SAMMY-SAM AND LUCY-LOO
I was very glad I had been warned, for there was a terrible noise out
in the street that I afterward learned was caused by young creatures
called children, shouting and calling to each other. Then the front
door slammed and there was quiet.
Presently two very calm young beings—for Mrs. Martin would allow no
shouting in her dining-room—came in, a boy and a girl.
“Lucy-Loo and Sammy-Sam,” said Mrs. Martin, with a merry twinkle in
her eye, for she was a great joker, “here is a new baby bird come
downstairs for the first time.”
The boy was a straight, well set-up young thing, eight years old, I
heard afterward. The girl was a year younger, and she had light hair
and big, staring eyes—very bright, intelligent eyes.
Our Mary was much older than her young cousins, and she was pretty
strict with them about her birds, for they were never allowed to come
into her bird-room.
The boy sat down at the table, and to my surprise said as he stared at
me, “Not much of a bird, that—haven’t you got anything better looking
to show off?”
He was taking his soup quite sulkily.
His little sister was pouting. “I think Cousin Mary is very mean,” she
said to her aunt. “She might let us go in her old bird-room. We
wouldn’t hurt anything.”
Our Mary said nothing, but Mrs. Martin spoke. “You remember, Lucy,
that one day when Mary was out, a certain little girl and a certain
little boy took a troop of young friends into the bird-room, and some
baby birds died of fright, and some old ones got out, and were
restored to their home with difficulty.”
Our Mary raised her head. “I have forgiven them, mother, and some day
soon I am going to let them see my birds, but they must promise never
to go into the bird-room without me.”
The boy and girl both spoke up eagerly. “We promise. Will you take us
in to-day?”
“No, not to-day,” said our Mary. “To-morrow.”
Their young faces fell, and they went on taking their soup.
“Canaries are very gentle, timid creatures,” said Mrs. Martin. “You
know, it is possible to kill them, without in the least intending to
do so. This one we have down here to-day seems an exception. He gets
frightened, but soon overcomes it. I think he is going to be an
explorer.”
“It is his unpleasant life in the bird-room that makes him wish to
come out,” said our Mary. “His little brother teases him most
shamefully.”
“Just the way Sammy-Sam teases me,” said Lucy poutingly.
“I don’t tease you,” said Sammy. “You are a cry-baby.”
“I’m not a cry-baby,” she said.
Mrs. Martin interposed in her cheerful way. “Would you rather take
your lunch, my darlings, or go out in the hall and continue your
discussion?”
“Lunch first,” said the boy promptly, “but I’ll argue the head off
Lucy afterward.”
“Take an arm or a leg,” said his aunt. “The head is such an important
member to lose.”
I thought this a good time for a little song, so in a broken way I
told of my troubles with Green-Top, and how he beat me and pulled out
my feathers.
The boy and girl were delighted. “Sure he’s some bird,” said Sammy,
and Lucy cried out, “Little sweet thing—I love you.”
After lunch Mr. Martin said he would take our Mary for a drive. The
children hurried back to school, and Mrs. Martin said she would go and
lie down, for she was tired. “Come with me, little boy,” she said to
me, “or would you rather go to the bird-room?”
I flew to the ribbon shoulder knot on her dress. I admired her very
much and wished to stay with her.
“Mary,” she said delightedly, “I love to have this little Dicky with
me. I wish you would bring one of your small cages downstairs. Put
seeds and water in it and hang it on the wall of the sitting-room.
Leave the door open, so he can go in and out. Of course he must spend
some time each day with the old birds to perfect his song, but I would
like him to have the run of the house. I think I see in him an unusual
sympathy and understanding of human beings.”
“He is a pet,” said our Mary. “I will be glad to have him downstairs a
good deal.”
So it came about that I had a little home of my own in the room of one
of the best friends of birds in the city. Our Mary was darling, but
she was young. Her mother had known trouble, and she had known great
joy, and she could look deep into the hearts of men and beasts and
birds. I had a very happy time with her, and got to know many
interesting animals and other birds. At the same time I was free to go
into the bird-room whenever I wished to do so, but I found after I had
become accustomed to human beings that many of the birds there seemed
narrow and very taken up with their own nests, not seeing much into,
nor caring much about, the great bird world outside our little room.
Therefore, to help canaries and to help friends of canaries to understand
them, I am giving this little account of my life—an insignificant
little life, perhaps, and yet an important little life, for even a
canary is a link in the great chain of life that binds the world
together.