"Attaboy!"
Was it a divine command? Had some dear wraith of the dead—his sainted mother perhaps, who could tell—come to comfort him in this dread hour of his fate? All was dead still. His hand trembled a little as he pulled out his watch. It was a quarter past two, and the silence was enormous.
Most awfully it came again.
"Attaboy!"
He hardly dared to look around. Look round he did and there he saw what he had not before grasped—that the dome of black cloth, suspended, covered a cage; thence it was that once again, but this time in a failing, drowsy manner, came the unearthly summons:
"Attaboy!"
A revelation burst upon his mind. It was a revelation indeed! The whole scheme blazed suddenly before him.
He walked boldly to the cage, took off the cover and saw what may very properly be called the blinking bird, for the sudden light had dazzled it.
"Attaboy!" croaked the parrot again in a rather peevish fashion.
"I'll Attaboy you!" hissed Mr. Collop through his teeth.