THE SUXDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, APRIL 24, 1910,
3
AN UN-AMERICAN ' EAGLE
Copyright, 1910, by Rupert Hughes.
All rights reserved.
THE little g-irl had been sentenced
to jail that is, she had been kept
in her room all day, because there
ivere guests in the house and there had
been a big reception the night before
and everybody sat up till the early
hours and wanted to sleep late the next
morning.
But the little girl had awakened with
the new day, and it was such a beau
tiful sunrise that she had begua-to ing
Bnd to cavort and to cut up and to turn
unladylike somersaults across her bed
end to sprinkle cold water on her nurse
Bridget's eleepy head and to Phont
Hoo-oo! hoo-oo!" to the milkman
through the window.
When Bridget whispered "Sh-h!" and
"Keep still, everybody's asleep!" she
.would answer: "What did you say,
SBrldget?" and "WTia-at?"
Finally her mother came to the door
looking very drowsy and whis-pered:
"For mercy's sake, keep quiet this
Itmornlng of all mornings!" And the lit
ttle girl sang out "All right, mummiy!"
nd gave the door a cheerful slam and
kept still for nearly two minutes.
Then she decided to dress herself and
Jilay in the yard, and made so much
racket in the bathroom that all the
ruefts groaned. And Bhe shouted down
the hall, "Bridget, Where's my hair-ribbon?"-
Later she fell downstairs with her
sritii full or tin pails and doll dishes
end got the dog to harking and tried to
wake the little boy next door by yelling
on the front steps till her father put
his tously head out of an upper win
dow and howled: "You go inside and
Okeep quiet or I'll ." Then he closed
.the window. She thought breakfast
never would be ready, and when at lart
It was they wouldn't give her any. '
Her father wouldn't speak to her. but
her mother did oh, such a talking to!
She said, that the little girl had made
herself perfectly obnoxious or some
thing like that, and one of the guests
had been overheard to say to another,
"Why, oh. why did we ever visit this
awful place with that awful child?"
So she was locked In her room. Her
breakfast was' salty tears and her
luncheon was just a lot of things that
are said to be very nourishing but have
very little taste. And her dinner was
alo nourishing and nothing else. And
the company had ice cream for dinner
two kinds and when she cried be
ca.ii.se she didn't get none of either, even
Bridget told her her grammar wa
bad.
But her grammar was the least of
her troubles, and It was the unhapplent
day of her life since the last time she
was punished.
Still, the next morning she was so
quiet that the guests thought the child
must have gone away, and her mother
came running to see if she were ill.
But she was just behaving herself.
So she had a nice breakfast with the
guests, and they all said. "What a dear,
Bweet child T So quiet, and Mien perfect
deportment!"
This was so surprising that she had
to look at her mother and wink. She
had not learned to wink one eye at a
time, so she blinked both.
After breakfast she was put In her
lcst bib and tucker and sent out Into
the park with money to spend on the
goat carriage, the squirrel peanuts, the
merry-go-round and the pony-go-.
round.
She thought she'd take a, little walk
In the Zoo, too. Bridget opposed it, of
course, and said:.
"What's the good of the Zoo? There's
tiothin' in it but animals."
But the little girl dragged her along.
Phe wanted to say good morning to the
lions and ask the hippotamus if he
caught cold when he got his feet wet.
"Sure, he's more apt to be ketching
fold when he gets his feet dry," said
Bridget. Doesn't he spend his life in
the bathtub?"
On the way to the Hon house they
passed, the cage where the two solemn
old eagles always sat.
"Looky!" said the little girl. "They's
three eagles there this morning."
"Maybe they flew the cage open and
line more flew in," said Bridget.
"Humph!" said the little girl, "I guess
If they's have left the cage open there'd
be no eagles at all Instead of an extry
one." She stared at the birds a while,
then she turned to Bridget.
"Say, Bridget, do you like eagles?"
"I don't know. I never ate one."
"Ugh! I don't mean that. I mean do
foil like to see eagles?"
"On money, yes I love 'em."
