“No,” it came unmistakably now.
“Evidently the finch wants to learn to talk,” thought Squeaky, so he began to instruct him. He knew well how to set about it, for he had learned himself only with the greatest difficulty. He used the silent speech method—that is, he had the finch go through the motions of saying the words with his bill and throat, without actually making a sound. It was a good way to learn, but amusing to watch. The first day the goldfinch learned to make the motions for several words. When he did “cat” how he shuddered and flapped his wings as if to fly away in a hurry. How his bill did water and what a hungry gleam came into his eyes when he did “worm”!
Because his teacher would not permit sounds at first, the finch learned to put great feeling into his gestures and the expression of his face. And in time when he had learned to talk this assisted him greatly with animals and birds ignorant of the language. For those who did not understand what he said, knew what he meant by his gestures. After he had been instructing the finch for a fortnight and had come to like him, Squeaky decided to ask Snythergen to invite the little bird to share their quarters. “He is such a sensible little bird,” thought Squeaky, “if he behaves well to-morrow, I’ll ask Snythergen’s permission then.”
That was the day the house was completed and that night the owners were very tired. They slept soundly until three o’clock in the morning when something woke them.
“What was that?” asked Squeaky in a shaky voice.
“It sounded like a growl,” said Snythergen, and his trembling was so violent it shook the house. Thereafter no more sleep was possible for either, but the sound did not return. When morning came they investigated and found bear tracks leading to the door.
“What shall we do?” asked Snythergen.
As usual the finch was perched on a branch listening, standing so close to Snythergen’s ear that his wing rubbed against it.
“Who’s tickling my ear?” said Snythergen, looking around. But the finch had hidden behind a leaf.