The Little Warrior

ch looks well on note-paper a sufficient compensation for the gloom that goes with it. The majority, however, are in the mean neighborhoods of the great railway termini, and appear to

ntermittent appearance of women in aprons, who shake rugs out of the front doors or, emerging from areas, go down to the public-house on the corner with jugs to fetch the supper-beer. In almost every ground-floor window there is a card announcing that furnished lodgings may be had within.

riety. A gray parrot in a cage by the window cracked seed and looked out into the room with a satirical eye. He had seen all this so many times before,-Nelly Bryant arraying herself in her smartest clothes to go out and besiege agents in their offices off the Strand. It happened every day.

d Bill, and crac

house kind which resembles nothing else in the world. But a few little touches here and there, a few instinctively tasteful alterations in the general scheme of things, had given the room almost a cosy air. Later on, with the gas lit, it would achieve something approaching homeiness. Nelly, li

ness and underfeeding had given it a wistful expression that had charm. Unfortunately, it was not the sort of charm which made a great appeal to the stout, whisky-nourished men who sat behind paper-littered tables, sm

year in London and some weeks in the number one towns, had returned to New York. It did not cheer Nelly up in the long evenings in Daubeny Street to reflect that

res?" s

e was a little limited in his re

cage. "It's all right for you-you have a swell time with nothing to do but sit there and eat

ves. "Oh, well!" she

aid the parrot, cl

er into the cage an

d of me, aren't yo

-bye,

, I'm goin

ll the parrot, not committi

he middle of the cage, where he proceeded to conduct a few intimate researches with his beak under his left wing. After which he mewed like a cat, and relapsed into silent meditation once more. He closed his eyes and pondered on his favorite problem-Why was he a parrot? This was always good for an hour o

-woof

thoughtfully. It didn't taste as good as usual. He suspected Nelly of having changed his Daily Mail for the Daily Express or something. He swallowed the piece of paper, and was struck by the thought that a little climbing exercise might be what his soul demanded. (You hang on by your

osed. Apparently there was a lot of it outside the room. How long this had been going on, he did not know, but obviously it was a thing to be investigated. The window was open at the bottom, and just outside the window were what he took to be the bars of another and larger cage. As a matter of fact they were the railings which afforded a modest protection to Number Nine. They ran the length of the house, and were much used by small boys as a means of rattling sticks. One of these stick-rattlers passed as Bill stood ther

p, spied him, a

oy!" said Bi

tentatively, then, finding that nothing disastrous ensued, pushed his nose between two of the bars and barked again. Any one who knew Bill could have told him that

of!" said Bil

s stood before him. They were gazing down at him in the stolid manner peculiar to the proletariat of London

om his mouth and pointed with the ste

Erb, a man

b. My brother Joe's wife's sister 'ad one of 'em. Come from abroad, they do. My brother Joe's wife's sister 'ad on

d a finger through the railings. Erb abandoned hi

e don't stin

eemed w

'em. They don't 'urt yer, not if you're kind to 'em. You know yer pals when you see 'em, don't y

said the parrot,

y delightedly. "Goo'-by

t of yer finger," warn

ink that his reputation as an expert on parrots had been

d 'ave a piece out of yer fi

er's parrot never 'ad no piece out of no finger of mine!" He extended the finger further and wa

y's brother's wife's sister had caused him to realize that there was a certain standard of good conduct

said

f-woof!"

urning to the scene and going on with the a

ere de Vere and the better order of parrot. His nerves were shocked, and, as always under such conditions, his impulse

int," said Erb, alwa

g affairs from the edge of the sidewalk. Erb, having won his point, was silent once more. Henry sucked his fing

outh. "Lend me the loan of that sti

nterer of a moment ago, poked wildly through the railings. Bill, panic-stricken now and wishing for nothing better than to be

d!" said