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

hope, melted by the magnitude of his re.
ward, never ceased his monotonous task
until the unfortunate bird was so far edu-
Gated that, If he did not substitute his new
name for his old one, he at least used one
ms often as the other, and very often both
| In the same breath, and when the 9th of
| August came / took him In cab to Pitt
street in high state of exultaton and
strong language and under the belief, as
l think, that he was about to be shipped
for the West Indies.
On the 18th brought him back again
as glossy and bright as ever, and with the
sum of f6 6s. in my waistcoat pocket as
well as the price of the two cabs Not
feather of him was missing. He was as
| ugly, but not at all more sO--which, in
deed, was scarcely possble-than when he
left us What he had done to earn his hire
we could not possibly imagine When we
asked him, he answered, Fiddle Paddle"
reply which at first terrified us by its sa
gacious novelty, but presently we remem-
bered that that had been the name of the
general whose housekeeper the widow had
been and set 1t down merely as a new nc
| QUESTION to Dicks vocabulary For IS
years / took that parrot to Pitt street and
received the IL guineas per annum and
although we suffered much, especially
AIuNyi ilohh bht pbiiEo VI uiiBiuoihNu OuIl
osity we had certainly cause to bless that
sable bird. Our pecuniary connection
with Mrs. Hubble did not make us in any
degree more acquainted with her. She re-
oeived and dismissed me always with the
! same frigid pOliteness, and when met her
by chance in the street at other times she
made two stereotyped inquiries-first, aft
er Tommy's health, and, secondly, after
that of my wife.
In the sixteenth year after our first loan
of the parrot, and in the month of July,
we received visit from two strange gen
tlemen which was even more extraordi-
nary in its results than that of the mys
FERROUS widow. 1t took place upon Satur-
day afternoon, when was accustomed to
leave my employers house at an earlier
hour than usual, so that L happened to be
at home Had my wife been alone she ex-
presses her opinion that the interview
would have been too much for her and
have cost her her reason.
AS il was her head-to use her own
words" turned round like teetotum,"
and she saw sparks, which, 1t seems, is
a premonitory sign of mental alteration.
And judge now whether, under the cir
cumstances, this was to be wondered at
These two gentlemen, being strangers
and attired in sober garments, having
rung the bell, lifted down the parrot,
whose cage, Us usual, hung outside tho
ground floor window, and brought it with
them into the parlor.
You must excuse our freedom, F" OBJ
served the elder of the two, who had a stiff
white cravat and looked like family law
yer, but Tommy is very old friend of
ours, and we have known him great
deal longer than you have"
Indeed, gentlemen" said l. "Then
that must have been in the West Indies. "
Il knew him there intimately well, re-
turned the second gentleman, who was
tightly buttoned up and carried his head
high, like military man. THE general
won him at piquet off the lieutenant gov
ernor of Barbados, having staked upon
his side 90 guineas.
"And don't think no would have aft
erward parted with him. major, for 41,-
000, observed the other.
Dear me'' said l. But l could not
help thinking that he must have parted
with him for good deal less to my broth
er Dick unless Dick stole him. This last
idea SO agitated me that did not catch
quite clearly what was said for minute
or two.
1.-The gentlemen want to know how it
Is that the parrot has forgotten the articles
of war;" exclaimed my wife, touching my
elbow then added in a terrified whisper
For heavens sake get them out of the
house, George. They are both stark, star
ing mad"
"The articles of wari' said l. II never
knew he had learned them. Dick, Dick,
why did you never repeat the articles of
war;"
Pooh, poohl Kill the captainl Scut-
tie the ship!" chuckled the parrot.
Now, that's very extraordinary, too,
remarked the military stranger. Where
could he have picked up all that sea slangP
Sir Fiddle was SO very particular He
kept him in his own cabin all the way
home, and nobody under gunroom rank
was allowed to associate with him."
"Some young scamp of midshipman
must doubtless have done it on the sly"
returned the other. But, may l ask, Mr..
Wilson, why you call him DickY"
Because that's his name, " observed
simply. Il have no other reason what
ever"
But it S not hin name" remarked the
white cravated gentleman confidently.
"His name is Tommy and has been such
for these 10 years. He is denominated
Tommy in the codicil am sure Fiddle
would have been very unhappy at the no
| ton of his being called DICK. Y GU must
not encourage the bird in such senseless
extravagances. The wishes of the departed
should be consulted as though he were ac-
tually alive. We have nothing, however,
to complain of in your custody of the bird,
Mr. Wilson Quite the reverse Indeed
poor Mrs. Hubble informed us that she
knew of nobody to whom we could intrust
the faithful creature with greater conf
dence. When we have called upon her by
accident and not at the specified time, we
understood that you had poor Tommy in
keeping for the benefit of his health, and
certainly you always sent him back to
Pitt street in high feather. Now that
Mrs. Hubble is dead (did you not hear of
itS Yes; the sad event took place more
than ten days ago. we do not know any
body filter than yourself to whom to trans
fer this sacred charge. We came here to-
day merely to identify the bird In future
we shall visit you every 18th of August.
1t was the generals whitest day in the
year, major, and APPLY chosen. Even para
disc can be hardly more charming spot
L. l. l.