She shook her tail mournfully. A glistening tear coursed down her lovely beak.
"There, little bird, don't cry!" he said sympathetically, smoothing down her soft feathers.
"I was subjected to the most cruel indignities," she murmured.... "I, who had always been treated with particular care and regaled with special dishes of mush!"
"Oh!" he exclaimed, his blood boiling at the thought, "If only I had been there!" He clenched his pinions.
Smiling gratefully amid her tears, she quacked:
"You are very comforting."
Eustace's heart beat faster.
"I was lonely and homesick," she continued, "but your sympathy makes me forget everything."
"Phyllis!"
His crop heaved.