A box on the
ears then sent him gibbering into a corner.
"Your servant," remarked Mrs. Wolston, "has been taking lessons from
Dean Swift as well as yourself, Willis."
"I will serve him out for that, the swab; he does not play any of
those tricks when we are alone. I must admit, however, that I am
generally in the habit of helping myself."
Here attention was called to the parrot, who was screaming out
lustily, "I love Mary, I love Sophia."
"Holloa," exclaimed Fritz, "Polly loves everybody now, does she?"
"Well, you see," replied Sophia, "I grew tired of hearing him scream
always that he loved my sister, so by means of a little coaxing, and a
good deal of sugar, I got him to love me too."
The poultry were next mustered for the inspection of their old
masters. These did not consist of the ordinary domestic fowls alone;
amongst them were a beautiful flamingo, some cranes, bustards, and a
variety of tame tropical birds. With the fowls came the pigeons, which
were perching about them in all directions.
"We are now something like the court of France in the fourteenth
century," said Wolston.
"How so?" inquired Becker.
"In the reign of Charles V., they were obliged to place a trellis at
the windows of the Palace of St. Paul to prevent the poultry from
invading the dining room.
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