Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1898-07-07

| at their own sweet will. Ihey soon
found congenial quarters In a couple of
empty pigeon holes in my desk, where
they would sit by the hour while was
writing; but the moment lay down my
pen or pencil they would dart out like
a couple of young pirates, pounce upon
it and drag II back into the pigeon hole,
whirring in triumph; they would play
hide-and-seek with each other in the
dark corners of the room, under the
furniture, and sometimes, as a special
treat, used to close all the doors and
let live mouse loose on the floor. The
owls you'd rise and float, like bit OF
thistle-down, just over the mouse, then
drop suddenly on 1t, fixing their strong
little claws in its back; they did not
torment their victim like a cat, but
tore its head off at once and proceeded
to make meal of it.
I regret to be obliged to record the
fact that, Notwithstanding the very evil
dent affection which existed between
the two upon all other occasions, they
relapsed into savagery when feeding;
and the one who was fortunate enough
to secure the mouse scolded the other
until the unfortunate rodent was snug
ly tucked away where 1t could not be
got at. generally tried to have two live
mice for them at time, and all our
neighbors and the nearby grocery
stores were laid under contribution to
meet the demand. One curious fea-
ture of their manner of eating mice was
never-failing source Of amusement;
they had habit of boiling the head
and forequarters first, and then swal-
lowing the rest without tearing 1t into
bits, with the result that they would
stand with their little paunches swelled
out to an enormous size, and the
mouse's tail sticking out of the corner
of their mouths, for all the world like n
fat old man who has finished his dinner
and was enjoying his after-dinner cigar.
Their flight was absolutely noiseless;
they seemed to float rather than fly;
but they were very swift on the wing
for short distances, Us many sparrow
discovered to Its cost. When went to
the country for the summer l took them
with me, and used to carry them In my
pockets when I went out for walks.
The English sparrows were becoming
very plentiful about our place and were
driving away the more desirable song
birds. With the active cooperation OF
Doctor and Judge declared war upon
the impudeut foreigners, and when l
came upon party of the little feath-
cred ragamuffns I would set my two
plainsmen free. They would float down
among the sparrows, and seldom failed
to catch q couple. Sometimes in the
excitement of the chase, II one of them
failed to catch a sparrow, he would
start off after the nearest song bird;
but q sharp call never failed to bring
him back, obediently,. 10 my shoulder.
II. was in this matter Of obedience that
they showed the only difference In their
dispositions. When recalled from the
chase Judge would turn at once, circle
about me and settle contentedly on my
shoulder, but Doctor was more minded
to have his own way. He would float
Off after a song bird like bit of down
on the breeze; when he heard me call
he would flap back to me as heavily
rs an old crow, and would further dis
play his vexation by swapping his biz
close to my car.
While it was evident that the strong
sunlight annoyed them they seemed to
see quite as we'll in the daytime as at
night and, naturally, all their hunting
was done in the daylight, though tried
to select cloudy or overcast days for
their excursions. They never seemed to
have desire to get away and, indeed
I fancy it would have been difficult to
have made them go very far from some
member of the family. They would sit
on the branch of q tree not far from
my window, but at nightfall they
sought the family sitting-room, where
they made themselves comfortable on
my mothers lap. In the city they de-
lighted in sitting, Tor hours at time,
on the window sill Watching the people
passing in the street and copVersipg
with each other in low, chirping mono
syllables. They had doSe-like fond
ness for caressing each other and sal
close side by side, motionless except as
from time to time they would turn their
heads and rub their bills together,
One evening l was romping with the
doctor and be was wrestling with my
finger, a play in which he took an es-
pecial Joy. We were in the midst o!
our frolic when he lost his balance.
heard a slight snap and he fell over Or
his side; he picked himself up again
and tried to continue his sport, but
saw that his right leg hung limp and
helpless. quickly examined him and
discovered that it was broken just
above the knee. Though handled him
as gently us knew how, he squealed
with pain, and made bee line for his
haven Of refuge, my mothers lap. We
bandaged up the leg as best we could;
but it was of no use, and after four days
of suffering he died. During his illness
the conduct of Judge was almost hui
man. The evening of the accident he
discovered that, for some reason be
could not comprehend, Doctor was alb
sorbing the attention of the family; he
protested violently, flew on my mother:
lap half a dozen times, only to BIZ
driven of, and finally, In fit Of rage
and jealousy, he retreated under the
sofa and sulked. The next morning
however, he discovered that there wa.
something really wrong with his com
panion, and his anxiety knew nc
bounds. Our aim was to keep Doctor as
quiet as possible, but Judge seemed tc
believe In that treatment that some
well-meaning people deem SO eftica
cious-he wanted to do something "tc
take up the patients mind" he tried
to lure the poor Doctor into games o.
hide-and-seek and excursions to thu