Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-02-12
Wa9hlngton Standard
HOW POLLY PROPOSED

rc.I't t" ~ay that the ire rr,'~>hlc
young man that brings Tho daily milk
j. tn" tut"r 81 luy parrot i. the latest
ul-to-latc slang al the day.
ann an"ld >ca captain, bat not very
old. perhaps the word Slipped ont un-
awarc,. | am the righ, side Of 80.
anyhow; bat Icing III receipt uf pen
SION and small private income to boot
have cast anchor i'll my present abode
III the ,Npcction Of wrathcrin" many Il
winters storm yet.
Being without 4 known relative in
IL" world, ! willingly fell in with the
suggestion that ! should pick up my
mooring> alongside my old friend and
mcssmatc, Capt. Travcrs, late II. n,
who, having left one OF his legs on the
west coast of Africa while capturing Il
shaver, was pcnsioncd off at an even
earlier age than myself, and now lived
with his >iStrr-a most comfortable
party, fat, fair and 40 or Whereabouts
III the adjoining house to mine in a
suburban neighborhOod of London.
We had always got on well together,
our tastes and dispositions were
similar, and we had often met during
our naval careers. His sister | hat:
not previously been acquainted with,
but, being in many respects like her
brother, We were soon firm friends.
Capt. Travers and myself had each
Il favorite parrot-his the common
African gray, with a red-tipped tail,
and mine the purer variety, without
trace Of color, but otherwise similar.
l 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 ! know
to-day-when, almost unconsciously
at first, began to feel what lonely
old bachelor l was, and what set-of'
to all my other belongings the figure
of Miss Rachel Travers would be by
my fireside. But just here the curse
of my life began to make itself felt.
Inherent shyness in the presence of
the opposite sex has logged my foot
steps from my earliest recollectiOns.
Give me gale of wind in the Bay of
Biscay, tornado in the tropics, Or 90
hours duty ON deck, wet through to
the skin, and Capt. Manley, late of the
P. and o. service, will thank you for it,
and consider life we'll worth living;
but as dispenser of delicate attentions
to the fair sex, intensely as he inward
ly admires their pretty ways, Capt.
Manley does not, no, he certainly does
not, show up to advantage.
Although fond of pets generally,
have an antipathy to cats, especially
at night. am not aware that our
neighborhood was particularly beneti-
cial in its aspect or other qualifications
to feline constitution, but / know that
until / was inhuman enough to start
an air-gun cannonade on my numerous
nocturnal visitors, l was frequently
unable to get a respectable nights
rest. One internal black and white
Tom defed my finest efforts. If aver
age cats have nine lives, 1 am sure
this one must have had IS, and 1 be-
gan to wonder what sort of uncanny
being this was that had no objection
to letting my bullets pass apparently
through its body without suffering any
inconvenience. But after all it must
have been my bad craftsmanship, for
one afternoon saw my enemy quietly
walking up the low fence that divided
my back garden from Capt. Travers'.
The opportunity was too good to be
lost, and quietly getting my air-gun, l
took a steady aim and fired. There
was no mistake this time, and without
sound poor puss dropped on to my
hower-bed as dead as the proverbial
door nail.
My exultation, however, was of
short duration, for to my horror and
dismay, ON proceeding to pick up his
unfortunate carcass and give it decent
burial, saw that my shot had passed
right through the unlucky animal
and killed my neighbours parrot, which
had been put out to sun itself in a
little summer-house that stood at the
bottom Of the garden.
was staggered at my position; l
knew the parrot was supreme
favorite with Miss Travers, and how
could ever explain my carelessness /
could not imagine. Suddenly a way
out of my dilemma presented itself to
my mind, and fastened to put it
into execution. I knew that the
Travers were out, and would not be
back for some little time, so hurrying
indoors and taking my own parrot
from its cage, l carefully painted the
end of its tail with red ink in imita-
ton of its deceased comrade, and find
ing no one was about, I stepped lightly
over the fence and substituted the
living for the dead bird, which l buried,
together with the cat, in my own gar
den. / knew that my parrot would
not readily talk before strangers, and
l hoped that by the time it had got
used to its new surroundings, it would
have forgotten its former accomplish
ments; at any rate, 1 must risk it.
Alas! Uneasy lies the head