The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-03-05
LITTLE MARK.

wish everybody could have known little
Mark TapleyI Our Mark, not Dickens.
Did you ever read Martin Chuzzle wit"
Because if you have you know that Mark
Tapley "liyed and moved, aud had being"
in that book, and was the humble friend OF
Martin. its hero.
Mark had one splendid trait that was as
good as a fortune to him-he was always
bright and cheerful. no matter what hap
pened. or how hard things went with him.
He never lost his temper and never got de-
spondent.
That was Dickens Mark Tapley. and our
Mark was named for him, because he pos
sessed the first Marks distinguishing trait.
He was as bright as a button (our Eight
O'Clock Club Button not excepted) and
always singing and whistliDg from daylight
TO sunset, just like the other Mark.
doubt whether you would have been as
cheerful as little Mark under similar circum-
stances
met him one day in a birdstore on Eighth
street, where l often went, for had lots of
pet birds in my Philadelphia home. So the
storekeeper knew me and my ways very
we'll He knew | had a weakness for the.
"maimed. the halt and the blind" So this
time he came up TO me and said: :" have
poor little bulllnch here among lot just
received. He is two-tune bird and should
be worth SIS, but If you will take him you
can have him for So.
Now, you see, we had two bullfnches at
home already, so L felt doubtful about it.
Not after l had taken look at him, though.
be WAS In tiny wooden cage; had come
all the way from Germany Iii ii. / suppose
you have all seen those little birdhouses.
hardly big enough for the poor things to
turn around In.
just as soon as stopped opposite to this
particular cage down upon the floor hoped
fluffy bullhneh on one leg. The other leg
hung helplessly at its side. My heart ached
for the little bird, and it did not ache any
the less when he began to rub his feathers
against the side of the cage, whiSting
merry tune aud keeping time by bobbing
his head up and down as spoke to him.
Could you have stood that? / could not,
so l carried the broken-legged little fellow
nome with me. The slender leg had got
broken somehow on the voyage or on The
cars. no one could tell how, but there it was.
1t was too late to set it properly, but we
bound it up carefully, and before long it
seemed so much better that we took off the
bandages. The leg still swung, but the deli
cate toes were strong enough TO clasp the
perch partially, so that their owner had
more comfort than before.
All The time lie was as merry as a cricket.
The way he whlstled and made a puff ball
OF himself was perpetual lesson to the
rest OF US. That was how we came to name
him Mark Tapley. You might have ex-
pected One-legged bird to be silent and
depressed and 10 keep in one spot as much
as possible. But our Mark Tapey, not a
bit silent OF depressed was he; neither was
he ike the leopard. for he could change
his spots" and ne did.
You never saw such busy little bird as
that Mark! Nor such an out-and-out jolly
one. Perhaps you do not know what a queer
bird bulinch is? 1t wears a neat gray
coat, black cap on its head and a reddish
waistcoat "all buttoned up before like old
Grimes coat, you know. only the buttons
don't show. Its beak is shaped like that of
parrot. and 1t Is a lmost black. 1t is a won
derful bird for taking likes and dislikes
to people, and without the least apparent
reason.