The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1897-02-18
HOW POLLY PROPOSED.

regret 10 say that the irrepressibl,
young man that brings the daily mill
is the tutor Of my parrot in the latesi
up-to-date slang of the day.
am an old sea-captain-at least, no
old, perhaps the word slipped out un
awares, lam the right side Of 50, any
how; but being in receipt OF pension
and small private income to boot,
have cast anchor in my present abode il
the expectations Of weathering many :
winters storm yet.
Being without known relation in
the world, l willingly fell in with the
suggestion that ! should pick up my
moorings alongside my old friend and
messmate Capt, Travers, late r. n.
who, having left one OF his legs on the
west coast OF Africa while capturing q
SLAYER, was pensi0ned OF at an even
earlier age than myself, and now lived
with his sister most comfortable
nerty, fat, fair and 10 or thereabouts-
IN tine adjoining house to mine in the
ncighborho0d 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-
qnainted with, but, being in many re
spects like her brother, we were soon
firm friends.
Capt. Travers and myself had each a
fayorite parrot-his the common Afri-
can gray. with rsd-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 10 ms--a very
important difference, as | know to-day
when, almost unconsciously at first.
Ibegan to feel what lonely old hache-
lor l was, and what set-off to all nv
other belongings the figure Of Miss
Rachel Trayers would be by my fire
side. But just here the curse of my
life began tomalse itself felt. Inherent
shyness in the presence of the opposite
sex has dogged my footsteps from my
earliest recollections, Give me d gale
Of wind in the Bay OF Biscay, a tornado
in the tropics, or 20 hours duty on deck.
wet through to the skin, and Capt. Man
ley, late OF the p and o. service.
win thank you for it, and consider life
well worth living; but as dispenser OF
delicate attentions 10 the fair sex, in
tensely as he inwardly admires their
pretty ways, Capt Aanley does not. no,
he certainly does not, show up to ad-
vantage.
Although fond of pets generally,
have an antipathy to cats, especially at
night. l am not aware that our neigh
lorhood was particularly beneficial IN
its aspect or other qualifications 10
feline constitution, but ] trow that un-
til I was inhuHlan enough to start an
air~gun cannonade on my numerous
nocturnal visitors, was frequently un.
able to get a respectable nights rest.
One internal black and white Tom de
fed my finest efforts, Ii average cats
Lave nine lives, am sure this one must
have had 10, and I began 10 wonder
what sort Of uncauny being this was
that had no objection to letting my bni-
lets pass apparently through It's body
without suffering any Inconvenience.
But after all itmust have been my bad
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 qnigtly getting my air-run, /
took steady aim and fired. There was
no mistake this time, and without
sound poor ppss dropped on to ny
lloweF-Ced as dead as the proyerbial
door nail.
Ny exultation, however. was of short
duration, for TO my horror and dis
may, on proceeding TO pick up his un-
fortunate carcass and give it decent
burial, saw that my shot had passed
right through the uulucl,y animal and
silled my neighbor's parrot, which had
been put out TO sun itself in a little
that stood at the bottom
If tine garden,
was staggered at my position: !
Knew the parrot was asupreme fayorite 1
with Miss Trayers. and how / could ever
explain my careiessness i could not
imagine. Suddenly a way out Of my |
iiIcmma presented itself TO my mind, !
ind hastened to put it into execution.
knew that the Travers were out, and I
gould not be back for some little time, I
% hurrying indoors and taking my own
larrot from its cage, carefully painted I
he end Or it'd tail with red ink in imita-
ion OF its deceased comrade, and find
ng no one was about, stepped lightly
iyer the fence and substituted the liy-
ng for the dead bird, which ! buried,
ogether with the cat, in my own gar
ten. Iknew that my parrot would not
eadily talk before strangers, and
,oped that by the time il had got used
D its new surroundings, it would have
its former accomplishments;
t any rate, must risk 1t.
Alas! Uneasy lies the head that
Years q crown" sang some poet, Who'll
xpect, never wore anything harder
han a nightcap, but, true az 1t may be.