"But if she loved—"
"My boy, you can keep a mighty sweet canary in a mighty little cage, and it will sing away like mad and be very fond of you; but you can't keep a bird of paradise there—or a sea-gull—can you?"
"I reckon not," said Forbes.
"It isn't the fault of the bird of paradise, either, is it?"
Forbes shook his head and sighed: "It's the fault of the man that puts it in the cage."
"Well, maybe he means well. He may be crazy about the bird, just crazy to keep it near him, but—he can't. That's all, he can't. It'll beat itself to death or break loose."
"Unless he lets it go," said Forbes.
"That's it! You understand me, don't you, old man?"
"I get you, Steve."
"And you won't feel too hard about it, will you? There's a lot of other birds besides the big ones. There's nothing cozier than a little canary—is there?"