The Cockatoo's Story Part 2

which used to make her so happy, poor old lady. But I am sorry to say my singing led me into some trouble. I used to be put in the kitchen at night to benefit by the heat of the fire, and I used to be teased a good deal by the servants to sing. Now, it was past my usual bed-hour when I was taken to the kitchen, and as I always went to bed at sunset, I used to be quite angry with them, and would say all sorts of impudent things instead of singing. But, as they would then walk away with my dishes, and threaten to pour water on me if I didn't do what they said, in desperation I would sing my songs to get rid of them. One young woman, the lady's-maid, was particularly tormenting in this way; and when Tom, the footman, tried to teach me a new song, I could not help noticing she was in a great fright. I p.r.i.c.ked up my ears at once, and showed Tom I was all attention. In a very few days I could say it quite correctly, but no one knew of it except Tom. Seeing the lady's-maid preparing to go out one day, and dressed in her very finest clothes, I took the opportunity to ask her for a drink of water, my dish being empty; but she was in a hurry, and cross at something, and instead of replying civilly, she made such an ugly face, and flapped her handkerchief at me.

My mistress, who was going out too, had her back turned at the moment, else the maid had not dared to do such a thing. But I had not learned to bear insults quietly then, and was young and hot-headed, so, thirsting for revenge, I screamed out what Tom had taught me:

'How happy you shall be With your bold soldier boy!'

How frightened she did look, to be sure! Up she came to the cage, and in the most coaxing voice said, 'Pretty Polly! would Polly like some fresh bread and milk?--Oh, please, madam, wait till I get Polly some food! Her dish is quite empty, poor, dear bird!' and away she flew to fetch me some.

"'Why, what's Polly saying, Emma, about a soldier?' said my mistress solemnly. 'Now, you know I abhor soldiers.'

"'How happy you shall be!

Come with me--you shall see Your bold soldier boy!'

I sang out again, dancing about my perch in great delight at the mischief I was causing.

"'Emma, what do I hear?' said my mistress. 'Have you still anything to do with that soldier, after what I said?'

"And now I began to feel sorry for poor Emma, who fell a-crying, and held up her hands in despair or entreaty. Then I thought to myself, what good had my revenge done me? So hoping to help her out of the difficulty, I called out, 'Tom, Tom, Tom! Come here, sir! Oh fie!'

"Tom was at the door waiting for our mistress, I knew; and being a kind-hearted lad, he came in at once; and seeing Emma in tears, and hearing the story, told he had taught me the song, and she knew nothing about it. Though my mistress said she was satisfied with Tom's explanation, she was still angry, and ordered poor Emma to take off her finery and remain at home. After she was gone, Emma took my cage into the garden, where I was often allowed to remain for hours. But I was very much surprised when she took me out and allowed me to sit on her hand, much to little Dido the Italian grayhound's indignation, for he was always a jealous animal. I really believe she wanted me to fly away then and there. But, as I told you before, Master Herbert, I never was of a restless turn, and had no ambition to leave my home. Seeing this, she gave me a great twist by the toes to put me back into the cage; but as she pinched me very hard, I tried, in self-defence, to bite her, and in the scuffle she broke a piece of my toe off, which has never grown on again. But whenever I look at it I am reminded, if revenge is sweet, it doesn't escape without something bitter too; and Miss Emma no doubt felt the same, because I left my mark for ever upon her soft white arm."

"Thank you, Polly," said Herbert. "I see the fairy is right in saying you have many useful lessons to teach; but I must now go and see what Mr. c.o.c.katoo is about. I do hope he hasn't flown away, for Uncle James would never forgive me for letting him off, he thinks so much of his beautiful plumage."

Herbert had a good hunt all over the grounds for the c.o.c.katoo, and was just going to give him up, when, as he approached the summer-house, he heard him chattering, and trying to say, "Pretty c.o.c.katoo."

"Oh, you're there, are you?" said Herbert. "It's past the time I allowed you to stay out, so come along, old fellow,--a bargain's a bargain."

"Just one more flight, sir," said the c.o.c.katoo. "My wings are so stiff, I've only taken a very few."

Herbert having consented, away flew the c.o.c.katoo down on to the path; but at that moment a huge cat, which lived outside, and which had a lively young family of five kittens, under the summer-house, saw the bird and made a pounce at him, catching him by the feathers of his tail.

Fortunately Herbert saw what had happened, and before the c.o.c.katoo had time to scream, he had pitched his cap at Mrs. Puss, and then drove her away with the branch of a tree lying near. Mr. c.o.c.katoo was shaking with fright, and was thankful to find himself inside his cage once more, with the door securely shut. For some time after, when Herbert urged him to take a little exercise, he refused, saying that he agreed with Mrs.

