“I don’t know,” said the man, frankly. “I can remember my own passion for animals when I was young, but I have outgrown it. A little girl loves her doll, a boy his dog. The woman casts aside her doll for her daughter—”
“And the boy, or the man, has his sons,” whispered the Judge.
The doctor nodded. “The young of any kind of creature is interested in the young of any other. Sometimes they keep the interest to maturity, sometimes they don’t.”
“I can understand a boy’s interest in a dog,” murmured the Judge, “but a pigeon—”
“Is that lad attached to a pigeon?” inquired the doctor, with a sharp look at the bed.
“Yes, very much so.”
“And is inquiring about it?”
“Yes.”
“Then take good care of it,” said the doctor, “and if it dies don’t let him know.”
The Judge nodded, and went back to the bed.