditions with baby
lie would 90 little in advance, and lie
down and wait until baby came up, then
90 on for another space, and lie and wait
Now the country intervening between
the fort and our neighbors was inhabited
by rattlesnakes, bullsnakes. vipers. cent?
pedes, tarautulas, and various other crea-
lures, which, taken together, form IA very
interesting and agreeable collection to the
naturalist, but till the maternal heart with
untold terrors. Consequently, these little
expeditions of cat and baby were not look
ed upon with special favor by me. When
one was discovered, CONSERVATION prevail
ed, and with sinking heart and flying feet
the runaways were pursued and taken back
to the house.
Nicodemus seemed to have discovered
my sentiments in regard to these excur-
sions of baby and Abb and at once took
it upon himself TO attend TO the cat, and
prevent him from alluring his playfeow
into danger Whenever he saw Abb start
ing out for the regions bordering the pa
rade with baby making a bad second, he
would scream and fly at puss, and by his
extraordinary gymnastics and violent chat
tering attract the attention of the house
hold and the proposed walk would be
broken up.
His cup of happiness appeared TO be full
at such times. lie would spread his tail
balance himself along the path, and chatter
and scold Abb hopping sdewise and back
wards, with wings outspread, as he led the
returning travellers TO the house
Another discovery which Nicodemus
made was that Cassandra, the pet chicken,
never went to roost until the top of baby's
scalded milk was given her that she would
wait until it became dark, if for any reason
the scalding was delayed The magpie de
veloped taste for the chickens tidbit, and
always thereafter claimed "A portion and
the two apparently became great friends
and took share alike of all their food
He seemed TO have an idea that he was
not approved of by the ruling spirit of the
kitchen and woe to Jimmy if he left any
thing in reach of the bird, which he could
carry away He had decided taste for
uncooked beefsteak, and materially in
creased our meat-bil by his surrepttious
pilferings.
He always accompanied US when we
went out on the foot hills overlooking the
Arkansas 10 search for agates. When we
showed him fertilization of moss agate,
he examined il with the greatest gravity.
| have no doubt he considered himself an
authority on mneraogy, lie was particu-
larly interested in prehistoric oyster shells
| cannot begin 10 tell the numberless ac-
compishments of this Tdrd dris
One day | was sitting by the window
overlooking the parade, with my sewing in