"Here, little fish,
Is a nice little dish."
All things considered, he did pretty well, didn't he?
Now he emptied all the different kinds of food, from his seven
different pockets, on the little shingles and the little dishes on the
table in the summer-house.
There was corn for the White Wyandottes and Mr. Stuckup the Turkey,
and some, too, for the Foolish White Geese; and meal for the Pretty
Pink Pigeons; and lettuce leaves for the hippity-hop white Bunnies;
and milk from the little bottle for the Pussy; and puppy biscuit for
the three Dogs; and worms for the Little Fish, all placed very
politely in their little dishes.
It was a grand party. No wonder Mother said, "Good gracious!" and "Did
you ever!"; and no wonder Father whistled, and said, "By George!", and
the Toyman slapped his overalls, and said "Gee-willikens!"--and
perhaps a lot of other things besides.
But there was one serious trouble about this party. Marmaduke couldn't
keep sufficient order to make that important speech, which was to have
been the event of the celebration.
He stood up on the bench in the summer-house, put his hands in his new
pockets, made a fine bow, and began:
"Ladees and gen'lemen an' all others, Mr. Rooster and Mrs. Rooster an'
General Turkey"--but he could get no further.
The White Wyandottes were jumping all over the table, and the Pretty
Pink Pigeons, who were very tame, were trying to get in his pockets
for more of the feast; and Rover and Brownie and Wienerwurst were
jumping up and trying to lick his face; and his grand speech turned
out something like this:
"Down, Rover! Get away, you crazy Geese! Stop that, Bunny! Stop it, I
say--scat!!--scat!!!--"
Well, by this time Wienerwurst was biting the tails of the Pretty Pink
Pigeons again; and Brownie was chasing the rabbits; and the Geese were
flapping their wings and crying, "hiss, hiss!"; and the Pigeons were
flying back to their home on the roof; and Rover had his mouth full of
White Geese feathers; and Tabby was swallowing the little
fish--and--and--Marmaduke was almost crying.
"I'll take it all back," he yelled, "you're no ladies and gen'lemen
you're--you're just mean an' I won't ever ask you to my party again."
Of course, by this time, Mother and the Toyman and Father weren't just
standing still and looking and saying things--they were
running--and--saying things!--running straight for that party which
had turned out such a grand fight.
They tried to save what they could from the wreck. They spanked little
Wienerwurst until he let go of the tails of the Pretty Pink Pigeons,
and they got the Bunnies safe back in their hutch, and the White
Wyandottes in their yard, and Mr. Turkey in his.
But they couldn't save the poor little fish. It was very sad, but it
was too late. Tabby wasn't like Jonah's whale. What she had once
swallowed she wasn't apt to give up.
[Illustration: "'I'll take it all back,' Marmaduke yelled, 'you're no
ladies an' gen'lemen--an' I won't ever ask you to my party again'"]
Marmaduke felt very much hurt and very indignant about the way he had
been treated. As Father said, "it was a grave slight to his
hospitality."
However, he forgot all about it when he saw the new skates which
Mother and Father had waiting for him, and the grand Noah's Ark which
the Toyman had made with his very own hands. There isn't much use
telling the colors in which it was painted, because you know the
Toyman was sure to put a lot of colors, and pretty ones, too, on all
the things he made for the Three Happy Children.
There is one good thing about all the animals in that Noah's Ark. They
are very cunning and look like the real thing, but, as the Toyman
said, "You can invite them to your house any time and they won't
fight, or bite, or scratch, or quarrel. They are very polite and
well-behaved."
Marmaduke had many a celebration for them, and made many a glorious
speech to them as well, and they listened to every word.
So the birthday party really lasted long after the seven candles had
gone out, and the cake had gone, too, every crumb.