Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1897-01-16
HOW POLLY PROPOSED.

regret to say that the lrrepresslple
Young man that brings the daily mill
is the tutor of my parrot in the latest
up-to-date slang of the day.
] am an old sea-captain-at least, not
old, perhaps the word slipped out uu'
awares. am the right side of so, any
how; but being in receipt of a pension
and a small private income to boot, !
have cast anchor in my present abode in
the expectation of weathering many
winters storm yet.
Being without a known relation III
the world, | willingly fell in with the
suggestion that | should pick up my
moorings alongside my old friend and
messmate, Capt. Trayers, late X. N.
who, having left one of his legs on the
west coast of Africa while capturing d
SLAYER, was pensioned off at an ever
earlier age than myself, and now lived
with his sister - a 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, III 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 soor
firm friends.
Capt. Travers and myself had each G
favorite parrot-his the common Afri'
aan gray, with a red-tipped tail, anc
mine the purer variety, without u 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-av very
important difference, as | know to-day
when, almost unconsciously at first
l began to feel what a lonely old bache'
lor | was, and what a set-otf to all my
other belongings the figure Of Miss
Rachel Travers would be by my fire
side. But just here the curse of m,
life began to make itself felt. Inherent
shyness in the presence of the opposite
sex has logged my footsteps from my
earliest recollections. Give me a gal,
of wind in the Bay of Biscay, a tornado
in the tropics, or 90 hours duty on deck
wet through to the skin, and Capt. Man
ley, late of the =. and o. service
will thank you for it, and consider life
well worth living; but as dispenser o
delicate attentions to the fair sex, in
tensely as he inwardly admires tbeiI
pretty ways, Capt. Manley does not, no
he certainly does not, show up to ad
vantage.
My complaint got worse and worse
and many an hour did | spend pacing
up and down my quarterback, meaI
my front parlor, saying: Rachel,
love you" in various tones, practicin!
which would have the best effect whel
| should have a suitable opportunity.
AT last l heard my parrot saying: IRA
%ra-ra," in preliminary effort to acquir
my sentence, and with the idea of hear
ing the effect from other lips-or shout
! say beak?-l taught the bird TO repea
the words.
Although fond of pets generally,
have an antipathy TO cats, especially a
night. ! am not aware that our neigh
horhood was particularly beneficial ]
its aspect OF other qualifications t
feline constitution, but l know that III
til | was inhuman enough to start a
air-gun cannonade on my numerou
nocturnal visitors, | was frequently III
able to get a respectable nights res
One Internal black and white Tom d,
fled my finest efforts. If average cat
have nine lives, | am sure this m mus
have had 10, and l began to wondt
what sort of uncanny being this wa
that had no objection to letting my blu
lets pass apparently through its bod
without suffering any inconvenience
But after all it must have been my ba
craftsmanship, for n afternoon sa
my enemy quietly walking up the 10
fence that divided my back garden frol
Capt. Travers'.
The opportunity was too good to
lost, and quietly getting my air-gun,
took a steady aim and fired. There W.
no mistake this time, and without
sound poor puss dropped on to II
hower-bed as dead as the proverbi
door nail.
My %exultation, however, was of sho
duration, for to my horror and di
may, on proceeding to pick up his u
fortunate carcass and give it decel
burial, / saw that my shot had pass'
right through the unlucky animal al
killed my n~eighESr's parrot, which h;
been put out to sun itself in a lit
summer-house that stood at the botto
of the garden.
l was staggered at my position;
knew the parrot was a supreme favori
with Miss Travers, and how / could ev
. explain my carelessness l could n
imagine. Suddenly IL way out of L
dilemma presented itself to my mir
and | FASTENED to put it into execute
: | knew that the Travers were out, a
: would not be back for some little tin
SO hurrying indoors and taking my o,
parrot from its cage, ! carefully paint
: the end of its tail with red ink in imit
! tion of it's deceased comrade, and fiji
ing no one was about, l stepped light
over the fence and substituted the
ing for the dead bird, which | buri'
together with the cat, in my OWL g,
den. knew that my parrot would 1
readily talk before strangers, and
hoped that by the time 1t had got us
to it's new surroundings, it would hs
forgotten its former accomplishment
at any rate, ] must risk it.
y Alas! Uneasy lies the head ii
wears a CROWN sang some poet, VIII,
expect, never wore anything hart
than q nightcap, but, true as it may
y compared 10 the torture of my mi,
!, now launched on q course Of duplici
. II would be . he'd Of roses.
Y had been in the habit of frequen
y taking my evening meal with
: Trayers, and accompanying my
friend in q consolatory pipe afterwai
! avoided them, however, during
next few days. in order TO give thil
ttslne 10 settle down q bit.
y wAs towards tn end Of jhs tell'