The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1889-07-05
DON'T SHooT AT THE BIRDS.

dows got broken, and when one or t%o
little birds got killed, our mothers were
much excited.
There was a bluebird that built it's nest
year after year in an elm-tree close to one
Of our windows. One day my mother saw
a boy shooting at It; lie didn't hit it but
she made up her mind it was time for the
shooting to stop; and when, not long after,
little Willie Brand had his eyes put ont,
fhey all thought so.
There was a fuss about it. There were
pieces III the paper about how rubber
shooters were dangerous things; and then
the police came about and said that every
boy that shot would ave to pay five dol
lars for it. They all thought that was
more than they could stand, so they stop
ped.
Mother had given me ten cents for mine,
long ago, and burnt t; so I was glad when
the other fellows had TO stop.
This year we thought we'd have a lutte
fun, and keep quiet about it. Jim Barlow
made mine, and 1t was a first-rate shooter,
| tell you; | gave him my top and a skate
strap and thirty marbles fer it; he said
'twould shoot equal to a revolver.
was very careful how l used it, for /
didn't want mother to know that | had it.
I used to shoot at stray dogs and eats,
though it did make me feel mad some
times, to hear 'cm howl if I bit EN-. /
used to shoot at the knot-hole in the barn
door, too, to see how many times in twenty
| could shoot in. 1t wasn't much fun
when we had to keep ont of the way all
the time.
One day | was wandering about the
lower end of the garden with my shooter.
There were plenty of birds all around, but
| did not want to shoot at them, i'll could
find anything else to shoot at. I got over
the fence into another lot. but still there
were birds everywhere.
1 shot a few times, Just to frighten them
a little.
Then | heard one singing beautifully
over my head. / couldn't see it very
plainly, and l don't believe I meant TO hit
it at all, and tell you | was frightened
when it came falling right down at my
feet, with a sad kind of a little scream.
picked it up and tried to make it fly,
or walk, and it kept painting with its bill.
1t was a bluebird.
I knew | never could keep it from moth
er; for when | hsye been doing anything
dreadful, I always feel as if | was lost till
I've been and told her. AS I carried the
poor bird through the garden, a drop of
blood fell from its mouth, right on a great
white lily that seemed looking up to ask
me what | had been doing. Mother was
standing near the back piazza; as l laid the
bird in her hand, it stopped painting and
was still.
Mother said whats the natter" Bat
there was sach a lump in my throat, /
couldn't speak a word. Then she saw the
shooter in my hand, and she said:
Ibid you kill that little bird?"
tell you it scared me. the way she
spoke. never heard her speak in such
an awful voice before.
Then she said, 'sYou have stolen away
its little lite,-it was all the life it had.
The Lord loves his helpless little creatures;
He gave them to us to make us happy, and
He will never bless those who are cruel
to them"
Then she put the little bird up to her
check, and l saw the tears come. She
took the shoote r and laid it on the kitchen
fire. l didn't get any ten cents this time,
you may be sure; and then she said:
you may go to your ROOM"
I'd a great deal rather she'd whipped
me, thar to have to go there and Just have
to keep thinking. l thought Of all the
beautiful days of sunshine | had taken
away from that poor little bird, and how
it would never ly through the air. or sing
in the trees, or see the flowers and the
grass any more. And wondered lift had
a nest and little birds, and what would be-
come Of them il i it had.
Aud all of a sudden | jumped up, as |
thought of the bluebird that had come to
build It's nest neal us for so many sum-
mers. AS soon as mother let me out Git
wasn't very soon, for she gave me plenty
of time to Think l ran to her nest.
The little birds held their heads straight
up, and opened their big little mouths, so
l almost knew their mother hadn't fed
them for some time. | fed them the best
I could, and | watched that evening to see
if their mother come, but she didn't.
Before l ven to bed | got a piece ofsoft
cotton, and covered 'em up. thought,
you see, if | took good care Of 'em, they
might live without their mother. But in
the morning only two of them held up
their heads to be fed, and before night they
were all dead. SO you see l had taken
away all the sunshine from them. too. Ny
sisters cried when they knew their little
birds and their mother were all dead.
| don't think l want another shooter. |
don't believe I'll ever see another white
lily but what it'll say to me, You killed
that bluebirdfi-Toasfa's Companion.
The prospect for the huckleberry crop is
said to be excellent. The bushes hang full,
and if the weather is favorable the yield
will be equal to any for the past ten years.