The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1895-07-27


sideration you have received from your
mother and me. You must hereafter
scratch for yourself, and you must be
prepared to submit to many restraints
and indignities which your proud spirit
has hitherto resented. But let two
words guide you in your way through
life; namely, patience and policy.
The annals, written in bird-Latin,
and often with spluttering quills pulled
from the wings Of some captive goose
are not easily read, but we gather that
while Nappy was wandering about Pa
ris, roosting in trees, and scratching
living out of garbage heaps, an old tu-
tor of his, a parrot of venerable age,
and a wise old fowl, met him one day,
and learning his situation got him
post in flock of Gallo cocks, Burgun-
dian ravens, Breton geese, and Gascon
brakes, together with great number
of Partisan looms, gulls, snipe, storks,
sparrows and what not. It appears
that vast number Of hawks and
crows, many of English breed, had es-
tablished themselves in place called
Toulon, where they defied the utmost
, efforts of the French fowls to GUST
them. Here it was that our hero's mil
itary genius first showed itself.
Now 1t should be known that the COM
mander Of the forces was a certain
Major-General Gander, a miserable old
rascal, if the truth must be told, one
sided from the loss of a wing, lame
from a foot deformed by being frozen,
vain and stupid withal, and convinced
| that the fate Of the whole nation lay
IN his paddles. Nappy Leon, with the
adventurous and unquiet disposition
| which went so far toward his after sue
cess, and also to his final overthrow.
being dissatisfied with the slow and
fruitless tactics Of Gen. Gander. one
day flew into an el1n-tree which over
| looked the enemy's position, and from
thence devised a plan for the expulsion
of the defenders of Toulon. He laid his
scheme before Gander, who hesitated,
quacked, Kissed, nibbled at his only re-
naming wing, billed his unlaundered
| shirt-front, took a sip from the mud
puddle before which he had established
his quarters, pulled out and ate very
| large earth worm, with profoundly
| reflective aspect, and-consented.
Nappy Leon proceeded at once to his
| quarters. Doubtless there might have
been seen a laughter carriage Of hts
| head, more brilliant gleam of his
eyes, a loftier poise of his comb, as he
summoned his flock for the assault Be
| this as it may, he selected his stOrming
| party with great dispatch. He chose
| Briennes "Heavies," uniformed in yel-
| low and black; Thibault's 'Whites," in
snowy vests and green jackets, every
fowl of noble family; De Vergne's
| charge; and, finally, Chambord's Spar
rows" hardy, reckless little fellows,
| before whose iron bills even the "Royal
Eagles" had more than once taken
flight
We need not pause to describe the
event. It will suffice if we say that
-Nappy, at the head Of his gallant flock,
swooped down upon the surprised and
demoralized foe, and, after a short but
| desperate battle, drove them, pell-mell,
| out of their works, with terrible cluck-
ings, squallings, screenings and croak-
ings, in a cloud tf torn feathers, wings,
beaks, gi1ls, combs and top-knots. Nap
py himself had a desperate, though
| brief, combat with Major Flemish, the
| commandant. Those who witnessed the
struggle declared afterward that the
sight of it was worthy of poem.
The further history Of Nappy Leon
| is one long tale of bloodshed and vic
tory over his enemies. His grateful
followers put him on top OF the finest
hen-coop, and he was declared to be
the emperor fowl of the whole country.
But there came a time when Nappy
had to abdicate. He could do nothing
else if he wished to save his life; for he
knew that he must otherwise "get it,
| to use bit of slang frequently in Nap
py's mouth, where the hen got the
axe'-that is, in the neck.
On far-distant island Of the sea, he
| pined away the remnant of his life, nib
| bling his feathers, stalking around his
| narrow domain, feebly Growing and
| dreaming over again the vast dreams
which erstwh1le had kept the world in
| excitement.
| Peace to his feathers! He was won
! derful fowl in his time; but his life illus
| trates the great truth that, bird or man,
| if we fly high, we may fall low.-Adapt-
ed from Demorest's Family Magazine.