The Washington herald., 1914-05-31

ever. that gave me something to do. for.
taking advantage of two Of the trees
being together. rissed up q kind Of
storm shelter with these vestiges. And
that day the egg hatched.
''Hatched. sir. when my head was pill
lowed on II and I was asleep. I heard
Q whack and felt Jar and sat up. and
there was the end Of the egg pecked out
and Q rum little brown head looking out
at me. Iordr said. you're welcome
and with . little dificulty he came out.
He was . nice friendly little chap. at
irst. about the size Of q small hen-very
much like most other young birds. only
bigger. His plumase was q dirty brown
to begin with, with q sort Of gray scab
that fell OF IT very soon. and scarcely
feathers-a kind Of downy hair. can
hardly express how pleased I was to see
him. tell you. Robinson Crusoe don't
make near enough of his loneliness. But
here was interesting company. He looked
at me and winked his eye from the front
backward like q hen, and gave q chirp
and began to peck about at once. as
though being Matched 800 years too late
was Just nothing. Glad to see you. Man
Fridayr says I. for had naturally set
tied he was to be called Man Friday II
ever he was Matched rs soon as ever
found the egg in the canoe had devel-
oped. was bit anxious about his feed.
20 I gave him q lump Of raw parrot nsh
at once. He took II and opened his beak
for more. I was glad Of that. for. under
the circumstances. II he'd been fanciful.
I should have had to eat him after all.
You'd be surprised what an interest
ing bird that Aepyornis chick was He
followed me about from the very begin
ming. He used to stand by me and
watch while fished In the lagoon and go
shares IN anything I caught And he was
sensible, too. There were nasty green
warty things, like picked gherkins, used
to lie about on the beach. and he tried
even looked at any Of them again
"And he grew. You could almost zee
him grow. And as was never much of
. society man. his quiet. friendly ways
suited me to Q T. For nearly two years
we were as happy as we could be on that
island. had no business worries, for I
knew my salary was mounting up at
Dawsons'. We would see a sail now and
then. but nothing ever came near u.s.
amused myself too by decorating the is
land WITH designs worked in sea urchins
and fancy shells of various kinds I put
Aepyornis Island all round the place very
neatly, in big letters. like what you see
done with colored stones at railway sta
tions in the old country. And I used
to lie watching the blessed bird stalking
round and growing. growing. and think
how I could make a living out of him
by showing him about IL ever got taken
of. After his first molt he began to get
handsome. with q crest and a blue wat
tie. and q lot of green feathers at the
behind OF him. And then used to puz-
zle whether Dawsons had any right to
claim him or not. Stormy weather and
in the rainy season we lay snug under
the shelter had made out of the old
canoe. and used to tell him lies about
my friends at home. 1t was a kind of
idyll. you might say. II only I had had
some tobacco it would have been simply
just like heaven.
TT was about the end Of the second
year our little Paradise went wrong. FRI
day was then about fourteen feet high
to the bill Of him. with q big. broad head
like the end of a pickax. and two huge
brown eyes with yellow rims set together
like q man's-not out Of sight of each
other like q hens. His plumage was fine
none of the half mourning style Of your
like a cassowary as far as
color and texture go. And then it was he
began to cock his comb at me and give
himself airs and show signs Of q nasty
temper.
AT last came q time when my fishing
had been rather unlucky and he began to
hang about me in a queer. meditative
way. thought he might have been eat
ing sea cucumbers or something, but 1t
was really just discomfort on his part. I
was hungry, too, and when at last I
landed a fish wanted II for myself. Tenn
pers were short that morning on both
sides. He pecked at 1t and grabbed 1t.
and gave him a whack on the head to
make him leave go. And at that he went
for me. Lordi
He gave me this in the face" The
man indicated his scar. Then he kicked
me- 1t was like a cart horse. I got up,
and seeing he hadn't finished I started
off full tilt with my arms doubled up
,ver my face. But he ran on those gawky
legs Of his faster than a race horse. and
Kept landing out at me with sledge-ham-
ner kicks and bringing his pickax down
on the back Of my head made for the
lagoon. and went in up to my neck He
stopped at the water. for he hated getting
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