Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-05-11


Hi! HI! All right. Now we shan't
be long!' said the gray parrot.
[ regret to say that the irrepressble
young man that brings the daily milk 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 I'M
aWares. l am on the right side of 80,
anyhow; but being in receipt of a pension
and q small private income to boot, l
have cast anchor in my present abode IN
the expectation of Weathering many a
winters storm yet.
Being without a known relation in the
world, | willingly fell in with the sug-
gestiOn that [ should pick up my moor
ings alongside my old friend and mess
mate, Capt. Travers, late r. N, who,
having left one of his legs on the west
coast Of Africa while capturing a SLAYER,
was pensiOned off at even earlier age than
myself. and now lived with his sister-a
most comfortable party, fat, fair and 40,
or thereabOut-in the adjoining house to
mine in the neighborhood of London.
We had always got on well together, our
tastes and dispositions were similar, and
we had often met during our naval ca
Teers. His sister | had not previously
been acquainted with, but, being in many
respects like her brother, we were soon
firm friends.
Capt. Travers and myself had each a
fayOrite parrOt-hiS the common African
gray, with a red-tipped tail, and mine the
purer variety, without i trace OF color,
but otherwise similar.
[ had not long settled down in my new
quarters, and got everything shipshape,
or what seemed SO to me-a very i'm
portant difference, as | know today
when, almost unconsciOusly, at first, be
gan to feel what lonely old bachelor |
was and what q set-Off to all my other
belongings the figure of Miss Rachel
Iravers would be by my freside. But
just here the course of my life began to
make itself felt. Inherent shyness in the
presence Of the opposite sex had logged
my footsteps from my earliest recOllec-
tons Give me a gale of wind in the Bay
OF BlsCay, a tornado in the tropics or
twenty hours duty on deck, wet through
to the skin, and Capt Manley, late of the
L. 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 inWardly admires
their pretty ways, Capt. ManIey does not
no he certainly does not-shoW up to
advantage.
Although fond of pets generally. [ have
an antpathy to cats, especially at night.
i am not aware that our neighbOrhOOd
was particularly beneficial in its aspect or
other qualifications to feline constitution
but know that until I was inhuman
enough to start an airgun cannonade on
nay numerous nocturnal visitors, [ was
frequently unable to get a respectable
nights rest. One Internal black and
white tom defed my finest efforts. If ay-
erage cats have nine lives. | am sure this
one must have had nineteen. and [ began
to wonder what sort of uncanny being
this was that had no objection to letting
-,
body without suffering any inconyeni-
ence. But after all it must have been my
bad craftsmanship, for one afternoon I
saw my enemy quietly walking I'D the
low fence that divided my back garden
from Capt. Travers'
The opportunity was too good to be
lost, and, quietly getting my airgun, [
took a steady aim and fred There was
no mistake this time, and without a sound
poor puss dropped onto my flower bed as
dead as the proverbiaI door nail
My eXultatIon, however, was of short
duration, for, to my horror and dismay,
III proceeding to pick up his unfortunate
carcass and give it a decent burial. I
saw that my shot had passed right
through the unlucky animal and killed
my nelghbor,s parrot, which had been
put out to sun itself in a little summer
garden.
was staggered at my position; knew
me parrot was a supreme favorite of
MISS IraYers, and how [ could ever ex-
plain my carelessness [ could not mag
Inc. suddenly way out of my dilemma
presented itself to my mind. ard I has
tened to put 1t into execution. [ knew
that the IraverSes were out, and WouId
not De back tor some little time so hur-
Iylng indoors and taking my own parrot
from its cage carefully painted the end
II It's tan with red ink in imitation of its
Il
was about, L stenDed lightly over the
renee and substituted the living for the
dead bird, which [ buried, together with
the cat, III my own garden. [ knew that
my parrot would not readily talk before
strangers, and l hoped that by the time
1t had got used to its new surroundings
it would have forgotten its former ac-
c0mpllshments; at any rate, | must risk
it.
Alas! Uneasy lies the head that
wears crown" sang some poet, who. [
expect, never wore anything harder than
mghtcap, but, true as it may be, COM
pared to the torture of my mind. now
launched on course OF duplicity. it
would be bed of roses
1t was toward the end of the following
week that | happened to be out in the
garden and saw my old friend come
stumping down the path of his own gar
den in his dot-and-carry- style, and,
seeing me on the fence, cried:
Holloa! Captain, you're quite
stranger! What's been up? Rachel has
been talking about coming in to inquire
about your health, as she was afraid
something must be wrong
Yes, | have been a bit poorly" said
l: Oh, how easily the words slipped out,
although l had been as right as nine
pence-why that particular sum should be
endued with more restitude than its fell
lows L have never been able to discover
this by the way.
"A bit of cold perhaps" said Capt.
Travers. We'll come over the fence and
have a dish of tea in the summer house.
and Rachel shall come afterward and
make you a good glass of something stiff
for a nightcap."
Punctually at o'clock I donned nv
sprucest attire, and with smart flower in
my buttonhole- dog that I was
slipped over the fence. Miss Rachel was
there, looking as fresh as a spring cab