The DeLamar nugget. [volume] (DeLamar, Idaho) 1891-1900, 1897-03-26
HOW POLLY PROPOSED.

HI! III! All iiSut' All ilSul' NOW
we sha'n't be long!" said the gray par
rot.
regret to say that the irrepressible
Young man that brings the daily milk
is the tutor of my parrot in the latest
Ap-to-date slang of the day.
am an old sea-captain-at least, not
old, perhaps the word slipped out I'M
awares. l am the right side of so, any
how; but being in receipt of pension
and small private income to boot, l
have cast anchor in my present abode in
the expectation of weathering many
winters storm yet.
Being without a known relation in
the world, I willingly fell in with the
suggestion that | should pick up my
mornings alongside my old friend and
1ncssmatc, Capt. Travers, late r. N,
who, having left one of his legs on the
west coast of Africa while capturing q
SLAYER, was pensioned off at an even
earlier age than myself, and now lived
with his sister - most comfortable
party, fat, fair and 40 or thereabouts-
in the adjoining house to mine in the
neighborhood of London. We had al
ways got on well together, our tastes
and dispositions were similar, and we
had often met during our naval careers.
His sister had not previously been ac-
quainted with, but, being in many re-
spects like her brother, we were soon
firm friends.
Capt. Travers and myself had each a
favorite parrot-his the common Afri-
can gray, with red-tipped tail, and
mine the purer variety, without trace
of color, but otherwise similar.
had not long settled down in my
new quarters, and got everything ship
shape, or what seemed so to me-a very
important difference, as l know to-day
when, almost unconsciously at first.
/ began to feel what lonely old bache'
lor was, and what a set-oT to all my
other belongings the figure Of Miss
Rachel Travcrs would be by my fire
side. Tut just here the curse of my
life began to make itself felt. Inherent
shynezs in the presence of the opposite
sex has doggcd my footsteps from M.
earliest rerollections. Give ME a gale
of wind in tho Bay of Biscay, tornado
in the tropics, or go hours duty on deck,
wet through to the skin, and Capt. Man
lev, late of the p. and o. service
will thank you for it, and consider life
well worth living; but as dispenser OF
delicate ATTENTIONS TO the fair sex, in
tenseiy MS he inwardly admres then
pretty ways, Capt. Manley does not, no.
he certainly does not, show up to ad-
vantage.
Although fond of pets generally
have an artipGthy to cats. especially a
night. ! am not aware that our neigh
Iorhood was particularly beneficial II
its aspect or other qualifications tc
feline constitution, but | know that I'M
Ill I was i1:human enough 10 start al
air-gun caunOnade on ny numerous
nocturnal visitors, was frequently vi
able to get a respectable nights resi-
Orc internal black and white Tom G'
tied my iiAcst efforts. If average eat
Lave nine lives, am sure this one mus
Lave had 10. and l began to wond
what sort of uncanny being this wa
that had TO objection to letting my bu
lets pass apparently through its boo
without suffering any iEc9nvsrichc
But after all it must have been my D;-
craftsmanship, for one afternoon sa
nv emery q,iietly walking up the 10y
terce that divided my back garden iron
Capt. Travers'.
The opportunity was too GOOD 10
lost, and quietly getting my air-guh'
took n STEADY aim and fired. ThereW W.
no mistake tins time, and without
sound poor puss dropped on to n.
tiower-bed rs dead as the proverola
door nail.
Nv exultation, however, was oil shor
duration, for to my horror ana u'f
may, on proceeding to pick up ms u
fortunate carcass and give 1t deceh'
burial. I saw that my shot had pass
right through the unlucky animal an
killed my neighbours parrot, which ma
been nut out TO sun itself in iit'l'
srmrrer-house that stood at the oott0H'
of the garden. 49,.
was staggered at my posltioh' !
knew the parrot was supreme 'a'oi'''
with Miss Travers. and how could ever
explain M careicssness l cou'u no
imagine. Suddenly Il way out Oh III;
dilemma presented itself TO my iu!h"'
and I FASTENED to put it into execution
I Lne,, that the Trayers were OUT an"
Womb NOT be back for some little Tune
so hurrying indoors and taking my CIV
parrot from lis cage, carefully panic
the end OF its tail with red INK Ill iI n,
ton Of its deceased comrade' ana ilnu'
ing no one was about, stepped lighta
over the fence and substituted the Nv
iro for the dead bird, which buried
together with the cat, in my own gar
den. knew that my parrot would not
readily tail, before strangers "a anu ',sod !
hoped that by the time it had go, Ss,.,
to its new surroundings, it woulu nav Jaw.
FORGOTTEN its former accomplishments