"Just then the old Jew shopkeeper came to show the bird to a purchaser, but the parrot was most obstinate. He would not move or speak, although coaxed and even threatened to do so. The customer turned away, saying,—
"'What a stupid bird! he does not speak a word.'
"This touched our friend's pride, who cocked his head over his shoulder, and replied,—
"'I think the more.'
"The customer was so much delighted, that he at once bought the parrot, who departed in triumph.
"'I spoke because I thought I could not do worse than stay here,' he remarked, with a sage nod of the head.
"Soon after, a little beggar-boy peeped into the door, and, as I stood near by, seized me. He did not know what to do with me; so, after riding on me as a hobby horse a while, he exchanged me with a larger boy for a green apple. It is said the wheel of fortune constantly revolves; and, if such is the case, my luck must have been very low just then. I was knocked about from one person to another. Now it was a boot-black owned me, now it was a news-vender, or perhaps for a space I belonged to a street sweep. At last I was taken from this miserable existence in the most curious way.
"I tumbled out of the window in an attic where I had been carelessly left, and crashed down upon the pavement. I was severely injured in my whalebone parts, yet my ivory handle remained unbroken. For a long while I lay unnoticed; then an old lady, carrying a shawl and carpet-bag upon her arm, came along to rescue me. She took me a journey in the cars, and at last I saw the fresh, smiling country once more.
"The old lady lived in a pretty cottage, surrounded by a pleasant garden, where the tulips and lilies nodded in the breeze all day long. The old lady was thrifty, so she had my ribs mended by some village tinker; but it was not well done, which accounts for the loss of my fine figure.
"It was a delightful home,—every thing was so neat about it; and I should have been contented to remain there all my life, had I been consulted.