El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-21
Old Wheezy
A Short Story.


and he was rather proud Of himself.
from his light waistcoat and high
/ black cravat to the beautiful
browns of his eback and the bigness
Of his heavy thick beak, but he was
not proud Of the wheeze which had
! given him his nick" name. 1t was a
distinct disadvantage in the wild. 1t
drew the attention Of his enemies too
much to him; made him too cOnspicu-
Gus.
He discovered that someone was
! feeding the tits and robins and Wrens
outside the backdOOr. He promptly
/ left off chirping-he could not leave
off wheezing-and stared. And the
more he stared the more surprise took
hold of him.
A fieldfare-One of those big. very
, pretty thrushes that have an odd,
laughing cry, and because they only
come TO see us in the winter are asSO-
clated in our minds with frost and
snOW-driven to desperation by hung
er, flew down TO a very big piece of
bread that had fallen near a certain
laurel bush. That was the surprise.
Any of the pUffed-Out birds assembled
there in that white and bitter scene
could have told him what would hap
pen il he settled near that bush
when the birds were being fed.
Next instant that fieldfare was
dead-slain by the paw and Jaw Of the
laurel when birds were being fed,
and was none the richer as a rule.
since the birds kept carefully out OF
his reach.
Then did Wheezy move. He dropped
instantly like stone, with almost
completely closed wings, in that extra
ordinary sudden way which sparrOws
have, and seem to share with no other
birds, and landed upon the bread, TO
snatch up which-under the dreaded
'ginger's" very whiskers and remove
at top speed for the orchard. The
piece of bread was big one, a beauti-
full lump Of crumb, a little larger than
a walnut It was a meal for half
day or more.
Then he sat on low bough. just
above a trap, and set up that peculiar
low and wicked chirpiug which you
may hear when a sparrow curses you,
or the next door neighbOr's cat
Now the swearing of the sparrow is
very mOnstrOUs and annoying sound.
1t annoyed the cOck-rObin who owned
that particular corner Of the garden,
and with the robins usual dashing
intolerance, he flew straight at
WheeZy, nearly knocking that bird off
his perch, and sending him to the top
Of another tree near by. After which
the robin perched on the bOugh so
braVely won, and sang his song of vic
tory. as is the robins custom
But in the middle Of il he stopped
short, His full clear eye had fallen
upon the raisins within the trap and
he liked raisins, and really knew nOtn-
ing at all about traps, for robins are
trusting birds. Next moment he flew
down and hoped inside, and-well,
the top brick came down, and the next
time poor robin came out Of the trap
was when the gardener came round
ten minutes later to lock up his sheds
for the night, and then the robin was
dead.
Wheezy sat on in his tree and
chirped.
The gardener. however. SWOre. Also
he scratched his head. and in his tenn
per scattered the bricks Of his trap.
His master and mistress. YOU see. loved
robins and hated sparrOws, and things
might go badly with him if he were
caught Staying robins. So he went
away to hide his victim somewhere
in rats hole, I think, and when he
came back a fat little cOck-sparrow
coolly flew up from among the rem
nants Of the trap and departed
wheeling. There We're no raisins left
and 1t was clear that poor cOck-rObin
had no time to eat them before he died.
That night Wheezy roasted in the
thick ivy which chung to the south
west side of the house. He did so be
cause the wind was northeast; had il
been west he would have roasted on
the east side Gradually the house
grew quiet as the hours slipped on,
and one by one the lights went out.
It was still showing slightly, and was
very still.
X
moon, but the snow made up for the
moon. so you could distinctly see.
from time to time. the shadow form
OF a rat hopping across the open from
bush to bush. Suddenly a rustling l
noise sounded at the base OF the ivy.
Then gradually it began to move Up
wards Inch by inch it rose, till soon
1t was five feet from the ground. and
still going higher It was a rat climb
ing Rats do climb well, and ivy is
of course, easy to scale This one was
climbing after WheeZy having heard 3
him from the ground.
Slowly he drew nearer and nearer.
till, all Of sudden, theft was a
spring and a rush. a wild rustic OF
leaves, and scream from Wheezy.
Wheezy, however. had heard the
rustic just a fraction of a second be-
fore the rat sprang and with his
unique quickness, instantly acted. As
the rat sprang. he struck with his
powerful little beak and with all his
might at the murderer's cleaning
eyes. and promptly fell from his
perch He escaDed therefore with no
more than the loss of a few feathers. I
But worse was to come.
Wheezy fetched up in mid-air, and
flew out round to the roof and as ne
did so. a brown form swooped at hin.
1t was a wood owl Wheezy lodged I
back for the ivy. only TO be met by
another owl He turned, and suddenly
was half blinded by a red glare which !
lit up the widow near him Somehow. /
II fascinated him The owls would not ]
come there. would the rats. It seemed |
to him that If he could but get in there
he would be safe. FuriOusly he heat
against the window. Thud-thud-tbud /
went his little body, fluttering at the /
glass. and all at once it appeared that /
he had awakened the whole house.
There came scream from within:
a man shouted hOarsely, doors banged. 1
the window was flung up, and clouds {
of smoke poured from it; people an l
peared from nowhere. and rushed /
about with buckets; there was almost !
continuously the Kissing sound which I
water makes upon fire: once as I
Wheezy lay half stunned upon the /
snow on the window sill. he saw the /
red CLEAN of flames; then the choking
smoke grew less and less: someone |
went cantering away on a horse and I
more people came rushing up ont = 4
the night and Wheezy heard a man /
call out:
It's all right. We've got it under. /
A bird woke us up flutterine. at TIL [
window. or we'd have burned to death. :
Yes. it's all right only burnt few
chairs and some curtains"
Then Wheezy knew no more.
When he aWOke, he was in bip
warm cage, in big. warm room. with /
heaps and heaps Of delicacies 10 AT