"No, I mean do you like eagles er
personally?"
"I never met one. But what's all this
fclandanderln' about eagles annyway?"
The little girl was very serious. "Oh,
I mean that my father says the eagle is
our National bird, and we sing about
him In school, and they say the eagle is
the king of the air, like what the Hon
Is in the Jungle, and everybody always
talks like as If eagles were wonderful
nnd grand and gorgeous and brave and
carrying lambs off, and once in a while
carrying off children into the moun
tain nests' on the great big cliffs,
ft nd ."
"Stop! Stop!" said Bridget. "Is it per
petual motion you think you're invent
ing?" "I was trying to say "
""Well, say it and have done. We go
home before tomorrow."
"Well, 1 mean all those things, and yet
when you look at eagles they're terrible
disappointing; don't you think so'.'"
"I never set anny hopes on the ugly
fowls', so I've nothing to be disappointed
over. Sure and I wish the only thing I
was worried over was eagles."
The little girl rebuked her severely.
"You're not an American or you wouldn't
talk so."
Bridget gasped.
"I'm not an American, is It? Who's
after tellin' the likes of you I'm not an
American? Sure. I'm an American!
Wasn't I born In Ireland?"
The little girl changed the subject be
fore she got her hair pulled.
"Wo were speaking of eagles, please,"
she said hastily. "Just look at those
birds. They Just mope and mope and
yawn all the time. And they've got white
curtains on their eyes, and once in a
while they raise one of the shades and
lookout and pull it down again. And
they've got beaks like tack hammers, and
they're baldheaded and lazy and stupid
and"
Just at that moment one of the eagles
opened his eyes with a flash and barked
and spread his wings and thrust his long
beak out like a hatchet, and the little
girl fell back before his ferocity.
It was the new eagle who made such
n angry outburst, and now he ground
his beak as If it were sharp scissors, and
he shrieked:
"Claws and feathers,, but you ought to
be ashamed of yourself, for criticising a
bird right before its beak."
"It's a fairy detective!" shrieked the
little girl, flapping her arms like wings.
There happened to be nobody else passing
to think her crazy. Bridget was staring
hard, and her hands gripped the iron
rail like a couple of claws."
"Yes, I'm the Fairy Detective, and I'm
pained and shocked and grieved at your
behavior."
The little girt began to cry. "No-nobody
seems to like my bot-hoo-hoo-vior."
"There, there!" said the eagle, flap
ping from his perch. "Don't take on;
You're no worse than the resf. Every
body Js exasperating to the eagles."
The little girl rubbed her eyes with
her fists and said: "I didn't mean to be
impolite. I 'pollergize to you and the
other eagles."
"Never mind them; they don't under-
thrown thing at and poked fun at? Would
you? If It's educational, why don't the
people look at the eagles' pictures and
read about them in books. Just looking
at them in their shame and suffering
doesn't educate anybody except to de
spise eagles.
"People call the eagle the National
bird and put his portrait on their money,
but when they see one of us they sneer
and say: 'Is that old buzzard a.n eagle.
Humph!' That's all the education they
get.
all; "they're Just poor broken-hearted
convicts sentenced to life in spite of
their." innocence. -It isn't education, it's
persecution. It isn't patriotism. It's
treason; that's what it is.
"""I'm going home to my father, the
Eir King, to lellhim about it. and
ask him to let me change myself Into
a Congressman and put in a bill mak
ing It a prison " offence to put the Na
tional bird in Jail."
The little girl had never seen the
Fairy Detective really angry before,
and she was frightened.
"I I think I'll speak to my father
about It," she murmured.
"You tell him," the eagle answered.
"If he has a heart in his breast and it's
an American heart, ao'd better go to
Congress himself and end this wicked
CAPTAIN OF COMPANY B
CHAPTER IV.
