The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-01-06
Uncle Benjlmin'S Parrot

IL was getting ate in the evening of
the third day h,tore Christmas when
there came a violent pull at our front
doorbell. and ii the door being opened
Uncle Benfan a., covered with snow
and out Of bre ii from fighting against
the wind. enterd d. "Oh, what weather!
What weather he pulled and gaSped,
rs he kicked of his wet overshoes and
recklessly Sc cred the snow from his
overcoat on ne clothes which were
hanging in t.. hall. 81 should so like
emp of coffe- 1t wouldn't disturb you
too much to axe il, would it?"
Of courst t didn't disturb us, no
more did Jncle Benjamin, who was
soon snuglg installed in comfortable
seat By b. stove.
"Oh. hr e, shut your eyes!" cried my
wifi. Bu lqenly --''Y our Christmas pres
EN- B lying here on the table near you.
Nv could Il be socareless! Please don't
ok thai way"
He did as request ed-shut his kindly
little eyes and waited patiently until
by wife said; Nov, all right
How kind OF YOU to think of pres
ent for me-" ne said. One good turn
deserses anoi ler and want to give
you a nefhih too, but I'll be hanged
if | kroY VIII,
For short time he sat with his mead
in Is hahds looking fxedly in front of
hiut Tten, al at once, bringing his
80 dow on he table he said: If
ID " hal that parrot | should be all
Rhtv'
PA rrot?" asked, astonished.
|ha parrot
Dpele Benjamin looked at me jovially.
Dor Il you know the story? ReallyP
Vel, Ahen. you shall hear it. But, first
bffalIAgive me another cup of coffee.
Ebu Svell-read man. nephew, so
Non &ght to know there is nothing like
81 cup of coffee and good lunch
cn get a man talking"
n the leverage was ready and
Un Benjamin mad thoroughly tasted
1t Several earty draughts, and had
the Expressed his satisfaction, he be-
gar is story:
happened several years ago. After
mu hoping md waiting Christmas
day bad fnall arrived. For several
day before a ntinual stream of pres
emit from rel5 lives and friends had
bee steadily lowing in, while on
Chi tmas morning quite a number of
fol to whom | had scarcely given a
a -. l..
so bat felt proud and happy, and
sal to myself Ben jamin, my boy,
yopmust be rather nice sort of fell
low after all, t these people are so
Proud of you IS to send you Christmas
presents hs ! arranged with mother
(fdr she was liz ng them how we would
pilepp all the presents under the Christ
MAJ tree in the evening-you know all
Iea&onable pee Die become children at
Chusi nas-w en- another present was
bronght in. / was from man whom
/ had not seen for years, and whom |
had dough, of very seldom-my
frienc Karl Kierhaum, who was in
( Amer ca. What in the world prompted
him u send me anything could not for
the life of me imagine; still less how a
man who was in general so reason
able should send me parrot, the ugli-
est bird in creation The one which |
got was the ugliest of its kind, and was,
II addition, an ill-tempered, i'll behaved
beasi It began by biting my finger,
and as soon as ii was taken out of the
cage set to work to destroy the carpet.
You know hate all birds-except those
\ which are roasted. of course: then |
like them we'll enough, when the gravy
is PHI right. Well, how could be ex-
pected 10 fall in love with that haieful
specimen which screeched the sharpest
words and behaved like a pagan? My
wife naturally thought it a dear ittle
thing and would have been delighted
70 have had ii in the bedroom. just like
children with their Christmas TOYS But
J insisted that the parrot should either
be taken into the cellar. or else chained
in the dog kennel. In the latter place
IT might at least have served to warn its
lord and master of approaching danger
like the geese of the capitol Ny wife
pbjecte ed thai the parrot would freeze
and that IL would H. brutal to cause the
death of the poor, harmless creature.
That ! finally admitted but maintained
that il should not / housed in the bed.
room
We'll. said my wife. finally. what
shall we do"
Z" Can't the bird be roasted?' | asked.
upon which my dear better half
threatened to lay the case before the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals, so ! saw that it would be
neces sary TO find some other way out
OF ibe difficulty. At noon an inspira-
tio4 came to me.
Mother,' | called. Il have It'll Wen
wrb the parrot up carefully in paper
anS send it to Director Striegel. l will
! WI note, telling him how honored
II el at being able to send him a
trTng present which hope he will
acvpt as the bird is Of rare species.