“I had my white mice in a cage just about as large as this. You ought to see them! Trixie and I have drilled them into two armies, American and Spanish, and we’ve got the commanders on both sides—and, oh, I don’t know where they are now! I changed cages with a girl!”
“THE COACHMAN USED HIS FISTS TO CLEAR THE WAY.”
“Oh, we’ll find them, never fear! And the girl shall have her parrot,” said Aunt Kate, growing suddenly very cheerful.
When they reached Aunt Kate’s house a beautiful Angora cat ran into the hall to meet her mistress. “Scat! Scat!” screamed the parrot. She had torn the newspaper off the cage with her sharp beak and was taking a look around her.
Off whisked the cat in terror, and hid, so that no one could find her. Then Aunt Kate’s little poodle waddled up to the cage. “Bow-wow!” barked the parrot. And they couldn’t drag the poodle out of the coal-cellar that night!
Sonny Boy lay awake that night longer than he had ever lain awake a night in his life, planning how to rid himself of that parrot and get his white mice again.
In the morning Aunt Kate sent out for all the daily papers, but there was no advertisement of a lost parrot in them. The parrot, with her cage muffled, was shut up in the back attic, but Aunt Kate had a nervous headache.