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Page 11
As he put the dime into his coat pocket he told the man that one of the
birds was named Admiral Dewey and the other Napoleon Bonaparte. The
groceryman agreed that these names were good enough names for anybody,
but he thought he'd change Bonaparte's name to Teddy Roosevelt, as
being easier to pronounce, and the two birds were accordingly given
these titles then and there. Not having any cage at hand to put them
in, the man thought that for a few days the new-comers could share the
quarters of an old sparrow he had in the rear end of the store until an
extra cage could be procured.
But alas for Teddy Roosevelt! The very first night he was
ignominiously whipped by the spiteful occupant of the cage, who
resented having these country visitors thrust into his house without
his leave. Poor Teddy died the next day. Admiral Dewey stood the
battle better than his unfortunate friend, but he too was pecked at in
a way so threatening that the groceryman concluded it would be wise to
get rid of him immediately. Because the admiral had not defended
himself better from his pet's attack, the grocer regarded him with some
disgust.
"Being as there was two of you and only one of the sparrow, 'pears as
if you hadn't much grit," he said. "I would better take your
high-soundin' name away from you and call you something else besides
Dewey, if you can't fight."
For all the man's censure, the redbird knew that if Teddy Roosevelt had
killed the sparrow instead of being killed by it, the grocer would have
been much more grieved at the loss, for he had heard him say the
sparrow was like one of his family. The man forgot that the result
might have been different if the redbirds had been older.
Having decided to dispose of the admiral, the grocer, who had an errand
in the city the next day, carried the bird with him. He knew of a
probable customer for it in a gentleman named Morris, who had been
advertising in the papers for a redbird. He soon found the street and
number where was located the gentleman's office, at which the
advertisement was to be answered, and displayed the admiral.
"Your bird looks kind of ragged, as though he hadn't been treated
well," said Mr. Morris, as he examined the scarlet plumage. "My boy
wants a redbird, and I promised him one if he would get the highest
grade in arithmetic in his class this term and he did it, so of course
I must keep my word. What d'ye ask for this bird?"
"He'd be cheap at five dollars," answered the groceryman. "A nice
redbird is hard to get, and they're powerful nice singers, but bein' as
it's for your boy that has earned it by studying his lessons so good--I
always like a boy that is fond of his books--you can have it for two
dollars and a quarter."
As he had paid but five cents for it this advance in price would be a
fine business speculation. After a little further talk, Mr. Morris
counted out the money, and the man went back to his home doubtless
wishing he had a hundred more redbirds to sell at the same handsome
profit. After he had gone, Mr. Morris went to a box hanging against
the wall, and turning a handle began talking to the box as if it were a
human being. Though it was just a plain wooden box, the admiral said
there was something mysterious about it, for Mr. Morris actually seemed
to be carrying on a conversation with it, though the bird could not
hear what the box answered, but he felt sure it talked back.
Mr. Morris' residence was a fine stone house with wide porches and
sunny bay windows, over which were trained graceful creeping vines. A
boy of about eleven years of age and a very pretty lady stood arm in
arm on the broad steps leading up to the front entrance that evening
when Mr. Morris and the admiral arrived. They were Johnny Morris and
his mother, who had already learned that Mr. Morris had bought the bird
and would bring it when he came to dinner. The admiral discovered the
next day that Mrs. Morris owned a box like the one at the office, into
which she talked, and that it was called a telephone. He often
mentioned this mysterious box as one of the most remarkable things he
saw during his stay among men.
Johnny Morris capered and danced and jumped so hard in the exuberance
of his joy at receiving the redbird that all the way to the sitting
room his mother was coaxing him to be quiet.
"Don't act so foolishly," she begged; but he only capered and kicked up
his heels still harder. When the cage was placed on a stand in the bay
window he pranced around it, whistled and chirped, threw the bottom of
the cage floor full of seed and splashed the water about so recklessly
in his attempts to be friendly as nearly to frighten the poor admiral
to pieces.
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