OF COURSE. Fred Chester told his
mother of the stranger who had
fallen into the river, and of his" in
vitation to call at the Inn. but she hoped
little from that. Fred could never get
work In the chair factory again, her
brother would no longer recognize that
she had a claim on him, and the future
looked gloomy enough to her. She was
still in .tears when evening came and
"Claws and Feathers, but You
Ought To Be Ashamed of
Yourself for Criticising a Bird
Right Before Its Beak"
stand what people say. They don't un
derstand people at all. especially why
people keep eagles In cages."
"It's a fine big cage," said Bridget.
"Yes, for a canary, but Were you
ever in Jail?" . "
"How dast you?" said Bridget. "If you
wasn't behind the bars yourself I'd wring
your neck." ,
"If I weren't behind these bars you
wouldn't see me for dust," said the eagle
elf.
"But what brings you here?" said the
little girl.
"The old story cruelty to helpless
things. The eagles appealed to my fath
er, the King of the Elves, and he sent
me to see about It. Old Mrs. Eagle there
wag captured and dragged away, leaving
a nest of little eaglets to perish In their
shells. And the gentleman eagle was
captured and kept from taking home his
family dinner to a whole brood of littie
ones. He's afraid they've starved long
ago. That's one of the reasons why he's
so glum all the time."
"I was just wondering," the little girl
said, "why they were so mrpy."
"Petrified peaka, but who wouldn't
mope? You never had wings and lived
on a great high crag and floated over the
sea like a great aeroplane, and swooped
down to the waves and caught a fine big
fish In your claws, did you?"
The little girl stared. "If I ever did I
don't remember it."
"But were you ever shut up In a dark
closet?"
, "Once."
"How did you like It?"
"I didn't. I thought I'd smother."
Bridget sniffed: "Did she like it? She
carried on so and got so scared and had
such high, strikes they had to call in the
doctor, and she said she must never be
shut up in a closet again, however bad
she was."
"You see," said the eagle, "and you're
only a little girl. What if you had the
great wide pinions and the piercing eyes
and the braye hearts of those two poor
eagles and loved to fly almost to the sun
and somebody came along , and stuffed
you Into a dark cell without your ever
having done wrong? That's what they do
to the eagles. And what good does it
dor
Bridget bristled: "It's very educational
for to be able to see them."
The eagle gnashed his beak. "Educa
tional! Sweeping pinions! Educational!
Would you call It educational for you to
be stuck in here to be started at and
"If they want to know what an eagle
is let them climb a high mountain and
watch an eagle soaring and scream
ing In the storms over the sea. That's
the real eagle. But these poor jail
birds hurricanes and horizons', they're
so homesick for the mountains and
their young and the clouds and the
far-away ocean they aren't eagles at
cruelty. Clouds and cliffs, but It's
wicked!'
And he flew back to his perch In
such a rage that the other eagles woke
up and leaped into the air, but their
great wings only beat against bars
and they flopped to the ground in de
spair and drew the films over their poor
old eyes again.
the boy left the house to keep his ap
pointment. Mr. Roberts was a man of 45, and he
had a pleasant face and a winning voice.
He was waiting for Fred, and after giv
ing him a hearty greeting, took him to
his room and began:
"Now, let's get acquainted as soon as
we can. Tell me all about yourself. I've
heard that Mr. Grant " is telling around
that you brought on the strike in the
factory and- then tried to murder his son.
I didn't take you for such a desperate
character."
Both laughed, and then the boy told all
there was to tell. It wasn't so very much,
as the reader knows, and the telling
didn't take very long. Mr. Roberts list
ened closely, and then said:
"Well, my boy, you've got a fool for
an uncle and a bad lot for a cousin, and
they are going to make it pretty hard for
you. What do you propose to do?"
"Iv got to look for another place, but
it seems like a slim chance In Millington.
Of course, my uncle will try to keep me
from getting a. place."
"Surely ho will. I happen to know quite
a bit about him. He's the big man of the
town, but perhaps he'll find some one
just as big before he gets through. Let's
walk over to your house. I'd like to talk
with your mother a little while."
"We are poor folks, sir," replied Fred
with some nervousness.
