Tales of the birdsFowler, W. Warde (William Warde)
General
Tales of the birds
Fowler, W. Warde (William Warde)
Birds; Birds -- Juvenile literature
And Jubilee felt that he was among friends, for now he had his right
name, and was made much of, and was really of some use. And the
policeman’s uniform was consoling too: for it brought back to his mind
St. James’s Palace, and the policemen walking up and down the street
below, and the scarlet-coated sentinels marching to and fro in front of
the Prince of Wales’s gates.
And so two or three weeks went by, and Jubilee sat on his perch, and was
fed well with seeds, and wished he could have sung like the canaries to
show his gratitude and make the time pass quicker for the suffering
wife. She grew paler and paler, and wearier and wearier, and seemed to
take pleasure in nothing but Jubilee, and in looking for the time when
her husband should come home. She would take the bird out of his cage,
and he would hop about on the bed, and take seeds and crumbs out of her
hand. He did not want to escape, and meet with new perils and
adventures. Never had Jubilee been so happy before.
One day the doctor came, and told her husband that if his wife was ever
to get well, she must go into the country for fresh air. It was hard on
Harry, for he could not go with her; he must stay in London, and earn
his living. But he took his savings out of the bank, and with these he
contrived to get his wife taken to Victoria station, and thence in the
train to the Sussex village where her parents lived. And of course
Jubilee went with her.
I cannot stop to tell the wonders of that journey for Jubilee, or the
delight of getting into pure fresh breezes among the Sussex downs. He
was put into a window in an old red-brick cottage, where he soon learnt
to forget all about London, and the pride of his early days, and all the
horrors he had gone through. And, in spite of his being only a sparrow,
and having never a song to sing, he was able to soothe the sick wife’s
weary hours, and perhaps loved her as dearly as she loved him.
But she got no better; and one day the doctor said that a telegram must
be sent at once to fetch her husband from London. When he came in the
afternoon, she was lying unconscious, with Jubilee on a chair beside the
bed. Jubilee did not know what followed; but before it was dark the
policeman had taken his cage to the window and opened the door, saying
in a voice that trembled as the bird had never heard it tremble
before--
“We shall not want you any more, little Jubilee; go your way, and take
our thanks with you.”
Jubilee flew out of the cage into the free air. What has since become of
him I cannot tell you. But we may be sure that he did not go back to the
perils of London streets, or to the pride and glory of a royal palace.
THE FALCON’S NEST.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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