Soon the car approached Starfish and Oriole Cottages. As everyone alighted at the bathhouse, Mrs. Williams remarked that she didn’t know what to do about Vevi’s pigeon.
“Tell you what,” offered the captain. “If you like, I’ll take the pigeon to Harmon Green.”
Vevi spoke up quickly. “I want to go along,” she insisted. “So do I,” Connie added.
All the other Brownies then wanted to go. However, Miss Gordon thought it would be unfair for Captain Tarwell to look after so many children. So it was decided that Vevi and Connie, having spoken first, should make the trip.
Taking Snow White with them, the two girls walked with Captain Tarwell into the hills. A shady, winding street finally brought them to a gray shingle house. Off to one side was a small building which looked like a garage with a flat roof.
“That’s the pigeon cote,” Captain Tarwell told the girls. “Hey, what’s coming off here?”
From the direction of the flat-roofed building the girls heard a strange commotion. Birds were making a fearful clatter. They could hear a man talking very angrily.
As Captain Tarwell and the children walked toward the pigeon cote, the door swung suddenly open.
Out came a young man in dirty overalls and grimy white cap. His face was very grim.
“Don’t ever come back here looking for a job,” another man in the doorway called after him. “You don’t know how to handle birds.”