"I've been there myself, boy," laughed
Mr. Roberts as he patted him on the
shoulder. "When I was your age I didn't
have but one shirt to my back and pud
ding and milk was my diet. We cooked
over the fireplace and our bowls and
plates were- cracked. I don't believe
you've ever had to go barefooted in No
vember, and I had to for years."
Mrs. Chester was nervous over the com
ing of a stranger, but he set her at her
ease after a few minutes, and after some
general talk he said:
"Your son saved my life today, and I
want to do something in return. He has
lost ills place and won't be able to find
another in the town. Your brother has
cast you off. and he will eee that you get
no work. Here Is where I step in. Fred,
have you ever heard of the boys' military
school over at Chlselhurst, 0 miles
away?"
"Yes. sir."
"Well, I'm financially interested in
that school and have considerable to say
about things. I want your mother to
move over there, and I want you to at
tend the school and get a thorough edu
cation." "But " replied Mrs. Chester.
"But " echoed Fred.
"But you haven't any money," smiled
Mr. Roberts. "Well, I have, and It's all
going to be done at my expense. I can
well afford it. I shall pay all expenses
for both of you for the next three years,
and longer, if I take a notion."
"But I I only helped you out of the
river." exclaimed Fred, "and I want no
pay for that."
"Then . we won't say it's for that,
though but for you I'd have lost my life.
Let's say that I do it to get even with
Mr. Grant. We wanted to establish the
school here, but he wanted to. boss it,
and drove us away. Now don't raise
any further objections. I'm not bossy,
but folks say I'm a bit of a crank about
things, and I certainly want my own way
in this."
The matter was talked over at length
before Mr. Roberts left the house, and. It
is needless to say, he left two happy peo
ple behind him. Before his coming things
had looked dark enough; now all waa
sunlight. He was to remain in town for
a week yet. and he promised to come
and take supper every evening, and he
insisted on leaving a sum of money be
hind him for what he called the board
bilh v ......
In the meantime the strike had proved
a hard blow to young Hugh Grant. His
father realized that the son bad gone too
far, and he promised the strikers to take
him from the factory if they would re
turn. The matter was settled that way,
and the wheels turned again. Then it
leaked out that Fred Chester had saved.
Mr. Roberts' life; that Mr. Roberts had.
something to do with the Chiselhurst
School: that Fred was to be taken in an
a pupil, and various persons saw Mr.
Roberts at the widow's house. When
things became known to Mr. Grant ha
called at the hou.e to say:
"Ellen, I have concluded that Fred had
nothing to do with the strike, and though
he assaulted Hugh without provocation,
I will take him back at $5 a week if he
will apologize."
"I don't think he will do that. Wil
liam." was the reply. "You see, he has
nothing to apologize for. Hugh seized
hold of him before a blow was struck."
"Well, then, he can come back at the
wages I named. I don't want folks to
say, should they hear that he is my
nephew, that I wouldn't give him a fair
show."
"That's kind of you. William, but I
must tell you that Fred Is provided for
for the next three years. I am also to
bo looked after."
"Then. It's true about your going over
to Chlselhurst?'"
"It is. We go next week."
"But you mustn't! You can't! I for
bid it!" shouted Mr. Grant.
"But you have no right over us, ar.d we
shall go."
Just why Mr. Grant called and just
why he wanted Fred back In the shop
will be told in the next chapter.
(To be continued.)
Smoked Out.
A 10-year-old girl in Manchester, Eng
land, who didn't want to go to school,
climbed the roof of the schoolhouse and
stopped up the chimney with rags. As a
consequence of this the rooms were
filled with smoke and teachers and pupils
went home. The smart little girl found
her way to jail on a ten-day sentence,
however. It would have been cheaper
for her to have claimed that she had the
toothache. She climbed the roof at night
and she displayed more nerve in the act
than many men would have done.
Spring Building Operations in the Back Yard
BUILDING- operations in the back yard
axe a very Important feature of the
boy's life at this season of the year, for
every one who expects to do any building
during the warm weather realizes that it
is better to get at it now, when It is not
so warm as to make one feel rather indo.
lent.
