Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1908-08-22

were theirs and the sloping hillsides.
Through long, bright summers and
snowy winters they lived undisturhed
in their far-away corner of the Sierra
Mountains.
At last men came to cut down the
giant trees. Straight through the love-
ly canon they built railroad to carry
logs to the sawmill below. Soon, in
stead of gray squirrels, woodpckers,
and blue jays, sixty men were living
in the canon sixty men and few
families. They put up tents and built
shacks in the midst of squirrel homes,
laughing the while at scolding blue
jays and indignant woodpeckers.
At last the gray squirrels, the wood
peckers and blue jays moved away
from Cedar Canon. But they loved
their old home, and the bravest often
went back visiting. One bird, a beauti-
full blue jay, with a tuft of perfect
feathers on his dainty head, used to go
every day to the canon. His own folks
warned him of danger. The gray squir-
rels said he would be shot, and the
woodpeckers told him that men were
always trying to shoot their red caps.
Truth to tell, the venturesome blue
jay knew that two little children lived
in the canon. Their names were Jen-
ME and Robbie. He wasn't bit
afraid to go near them, and one day,
when the children were eating dinner
in their outdoor dining room, the blue
jay perched on a tree close by and talk
ed to them with his head On one side.
After that he flew down to the railing
beside the table. Next thing the blue
jay knew he was eating dinner with
the family.
A few days later the children named
their pet, called him Dick
In time Dick lost all fear of stran-
gers. No one harmed him and he sup
posed every man in camp was his
friend. Robbie and Jennie loved the
bird. They fed him choicest dainties
and watched for his coming whenever
they sat down to the table.
Always the blue jays in the forest
warned Dick to be careful. The men
in camp had guns, and just for the
| fun of seeing how straight they could
shoot they aimed at birds It wasn't
safe to fly through Cedar Canon tree
tops dressed in brown or blue
Sometimes when Robbie, Jennie and
found on the ground birds that would
never fly again. Jennie did wish men
wouldn't shoot birds; but what could
one little girl do to save their pre-
cious lives! She didn't know.
One evening when the canon was
lighted with the wondrous glow of
sunset above surrounding hills, Jennie
offered Dick a bit of cheese. The bird
futtered down to the table and fell in
a pitiful bunch by Robbie's plate. He
| had been shot. Jennie said afterwards
that she ate tears with her supper
that night.
All of Dicks friends in the neighboK-
ing tents were grieved. Dick himself
seemed cheerful. He could fly, and
Jenine's mother said she was sure the
bird would get we'll Mothers are us
ually right, and Dick did get well.
"But some one may shoot him
again. sobbed Jennie.
Suddenly the child wiped her eyes
and wrote a notice, which the man in
charge of the commissary allowed her
to tack upon the door.
This is what every man in camp
read the following day:
Il have little pet blue jay. Some
body shot at him yesterday and broke
his leg. Please don't do it again.
Jennie MacColl."
Some Of the men whistled, many OF
them laughed; but every one of the
sixty had a kind heart, and from that
day it has been perfectly safe to fly
through the treetops of Cedar Canon
dressed in blue and brown Frances
Margaret Fox, in the Churchman.