The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-01-30

Madam, | beg your pardon, ex-
claimed The visitor, but this parrot is the
most admirable bird
Pooh, poohp cried Dick
Its sapacity, pursued the widow, lis
beyond all belief Now, dote upon par
rots, especially black ones, that having
been my beloved husbands favorite color,
and If / could only get possession of this
admirable creature
" Kill the captainl Scuttle the shipp
screamed Dick
-" by paying any compensation in rca-
son / should consider myself truly fortu-
nate. OF course I'm taking "A great liber-
ty. l have no right to come into your
house and open negotiation of this kind,
/ am fully aware of the false position in
which have placed myself; still voice
from beyond the tomb seems to have wills
perod to me-
'Toldcrolol' exclaimed Dick, perform
ing succession of somersaults within his
gilded ring. Who's your hatter2 Hows
your poor feCtY
- seems to have whispered repeated
the widow, calmly waiting until the bird
had finished its remarks: Buy that par
rot. Buy it,, cage and all Take it home
and treat it kindly" 1t is impossible for
me, madam, to neglect such solemn in
timation of the wishes of the departed
Five pounds for the bird and two ten for
the cage is an offer which, l think, you
will allow is handsome and ought to be
conclusive And with these words she
took out her purse and laid down the
money on the table
Il confess, George, that the sight of so
much gold was not little tempting, but
after just one look at it l thanked her and
hn Ia hsr Mt In fnr bnt xxit
us also the matter was one of feeling and
memory, and that we could not part with
Dick upon any such consideration.
"'Ten for the bird and five for tho
cage, observed the visitor, with quiet dis.
tinctness and doubling the sum already
spread before me. / hesitatcd moment,
fairly fascinated by the glitter of all this
treasure. thought of score of things
that 1t would buy for you and the children
and did not know what to do.
Poor Dick poor Dick, poor Dick' re-
iterated the parrot mournfully. Give
him dozen, keel haul him, throw him
overboard'
-" Madam, cried 1, / cannot sell that
bird, SO please do not tempt me any fur
ther.
We'll, Lucy, and you did quite right"
quoth i, kissing away tear that lay upon
her honest cheek And then ! suppose
the temptress took herself OFF,"
NO, returned my wife, she did not
and here comes the strangest part of the
story, and that which may have most in
terest for you and me. Well, if you won't
sell your parrot, said the widow in the
same determined way as before, and with
out any appearance of disappointment
will you lend it to me for week in Au-
Il, I n &,
the loan of it. -
LEND it, Lucyl''
THAT is certainly what she said, George
and l replied that would speak to you,
and if she would call tomorrow at 10
O'Clock let her know to what decision you
had come"
At first I thought this offer could not
have proceeded from any but mad wom-
an and made up my mind to refuse her re-
quest. She might do some harm to our
parrot, and possibly even eat 1t, in which
case the law itself could afford us no re-
dress, but on second thoughts determined
to see the woman myself before rejecting
SO favorable proposition. Accordingly l
delayed going to my usual place of bust
ness the next day until after the hour
named by the mysterious visitor AZ tho
clock struck 10 she rang the doorbell, and
telling Sally not to be in hurry in open.
ing it made recognizance through the
parlor blind.
The widows cap framed quiet reso-
lutte face and hard blue eyes that certainly
exhibited no trace of insanity. Her voice,
as she spoke to the servant, was calm and
collected Her garments were new and Of
good material. If appearances were to be
trusted, she was not mad, and she was sol
vent-the two points about which l had
naturally the greatest solicitude
Mr.. Wilson, l conclude?" observed She
as she entered the parlor. Il am glad that
/ see you in person, so that there need be
no more uncertainty about this little af-
fair, l offered your wife 10 guineas for
the loan of your black parrot from the 9th
to the 18th of August. l think that is
handsome weeks rent for any bird"
Madam, returned l, that is undoubt-
eddy true, still the proposition is such
very uncommon one that you must pardon
my hesitation in acceding to it, How do
! know
IF you require references as guarantee
of my responsibility, interrupted the
widow, you may have bushel of them.
My name is Hubble live at SS4 Pitt
Street. was housekeeper to the late Gen
eral Sir flCule fauule Tor ~ years, ana
my bankers are the Messrs. Child. If you
are merely curious to know why l want
your parrot, that curiosity will not be
gratified. Don't be fool, now. l am pre-
pared to pay guineas at once on deposit
and in advance, to convince you that my
intentions are in good faith. What would
you have moreY'
Nothing more, indeed, " said l, taking
up the money. " l am perfectly satisfied.
But supposing that in the interim the poor
parrot should"-
Never say diel" exclaimed Dick from
his cage without. who's afraidS Chick,
chick, chick, chick chickl'
I could not help laughing heartily at
this Spropos Interruption but the widow
never moved muscle. If it dies, you
may keep the deposit. 1t is hard" added
she, with sort Of spasm, that poor folks
should be disappointed in their eXpecta-
tons, through no fault of their own, but
as for their giving money back again
think nobody ought to expect it. l have
nothing further to remark except that the
whole arrangement is to be kept dead
secret. That may seem very whimsical,