There are a great many different sorts
of . building:, or rather structures, which
can be put up in even a small back yard,
while for the boy who lives In the coun
try, where he has all the space he needs
for building, there is no end to the pos
sibilities of architectural ambitions.
One of the - most attractive things to
build Is a tree house, and this any boy
who can handle tools at all can put up
without much trouble. From time to
time directions for building tree houses
have been published in the children's
page and other publications, but the fact
of the matter Is that tree houses must be
built according to the shape of individual
trees, so that it Is really next to Impos
sible to give practical directions for-build-tng
a tree house which can be followed
by many boys. Each tree requires a. spe
cial shape for a house that is to nestle
nicely into its branches, and. the best plan
is to study your tree carefully before
making the plans for a tree house which
mill give the best results for the least
trouble. Some boys build roofs to their
tree houses and others merely build plat
forms. Ladders are sometimes built to
lead up to the houses, and other boys
make elevators with pulleys or wind
lasses. Not even lumber is needed for a
tree house, and a great deal of fun may
be had from one.
If boys are fond of gymnastics It Is a
good plan to put up a gymnastic appara
tus In the back yard. A horizontal bar
is a good thing to have, and It Is a great
deal better to work on It out In the air
than in any gymnasium. It Is also pos
sible to give amateur circus performances
where one has gymnastic apparatus
erected in the back yard.
Boys who are fortunate enough to
be. able to secure on old bathtub may
have a very Interesting aquarium for
SIB
their back yard. The tub is desirable be
cause the water may be allowed to flow
In from a hose and out through the drain,
which, of course, makes It very easy to
have a frequent change of water. The
wpeclmerm for the aquarium can be gath
ered on Saturdays and after school and
through the vacation from ponds and
small streams. It is most amusing to
find them and to observe their habits at
close range, as one may in the tub.
If there are little sisters in the family
and the yard Is large enough there should
by all means be a mud pie bakery put up
for their accommodation. A good place
for a mud pie bakery is a corner of the
fence at the back of the yard. A counter
Is put up right across this corner and the
young bakers stand Just behind this. They
can both make and sell their pies on this
counter. On the fence a shelf should be
put up, on which can be kept Jars of
water., boxes of sand.- shovels, pails, tin
spoons and bits of crockery, which are
necessary for a well-equipped bakery. A
sign should be put up with the legend
"Fresh Mud Pies at All Hours." This
can be lettered oh a shingle with paint
or crayon. It la a good plan to provide
a box to go under the counter in which
to throw the stale mud pies. If one lives
in the country and there is a small stream
on the place It Is a good plan to build
the mud pie bakery near the stream, as
it Is very . convenient to have the water
close at hand.
If you have no tree house and no avail
able tree In which to build one it is a
good idea to put up a tent in the yard for
the Summer or a hut made of branches.
Do not close In the sides of the hut, as
this would make it very warm, but leave
them open. You need only a roof and
four corner supports. The supports must
be sunk in the earth and then four
boards nailed around the top. Then lay
flat branches across the top to form the
roof and tie these to the side boards,
weaving a rope around the branches and
then around the boards. Be sure to con
ceal the rope with branches, as this will
make the hut more attractive. Wind
branches around the corner supports also.
Use twine for this purpose.
The branches for the roof should be
fiat ones and quite large those for the
corner posts need not be large. They
must be of evergreen. Y'ou can easily se
cure them In your Saturday walks to the
woods. If., however, you find It impos
sible to secure the branches, you can
cover the top of the hut with canvas or
narrow boards. If you can build your hut
In a corner of the fence, of course" it will
The D iridible
be much easier and you will only need
one support.
Another attractive way of roofing your
hut is to string cord across from one side
to the other and then plant vines to run
up the poles and across the top. The
vines will have to be planted along one
side also. Morning glory vines will Boon
grow and make a closely-thatched roof,
affording pleasant shade from the hot
Summer sun.
