The Cockatoos Story | Page 6

wish to see; but his face was purple with rage, and his lovely feathers were all ruffled and rumpled with passion, so that any kind of feathers might have served him equally well.
"I cannot tell how it was," said the cockatoo, "but from that time I was always meeting the discontented parrot; and we gradually got more and more intimate. My good friend, the old cockatoo, did not hesitate to warn me against my companion; but I was angry with her, because I fancied she lectured me, having no right to do so, and treated me as if I had been a perfect baby. Then one night, after a long conversation with the parrot, I agreed to fly away with him, and seek our fortunes on some other part of the island. It was arranged that we should set out the next morning before the sun was up; for the parrot thought if he went away in open daylight, his father, who was a very fierce parrot, would interfere with our flight. I cannot tell you why I felt sorry, after the parrot left me, at the idea of leaving my good, kind friend, the old cockatoo; but I really was. She had been so good to me, and had so much to tell me about what she had seen during her long life, and in her travels, that time passed very quickly indeed. That evening, too, when I had retired to the branch I had selected for my sleeping-place, I overheard a conversation between a very large mother parrot and her three young ones, that somewhat filled my heart with alarm. 'Be contented, children,' the mother parrot was saying. 'I have known many parrots come to an untimely end, because they were always wanting to see what was beyond the trees and bushes of their own home. I remember my grandfather telling me about how a brother and he had strayed away far into the woods, and they were overtaken by the darkness, and were forced to remain in a tree all night. But he had not fallen asleep long when he heard a great shriek; and on opening his eyes, what should he see but an immense ape clutching his brother by the throat, and carrying him away up to the top of the tree out of sight. It was all my grandfather could do to get his wings to carry him home, he was so weak and faint with the fright; and never again did he wander from his companions.'
[Illustration: A LESSON IN CONTENTMENT.
Page 42.]
"Oh, that I had listened even then to the old mother parrot's wise advice!" said the cockatoo, as he scratched his eye. "Ah, sir," he said, turning to Herbert, "it's harder to bear troubles when they come upon us by our own folly.
"The sun was scarcely up when the green parrot was beside me; and as I had promised to join him, I did not like to hesitate or draw back now. So we set out on our travels, without even saying good-bye to any one. For days we travelled on through the forest, and a happy enough time it was; for my companion was apparently delighted at the idea of his freedom, and chattered away in a very amiable manner. But toward the end of the third day we were startled by hearing strange sounds; and on peering down from the branches, we saw a man. I did not know he was a man at the time; but I found out to my cost what he was only too soon. He had some dogs with him, and seemed to be waiting for something, for he peeped cautiously round a tree every now and then, bidding the dogs lie close. Then in a moment came a fearful crack from a gun he carried, and something gave a great roar and a wild snort, and I nearly lost my senses with the fright. It was all I could do to clutch on by the branch, my legs shook so with fear; and as for my companion, if it hadn't been for falling into a cleft in a branch, he would have gone straight down on to the man's wide-spreading hat. The cry had come from a boar, which lay dead or dying; and in a very few minutes the man had fastened something to his legs, and began dragging him away, while the dogs capered, and danced, and barked round them.
"You may well believe we felt no anxiety to continue our travels, for a little. There were not many trees near us with fruit that we cared for, except a cotton-tree; and I ate and ate, wondering why my mother could have been so stupid as to say its fruit was not safe. But