Thomas County cat., 1890-07-03

| B0d|Zz&&I soon was stand.
V vi ing. all una
WI dashed, tiny,
white-robed fig
ure, before good.
kind Solomon,
our colored serv-
ing-man, eager to see what he could
possibly have brought me from the
woods on this beautiful. bright birth
day of mine.
He once had gotten me a big. round
eyed owl that winked and blinked GU
riously, and gulped down chunks of
raw meat and fish, and caught and ate
rats and mice and other small game;
but one unhappy day he also caught
and killed my wee kitten, which had
not got its eyes open yet, and as that
was an unforgivable crime he was
summarily 'banished, in dire disgrace,
| to his native forests, and never heard
| from more.
| Another time Solomon had brought
me pet lizard-with lovely glisten-
ing scales (which he had tanned for
me. He often brought mamma brill
liant many-hued flowers from the cool
depths of the thick woods, which white
ladies were afraid to venture into be-
cause of the poisonous snakes and
troublesome insects with which they
were infested. He had also from time
to time made valuable additions to
papa's herbarium of rare plants, which
he alone knew where to find. But
what could he now have brought to
! me'
Something for little Missy" he
said, exposing two rows of even, white
teeth as he smiled And then he held
out his right hand, over which white
cloth was loosely wrapped.
Something moved underneath it, and
1 fancied heard faint chirp or twit-
ter, so / was not much astonished
when, on removing it, he showed me
two bright-green parrots.
manned them Tommy and Lizzie,
and they fourished finely and grew
apace. Pretty soon papa sal d that We
must begin to teach them.
But Lizzie wouldn't take an educa-
ton. She was an incorrigible cross
patch, and not only refused to try to
talk herself but did all in her power to
hinder Tommy. She squawked, and
squawked, or else chartered at him,
Just as if she were scolding him.
He was a gentle, affectionate, and
very teachable little fellow; but he had
hard time learning to talk, for it
made Lizzie so mad to have him try
that she would fly at him and tear o,lt
his feathers till he was sOrry-looki 81
sight.
We had another large parrot named
The Queen, which belonged to our
house-keeper, Mrs. Dawson. She had
variety of colors in her plumage and
was very accomplished, for she was an
old bird and had been accumulating
knowledge for many years. She evi-
IDENTIFY looked down on the little new
comers, and when Lizzie squawked
would cry:
"Hush! hush! you'll wake the baby"
although there wasn't any child in the
house but me; but when Tommy tried
to practice his lesson she always said,
fercely:
"Stop that right off," Which so,
frightened him that he would cover
into a little round, green puff-ball,
and not try again for quite while.
So we began to fear that Tommy
never would get an education, but just
grow up an ignorant, worthless parrot,
unable either to talk or to sing.
But he was quite smart little bird,
after all, AS he proved to us one morn
ing. He was so tame and gentle that
we let his wings grow, as there was no
danger of his wanting to fly away and
leave us; but Lizzie's wings were
kept well clipped, for she was OF Q.
restless, discontented disposition and
a great rover, and if able to fly might
have tempted Tommy away.
Well, where do you think we found
him one morning when we came out
from breakfast? Sitting on the win
dow-sill, across q very wide stair-well
over the broad stairs that led into the I
back yard. There Lizzie could not
possible reach him, so there he sat and
practiced the little song we had been
trying to teach him.
sTommy Tommy Tommy set.
Tommy set-Tommy," etc.
The Queen always went to meals
with Us, consequently she was as much.
surprised to see him there as we were.
But when she saw that he really meant
business, she gracefully yielded and
let him alone in his pursuit Of knowl-
edge. So every little while he retreat
ed to his study for practice, till, after.
several days effort, he mastered the
whole, and could sing, clearly, DISTINCT
ly, and in very good time:
Tommy. set the kettle on.
We all want tea
Then he felt that he had earned .
place in society, and went boldly about
the house singing his little couplet.
To The Queens credit, be it said.
she no longer snubbed him. but ever
after let him learn what he pleased
and where he pleased. Lizzie sim
ply submitted to the inevitable; but