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Page 17
"'One of these days, when I get time, I am going to train her to use a
napkin when she eats,' said Johnny.
"'She'll be a perfectly accomplished lady then,' added Mary Ethel.
"By this time some of the stranger children had left the table and had
come over to my cage to look at me.
"'The admiral's an awful purty feller,' said one.
"'Wouldn't his tail be sweet on a Sunday hat?' suggested another.
"'Oh, I choose his wings for my hat,' exclaimed a third.
"'I choose his head and breast for mine,' said the first one who had
spoken. 'And Naomi chooses his whole body for her hat, I expect,' she
added as Naomi joined them.
"'No,' said Naomi, 'we don't wear birds any more in our family. My
sister and I used to have our hats trimmed with them, but we've quit.
I had a lovely one on my blue velvet hat last year. It was a beautiful
hat," and she smiled at the recollection. 'But we've quit now,' she
added gravely.
"'Why?' asked the other girls in a breath.
"'Oh, because my mother thinks it is wrong to wear them. Little boy,
little boy, be careful or you'll let the bird out,' she called hastily.
"But the warning was too late. While the girls had been talking the
small boy who was with them had been entertaining himself by slightly
opening my cage door and letting it spring back to its fastening.
Suddenly he was seized with fright at discovering that it had stuck
while half-way back, and refused to come together.
"Oh, dear!' he called. 'He's out.'
"'Mercy on us! Oh, dear!' screamed the girls as I made a dash through
the opening, and flew to the top of a picture frame. 'Johnny, Johnny,
your redbird's out,' they called.
"All was confusion in an instant. Boys and girls ran hither and
thither, tumbling over each other, and over the chairs and stools, and
all talking and screaming at once.
"'Bring a broom or a flagpole, Johnny,' called Philip. 'I'll shoo him
down for you while you stand underneath and catch him.'
"'Shoo, shoo!' said Jeannette, catching her dress skirt with both hands
and waving it back and forth rapidly. In a minute all the girls were
waving their dress skirts at me and saying 'shoo.'
"'Oh, my pretty Admiral Dewey, my dear old admiral,' wailed Johnny,
almost in tears.
"I didn't wait for the broom or the flagpole to help me from the
picture frame. I balanced myself steadily and then I flew out of the
open window and away into the world, without saying good-bye to
anybody. I suppose they all crowded to the window to look after me as
I disappeared, for the last thing I heard was Mrs. Morris' voice
saying, 'Don't, Johnny; you'll fall out if you lean over so far. Papa
will get you another bird. Don't grieve so hard. Don't, Johnny.'"
"Did you ever see Johnny afterward?" we asked the redbird.
"Yes, once I saw him cantering along slowly on Jock. He could not go
very fast because he was holding a great bunch of red and pink roses in
one hand. His cheeks were as pink as the flowers and his yellow hair
curled up under the edge of his cap the same as it used to. I knew him
in a minute. A great many carriages were on the street trimmed in
flags and flowers. Little flags were fastened to the horses' harness.
Jock had one on each side of his head, which made him look very pretty.
Children were running about carrying wreaths. On a corner of the
street where a band was playing some men were holding banners. I heard
some one say it was Decoration Day, and that everybody strewed flowers
on the graves in the big cemetery that day. I thought it was a very
beautiful custom. Through all the buzz and confusion I kept an eye on
Johnny. He didn't seem to be riding anywhere in particular, but was
just looking around for the fun of the thing. Presently he drew up to
the sidewalk where a little ragged boy was leaning up against a tree.
He had a wistful look, as if he would like to be taking part.
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