Polly in thinking that, as they were now in a foreign country, flying about did not seem to suit his health, and that there were worse places than his cage.

Some days after, Herbert's cousins came to pay him a visit; and as Minnie was recovering from a severe illness, the sofa was taken out of doors, and placed under the spreading branches of an oak-tree. There she lay, enjoying the fresh cool air that wafted along under the branches; while Herbert read aloud her last new book to her and her sister Grace.

Polly, who had taken a great fancy to Minnie, had requested Herbert to place her perch close to them; for, though she liked to be out of doors, her terror of cats was so great, that unless she was closely guarded she preferred to remain in her cage. It was a book on natural history Herbert was reading from. In the midst of a dry description of the habits of the humming-bird, he suddenly broke out with----

"'The humming-bird! the humming-bird!

So fairy-like and bright It lives among the sunny flowers,-- A creature of delight!

"'In the radiant islands of the East, Where fragrant spices grow, A thousand thousand humming-birds Are glancing to and fro!'"

"Oh! how beautiful they must be!" exclaimed Herbert, pausing in the reading. "How delightful it must be to visit foreign countries! Only think of 'a thousand thousand humming-birds!'"

[Ill.u.s.tration: HERBERT AND HIS COUSINS.

_Page 74._]

"Do you know," said Grace, "when I was a little thing, I used to lie awake at night and think of all the different animals and birds and fishes there are in the world, till I declare I got so frightened I used to scream out. Nurse used to call it the nightmare; but it was no such thing. I wish I could have thought of only the humming-birds--it would have been lovely."

"Cheer up, Sam!" sung Mrs. Polly from her perch, in a very pathetic voice, which set the children laughing heartily; for somehow, as Minnie said, Polly always knew how to bring in her wise sayings just when they were wanted,--and there was no doubt she was the very cleverest parrot that ever lived.

It was during the visit his cousins paid Herbert, that the great macaw arrived from Uncle James; and Herbert was delighted to find he was not a wild specimen, as he had supposed, but quite an educated one. They called him the "Great Mogul;" but though he was tamed, he had learned so many bad words from the sailors, that Herbert thought it would be better to keep him separate from Mrs. Polly and the c.o.c.katoo till he had forgotten them. He was a very greedy bird, and ate so fast that he was constantly dropping the best parts in his hurry to get some more. Dash, a little terrier belonging to Herbert's cousins, was not long in finding this out; and whenever he saw the boys feeding the parrots, off he would go and seat himself at the foot of the perch. He used to sit up and beg all the time, and evidently thought the pieces were thrown down to him out of pure good-nature; for he was always exceedingly polite to the parrots, and when he heard them shrieking at sight of the cats, would bark and drive them away.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "GREAT MOGUL."

_Page 78._]

"I can't say I admire the appearance of the 'Great Mogul,'" said Charley laughing; "he has such ugly bare cheeks."

"Oh! but look at his beautiful tail; and could anything be more beautiful than those scarlet feathers?--and see to his blue wings! I don't wonder he is considered the most magnificent of the parrot tribe."

"It is certainly a very beautiful bird," said Charley; "but I've read somewhere about it looking like a richly-liveried footman, and whoever said so was not far wrong."

Dash had slipped away when he found there were no more pieces to be got from the macaw; and when Herbert and Charley went into the room where Mrs. Polly and the c.o.c.katoo stayed, there they found him, sitting at the foot of c.o.c.katoo's perch begging for a dainty morsel. The c.o.c.katoo was chattering away to him; but had Dash only known all the severe names he was being called, he would scarcely have sat there so calmly. Polly, however, who had a greater command of the English language, was doing her best to restrain his greedy disposition. "Oh fie, sir!" she kept saying. "Greedy d.i.c.k!--Who stole the sugar?--Leave the room this moment!--Oh fie, sir!"

Dash did lay back his ears and look round, a good deal ashamed of himself; but he could not tear himself away so long as the c.o.c.katoo held that tempting morsel. The greedy dog knew that both the c.o.c.katoo and Polly never held anything long, and that if he only had patience he would get it in the end. Polly was calling out for the twentieth time--"Leave the room, sir!--Greedy d.i.c.k!--Oh fie! fie!" when Herbert and Charley entered.

"Why, what's the matter, Polly?" said Herbert. "It's not a good thing to lose your temper in that way. Come, tell us who this greedy d.i.c.k is, that you are always sending out of the room."

Charley was always delighted to be with Herbert when he fed the parrots; for though he did not understand their language, as Herbert did, his cousin acted as interpreter, and some of the stories were really very entertaining. The other children were often there too; and over and over again they vowed to be kind to all living creatures, in the hope that they too would be allowed to understand the language of the birds.