HOMES IN MANY LANDS THE HOME OF THE ENGLISH CHILD BY PATTE N BEARD.
3
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COrYRICMT. 1910. CY THE NEW YOTtK MEKAMJ CO
All KfM Kmi.iA
TN a peaceful little hamlet.
In a garden gay with flowers
Stands the pretty English cottage
Covered with its leafy bowers.
Scarlet poppies by the wayside
Flowers here on every hand
Do you wonder English children
Love their smiling: native land I
Cut and paste this colored picture.
Maybe it win serve to show
What an English cottage looks like.
If you'd really like to know.
' . .11!
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a: mm is
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a. i i i iii i i i -v
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i "Jos
Popular Mafrazlne.
A little crew of darinfr men,
A car. and our dear flag
A rapld-f Irlng one point nine
A gas-inflated bag-,
A ten-knot breeze, a, jtullen sky
Vhere air and watera meet
Lift trtrafning at their cables, mtrong.
The toe'm fcun-brist ling fleet.
To windward far away we too3.
Our screen the friendly iky;
The acout. our 'plane, has brought u word
How broadside on they lie.
And threaten with their rain of fhell
Our people's homes and life
Unless a ransom price be .gives.
For them to ceae the strife.
He crie the word! Up. up we shoot
Into the storm-fvorred night!
Six thousand feet below us gleam
The Bay and City light;
And heaving on the seaward tide,
Like shadows lurking there.
Twice ten we count their outlines grim
Then breathe to God a prayer.
Down, down we swoop, our soarvhlight glarer
Like some accusing eye!
yront, flank, and rear It dazzles them
In two long lines they lie.
From out the night comes their reply;
Their lanterns seek us out;
As well look, for the lightning's flash
Our path is but a doubt.
Our gun spits fire a sound from Hell!
The one point nine's at work;
Th shells are bursting on their deck
They seek us where we lurk.
Into the blackness blind they fire
"With small arms and machine;
The stars as well might be their aim
"VVe fly before we're seen.
J?heir big guns glare in Idl wrath.
Struck dumb from bow and stern;
The fighting topa are spitting ftre
In useless, mad concern.
Our shells burst fore; our shells burst aft;
They buret in bunkers deep ;
They burst below the water line.
Where safety used to sleep.
A glare that shames the midday sun;
A roar like crack of doom :
A rending of the sea and sky,
Ec 1 j psed by Inky g loom .
A shout of dread in foreign tongue;
A cry from thousand throats;
A cutting of the cable's bold,
A mad rus-h for the boats.
A panic's got them In itsi grip;
Strong men like children cry;
In fear they pray to their own God
To help them from on high.
The succor which they get from there
(Grim joke to perpetrate)
Is bursting shell ajid raining lead.
That sends them to their fate.
No more our city Hes beneath
Their threatening rain of phel!.
No mor our people shudirr when
Thfy hear the foeman yell.
A little crew; a one point nine.
A gas-inflated bag,
Has put to rout a score of craft.
And spat upon their flag.
Cheap Wages.
On th.8 government lands in France are
thousands of oak trees, and each Fall the
Kovernment sells the right to gather th
acorns to various individuals. They are
used altogether to make bread for the
peasant class, and it finally becomes so
hard that U has to be cut with an axe.
Last Fall, during the xratherinff season,
over 3000 boys and girls were employed
in the forests, and were paid only at the
rate of three cents a day for their work,
and were required to work 14 hours a
day. Such pay as that for young- Ameri
cans would result in a strike pretty
quickly.
Over the Roofs.
Richard Watson Gilder.
Over the roofs of the houses I hear the bark
ing of Leo
Leo, the shaggy, the lustrous, the giant, the
gentle Newfoundland.
Dark are hi eyes as the night and black is
his hair as the midnight:'
Large and alow is his tread till he sees his
master returning.
Then how he leaps in the air. with motion
ponderous; frightening :
Now as I pass to my work I hear o'er the roar
of the city
Kar over the roof of the hous X .hear .ha
barking of Leo.