"Oh, there he
goes!" she cried. "Now he's going to fly away!"
He did not fly away but merely flew to another limb and began to preen
himself. For so small a bird he was attracting a great deal of notice in
the world. Following Pee-wee's lead, others including Tom and Roy
ventured upon the lawn, smiling and straining their eyes to follow the
tantalizing movements of the little fugitive.
"Of course," said Pee-wee to the girl, "it would be easy enough to shin
up that tree--that would be a cinch--anybody could do that--I mean any
_feller_--of course, a girl couldn't; but I'd only frighten him away."
"You'll never get him," said one man.
"What kind of a bird is it?" Tom asked.
"It's a dwarf parrot," the girl sobbed, "and I'll never get him--never!"
"You don't want to get discouraged," said Pee-wee. "Gee, there's always
some way."
The spectators evidently did not agree with him. Some of them remained
about, smiling; others went away. The diminutive Pee-wee seemed to
amuse them quite as much as the diminutive parrot, but all were agreed
(as they continually remarked to each other) that the bird was a
"goner."
"Is he tame?" Roy asked.
"He was _getting_ tame," the girl sobbed, "and he was learning to say my
name. My father would give a hundred dollars--Oh," she broke off, "now
he _is_ going away!" She began to cry pitifully.
Pee-wee stood a moment thoughtfully. "Have you got a garden hose?" he
presently asked.
"Yes, but you're not going to squirt water at him," said the girl,
indignantly.
Pages:
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45