She Watched the Little Bird.She Watched the Little Bird.
She Watched the Little Bird.
"I am going to tell you a really true story," said daddy, "something which happened to-day. I was walking along a rather poor part of the city when I saw a number of children gathered in a group in a little side yard of a tenement house. The children were screaming to one boy: 'Oh, catch him! Don't let the awful cat get him!'"
"Oh, was it a bird?" asked Jack eagerly.
"Yes," replied daddy; "it was a bird, but not just the usual kind of bird that is seen around city streets, for only the sparrows like the noise of a city. Most birds like the woods and the country, where they can have homes in the trees and can sing all day long.
"But this was a tame yellow canary who had flown out of an open window to pick upsome goodies he saw on the ground, and a cat was after him."
"Did they get him from the cat?" asked Evelyn eagerly, for she was devoted to animals and perhaps especially to birds.
"Yes," answered daddy; "the little boy succeeded in rescuing him, but the poor canary had been so frightened that his little heart was beating, oh, so fast, and the children were afraid he was not going to live.
"They all followed the little boy who had caught the canary just in time into the tenement house. The cat had knocked several feathers from the bird's tail.
"Another child told me the canary belonged to a little girl who lived in the tenement. He asked me to follow, too, for he said that the little girl had trouble with her back and had to lie flat all the time. She loved visitors, for so much of the time she was lonely. Her mother was poor and out all day sewing, so the little girl's only companion was the canary, who would sing for hours and hours. He seemed to know he must keep her cheered up.
"So along I went too. We climbed somestairs until we came to a dingy room where on a cot by the window lay a little girl about eight years old. She had big dark eyes, and when I saw her her cheeks were bright red from all the excitement.
"All her friends had gathered around, each giving her a special description of how the bird had been rescued. She was smiling with joy and watching the bird, who was now busily engaged nibbling at a little piece of apple which had been given him. Before long he began to sing, oh, so joyously, for he knew he was once more back in his happy home, where he would take good care to stay in the future.
"I told the little girl of my Jack and Evelyn, and she said she wanted to see you both. Shall we all go to see her and her little bird some day?"
"We'd love to!" cried Jack and Evelyn delightedly.
We'll have our hose ready."We'll have our hose ready."
"We'll have our hose ready."
"The salamanders," said daddy, "are little creatures very much like lizards in looks, except their skin is not scaly as a lizard's. They have four legs and a tail, and are very nice, kind and gentle.
"Well, these salamanders agreed that they would have a fire department, and the next thing was to arrange for the hose and ladder. Finally it was decided that their salamander cousins should be chosen to run the hose and ladder.
"'We shall call ourselves the fire and water fire department,' said one of the fire salamanders. 'It will be our business to rush in and rescue the animals who are in dangerof being burned to death, and it will be your business to help them down to the brook, where we'll have our hose ready to sprinkle them with good, cool water.'
"But days and days went by, and still no fire broke out.
"'I know what's the trouble,' said another one of the fire salamanders. 'We have no fire bell; there may have been fires that we knew nothing of; you never can tell.'
"'Don't be gloomy,' said still another fire salamander. 'We'll have a fire bell. I know where a kind old cow left her bell from last year. We'll put it by the stump just at the edge of the brook and all the animals can be told to move it when there is a fire. Then we will all come out and stop the fire.'
"And soon notices were put up all over the woods and around the brook which read:
"'To the Animals: Attention! In case of fire, ring the cow bell by the brook. The Fire and Water Fire Department of the Salamanders will PUT IT OUT.'
"These notices were read by all the animals, and the very next day the salamanders heard the cow bell.
"'Where's the fire?' they all shouted.
"'Over there,' said Grandfather Frog, who was watching the fire department start off.
"They wiggled and crawled as quickly as they could to the spot where the fire was. It was the vireo family's nest. You know the vireos are those beautiful, shy birds that live in the woods and have such lovely voices. The fire salamanders rushed right into the fire and pulled out of the nest the vireo children just in time before their little feathers got burnt. And, of course, the Mother and Daddy Vireo were able to fly out.
"When they all reached the brook at last, the Mother and Daddy Vireo sang the most wonderful song as a reward to the brave salamander fire department."
Transcriber's Note:Illustrations have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break."grown-ups" and "grownups" have been retained in both versions in this project.Opening quotation marks (") at the beginning of several chapters have been added without comment."Well, I mean you to come" has been changed to "'Well, I mean you to come" page56."funny quack-quack talk." has been changed into "funny quack-quack talk.'" page59.Printer's inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation have been retained.
Transcriber's Note:
Illustrations have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break.
"grown-ups" and "grownups" have been retained in both versions in this project.
Opening quotation marks (") at the beginning of several chapters have been added without comment.
"Well, I mean you to come" has been changed to "'Well, I mean you to come" page56.
"funny quack-quack talk." has been changed into "funny quack-quack talk.'" page59.
Printer's inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation have been retained.