“A dainty feast enough, I ween,
To set before a King or Queen.”
Whereabouts those little folk stowed away “such a many” plates of cream and berries, and yet found room for ham, biscuit, and cake, is beyond my ken; nor do I know how long that feast would have continued, had not a sudden explosion taken place, and one of Jack’s waist-buttons flew over into Papa’s cup, which frightened Mr. Havens so much that he sprang like a squirrel up into the tree above; and soon after down upon the children, table, ground, Mrs. Brown’s cap, and Hugh’s shining bald head, came a most startling shower of torpedoes. That was a signal indeed, and away flew the screaming magpies across the meadow to take another look at the sty where dwelt the pigs that gave the ham that Farmer Brown might well be proud of.
Then they paid a visit to the old back shed, where from her high perch, old Madam Poll Parrot eyed them carefully, first turning her head on one side, and then on the other, and finally, startling them all by saying,—
“Polly wants her supper. Had yours?”
Little Jack was so entirely surprised by the salutation, that he demurely answered, “Yes, ma’am, thank you,” which threw the children into fits of laughter. Madam Poll laughed too, and mortified poor Jack by screaming long after he had got out of her sight:
“Ha! ha! ha! Silly boy! Ha! ha! ha!”
A stranger, on the road, was attracted by the group about Poll, and calling them to him, said,
“I can tell you, children, of a more wonderful Parrot than that. A Clergyman once went on board a ship which had just made the return voyage from Cuba, to try to get a Parrot for his children.