Beautiful Joe [21]
for which you
are not to blame. I am sure you must be glad for one reason that you have left
your old life."
"What is that?" he said.
"On account of the birds. You know Miss Laura thinks it is wrong to kill the
pretty creatures that fly about the woods."
"So it is," he said, "unless one kills them at once. I have often felt angry
with men for only half killing a bird. I hated to pick up the little warm body,
and see the bright eye looking so reproachfully at me, and feel the flutter of
life. We animals, or rather the most of us, kill mercifully. It is only human
beings who butcher their prey, and seem, some of them, to rejoice in their
agony. I used to be eager to kill birds and rabbits, but I did not want to keep
them before me long after they were dead. I often stop in the street and look up
at fine ladies' bonnets, and wonder how they can wear little dead birds in such
dreadful positions. Some of them have their heads twisted under their wings and
over their shoulders, and looking toward their tails, and their eyes are so
horrible that I wish I could take those ladies into the woods and let them see
how easy and pretty a live bird is, and how unlike the stuffed creatures they
wear. Have you ever had a good run in the woods, Joe?"
"No, never," I said.
"Some day I will take you, and now it is late and I must go to bed. Are you
going to sleep in the kennel with me, or in the stable?"
"I think I will sleep with you, Jim. Dogs like company, you know, as well as
human beings." I curled up in the straw beside him and soon we were fast asleep.
I have known a good many dogs, but I don't think I ever saw such a good one as
Jim. He was gentle and kind, and so sensitive that a hard word hurt him more
than a blow. He was a great pet with Mrs. Morris, and as he had been so well
trained, he was able to make himself very useful to her.
When she went shopping, he often carried a parcel in his mouth for her. He would
never drop it nor leave it anywhere. One day, she dropped her purse without
knowing it, and Jim picked it up, and brought it home in his mouth. She did not
notice him, for he always walked behind her. When she got to her own door, she
missed the purse, and turning around saw it in Jim's mouth.
Another day, a lady gave Jack Morris a canary cage as a present for Carl. He was
bringing it home, when one of the little seed boxes fell out. Jim picked it up
and carried it a long way, before Jack discovered it.
CHAPTER IX THE PARROT BELLA
I OFTEN used to hear the Morrises speak about vessels that ran between Fairport
and a place called the West Indies, carrying cargoes of lumber and fish, and
bringing home molasses, spices, fruit, and other things. On one of these
vessels, called the "Mary Jane," was a cabin boy, who was a. friend of the
Morris boys, and often brought them presents.
One day, after I had been with the Morrises' for some months, this boy arrived
at the house with a bunch of green bananas in one hand, and a parrot in the
other. The boys were delighted with the parrot, and called their mother to see
what a pretty bird she was.
Mrs. Morris seemed very much touched by the boy's thoughtfulness in bringing a
present such a long distance to her boys, and thanked him warmly. The cabin boy
became very shy and all he could say was, "Go way!" over and over again, in a
very awkward manner.
Mrs. Morris smiled, and left him with the boys. I think that she thought he
would be more comfortable with them.
Jack put me up on the table to look at the parrot. The boy held her by a string
tied around one of her legs. She was a gray parrot with a few red feathers in
her tail, and she had bright eyes, and a very knowing air.
The boy said he had been careful to buy a young one that could not speak, for he
knew the Morris boys would not want one chattering foreign gibberish, nor yet
one that would swear. He had kept her in his bunk in the ship, and had spent all
his leisure time in teaching her to talk. Then he
are not to blame. I am sure you must be glad for one reason that you have left
your old life."
"What is that?" he said.
"On account of the birds. You know Miss Laura thinks it is wrong to kill the
pretty creatures that fly about the woods."
"So it is," he said, "unless one kills them at once. I have often felt angry
with men for only half killing a bird. I hated to pick up the little warm body,
and see the bright eye looking so reproachfully at me, and feel the flutter of
life. We animals, or rather the most of us, kill mercifully. It is only human
beings who butcher their prey, and seem, some of them, to rejoice in their
agony. I used to be eager to kill birds and rabbits, but I did not want to keep
them before me long after they were dead. I often stop in the street and look up
at fine ladies' bonnets, and wonder how they can wear little dead birds in such
dreadful positions. Some of them have their heads twisted under their wings and
over their shoulders, and looking toward their tails, and their eyes are so
horrible that I wish I could take those ladies into the woods and let them see
how easy and pretty a live bird is, and how unlike the stuffed creatures they
wear. Have you ever had a good run in the woods, Joe?"
"No, never," I said.
"Some day I will take you, and now it is late and I must go to bed. Are you
going to sleep in the kennel with me, or in the stable?"
"I think I will sleep with you, Jim. Dogs like company, you know, as well as
human beings." I curled up in the straw beside him and soon we were fast asleep.
I have known a good many dogs, but I don't think I ever saw such a good one as
Jim. He was gentle and kind, and so sensitive that a hard word hurt him more
than a blow. He was a great pet with Mrs. Morris, and as he had been so well
trained, he was able to make himself very useful to her.
When she went shopping, he often carried a parcel in his mouth for her. He would
never drop it nor leave it anywhere. One day, she dropped her purse without
knowing it, and Jim picked it up, and brought it home in his mouth. She did not
notice him, for he always walked behind her. When she got to her own door, she
missed the purse, and turning around saw it in Jim's mouth.
Another day, a lady gave Jack Morris a canary cage as a present for Carl. He was
bringing it home, when one of the little seed boxes fell out. Jim picked it up
and carried it a long way, before Jack discovered it.
CHAPTER IX THE PARROT BELLA
I OFTEN used to hear the Morrises speak about vessels that ran between Fairport
and a place called the West Indies, carrying cargoes of lumber and fish, and
bringing home molasses, spices, fruit, and other things. On one of these
vessels, called the "Mary Jane," was a cabin boy, who was a. friend of the
Morris boys, and often brought them presents.
One day, after I had been with the Morrises' for some months, this boy arrived
at the house with a bunch of green bananas in one hand, and a parrot in the
other. The boys were delighted with the parrot, and called their mother to see
what a pretty bird she was.
Mrs. Morris seemed very much touched by the boy's thoughtfulness in bringing a
present such a long distance to her boys, and thanked him warmly. The cabin boy
became very shy and all he could say was, "Go way!" over and over again, in a
very awkward manner.
Mrs. Morris smiled, and left him with the boys. I think that she thought he
would be more comfortable with them.
Jack put me up on the table to look at the parrot. The boy held her by a string
tied around one of her legs. She was a gray parrot with a few red feathers in
her tail, and she had bright eyes, and a very knowing air.
The boy said he had been careful to buy a young one that could not speak, for he
knew the Morris boys would not want one chattering foreign gibberish, nor yet
one that would swear. He had kept her in his bunk in the ship, and had spent all
his leisure time in teaching her to talk. Then he