"Yes, sir; I shall be most happy to tell you about greedy d.i.c.k," said Polly. "But I should like to see the new parrot. c.o.c.katoo there says he is so beautiful that we are thrown quite into the shade, and he has been mourning ever since."

"Well, at present I really cannot let you see him," said Herbert. "He says such naughty words, that I am forced to keep him in a room by himself; but if you like, I can show you a picture of him, or of some birds like him in their native woods." Here Herbert ran off for his book on natural history; and while he was gone, Polly entertained Charley as well as she could till Herbert's return. Polly admired the picture very much; but said, though his plumage was very fine, no doubt, she did not like the expression of his face--though she dared say it was not a good likeness. She said this out of civility, but all the time she thought the "Great Mogul" a most unlovable-looking bird, and she was very glad to find herself a gray parrot instead.

"And now, Polly, since I have shown you the picture," said Herbert, "tell us about greedy d.i.c.k."

"It is a sad story, Master Herbert," said Polly, shaking her head and moving about her perch very slowly. "Oh dear!--oh dear!" she continued in English; "I'm really quite--oh fie! fie!" Then in her own language she went on to say: "d.i.c.k came to stay with a lady I had the pleasure of residing with, after I left my old friend who had the maid. I was really a fine-looking bird at that time;" and here Polly flounced out her feathers coquettishly, as if she were still a young bird. "I did like living there; no servants ever were allowed to wait upon me, for the young ladies of the house were so fond of me they fed me with their own fair hands. d.i.c.k was their nephew, and a nice-looking boy,--clever, too,--very; but he had one bad habit that grieved his aunts very much.

At all his meals he would keep stuffing and stuffing himself, just like a little pig feeding for market. He always chose the daintiest dishes, and would look so ill-natured if any of his aunts happened to say, 'Why, d.i.c.k, you will die of apoplexy; you have been helped to that pudding three times.'

"He never knew when to stop, and oh dear! though he was a good-looking boy enough, how ugly he did look when he was eating! His Aunt Mary, and my favourite mistress, used to say so often, 'Greedy d.i.c.k,' that I very soon picked up the words; and when I saw him slipping into the press to steal the sugar, I would call out--'Oh fie! fie!--who stole the sugar?'

His aunts used to tell him that even a bird had more sense, and used to beg him to take an example from me; for I did not gobble up everything I got at once, but put it in my tin dish till I was hungry. Ah! Master d.i.c.k knew that very well indeed; and many a time had he slipped up and stolen my piece of sweet-cake, or other dainty.

"One day his Aunt Mary came to my perch and said, 'Come now, Polly; you shall have this nice piece of sugar if you will say 'Pretty Mary.' I had tried hard for ever so long to say it, but somehow my tongue would not twist out the exact words. But I was not pleased with Miss Mary for asking me to say it for a bribe; she ought to have known me better, I thought, and I sat quite silent, determined not even to say 'Pretty Polly.'

"'Oh now, Polly, that is naughty!' she said, seeing my sulky looks.

'Well, you shall have it if you take it out of my mouth.'

"Of course I could not object to that," said Polly with a laugh; "So I stepped on to her finger as desired, and took the bit of sugar from her pretty red lips, and put it into my tin dish. Then, to show her I was grateful for her kindness, I cried out, 'Mary! pretty Mary!' and she was so pleased, she wanted me to have another piece of sugar as a reward; but I would not have it. No; I made my little speeches for love, and not for sugar.

"When I was sitting quietly thinking of things in general, and my mistress in particular, Master d.i.c.k, who had been sitting at the window all the time, and saw what his aunt had given me, and where I had put it, came stealthily across the lawn; and putting up his hand took hold of my piece of sugar.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PRETTY MARY.

_Page 88._]

"Now, I had determined in my own mind I would punish him the very first opportunity; so I flew upon him in a moment; and catching hold of the sleeve of his coat, held it fast with my claws. He tried to shake me off, but I flew on to his head before he could get away; and I do not know who screamed the loudest. Aunt Mary and one or two of the servants came running out; but though they tried to get me on to my perch, I kept calling, 'Who stole the sugar? Oh fie! greedy d.i.c.k!'

"The boy had been so frightened that he forgot to drop the sugar; and on his aunt opening his hand, there it was, safe enough. She had seen him from her room window take it out of my dish; and when I at last allowed her to lift me on to my perch, she gave Master d.i.c.k such a beating that he did not steal my sugar any more.--But, Master Herbert, there is something the matter with the c.o.c.katoo," said Polly; "I hear him saying some angry words to somebody in the garden."