Adopting an Abandoned Farm

than eat him. The feathers of a

rehearsal of my experiences, exciting, varied, and tragic,

o as a relief from the usual summer wanderings. I would plant nothing but a few hardy flowers of the old-fashioned kind-an e

was m

which changed the entire current of thought, and transformed a quiet, r

of impulsive enthusiasm, was so foolish as to pause and admire and long for a pr

etallic spots on its tail the eyes of Argus-imported by Solomon to Palestine, essentially regal. Kings have used peacocks as their crests, have worn crowns of their feathers. Queens and princesses have flirted gorgeous peacock fans; the pavan, a favorite dance in the days of Louis le Grand, imitated its stately step. In the days of chivalry

charm of rustic simplicity, and appear shabby, inappropriate, and unendurable. It became

aths were broadened and graveled, and even terraces were dreamed of, as I recalled the terraces where Lord Beaconsfie

pite of my best efforts and determined to sev

trained their roving ambition. But they were not happy. Peacocks disdain a "roost" and seek the top of some tall tree; they are also rovers by nature and hate confinement. They pined and failed, and seemed slowly dying; so I had to let them out. Total cost of peacock hunts by the boys of the village, $11.33. I found that Beauty was happy only when admiring himself, or deep in mischief. His chief delight was to mount the stone wall, and utter his raucous note, again and again, as a carria

ch he often capriciously refused to do. As soon as they departed, somewhat disappointed in "my great moral show," Beauty would go to a large window on the ground floor of the barn and parade up

e chose to leave. She made up for this wifely self-abnegation by frequenting the hen houses. She would watch patiently by the side of a

h as he paraded, while my large white Holland turkey gobbler, who had been molting severely and was almost denuded as to tail feathers, would attempt to emulate his display, and would follow him closely, his wattles swelling and

the molt

ing phenomenal) he would have one hundred and seventeen new and interesting tails-enough to start a circulating library. Yes, Beauty's pride and mine had a sad fall as one by one the long plumes were dropped in road and field and garden. He should have been caught and confined, and the feathers, all loose at on

to set. But I put them under a turkey, and, to console myself and re-enforce my position as an owner of peacocks, I bega

ys as high as the bird, consisting of several sorts of flowers, all of beaten gold enameled. When the king seats himself upon the throne, there is a transparent jewel with a diamond appendant, of eighty or ninety carats, encompassed with rubies and emeralds, so hung that it is always in his eye. The twelve pillars also that support the canopy are set with rows of fair pearls, round, and of an excellent water, that weigh from six to ten carats apiece. At the

oom," designed by Whistler. Panels to the right and left represent peacocks with their tails spread fan-wise, a

he house and the grounds highly decorative had received a severe lesson in the verdict, overhear

baskets, vines, strings of beads and bells, lanterns of all hues; there were tables, little and big, and lounging chairs and a hammock and two canaries. The brightest geraniums blos

I had hoped to

e girl, straining her h

d the youth, "gue

the scene as a whole,

, Bill-it's

in two lanterns to store in the shed chamber. I also resolved to have no more flo

the passer-by-in short, my struggle to "live up to" the peacocks revealed, as does a lightning flash on a dark night,

ums in addition, and it made me even more depressed. Result of these mental exercises as follows: Rent, $40 per year; incidental expenses to date, $5,713.85. Was there any good in thi

ne'er

en of taste a

acock with its

ird at mighty

onders from it

whims a high

the plumage t

ies when 'tis

nequaled beaut

e and charms yo

peacocks are

rescribed peacock broth for pleurisy, peacocks' tongues for epilepsy, peac

old. He got out of the nest in some way, and preferred to take care of himself. How independent, how captivating he was! As not one other egg had hatched, he was lamentably, desperately alone, with dangers on every side, "homeless and orphanles

y tyrant; I was but a slave, an attendant, a nu

d by Lord Erskine; others have been deeply interested in toads, crickets, mice, lizards, alligators, tortoises, and monkeys. Wolsey was on familiar terms with a venerable carp; Clive owned a pet tortoise; Sir John Lu

ief sketch of my charge, for no mother ever had a child so precocious, so wise, so willful, so affectionate, so persistent, as Kizzie at the same age. Before he was three days old, he would follow me like a dog up and down stairs and all over the house, walk behind me as I strolled about the grounds, and when tired, he would cry and "peep, weep" for me to sit down. Then he woul

before did I realize how much could be found there. I had a dressmaker in the house, and Kizzie was always goi

pposed he would be glad to go to sleep in a natural way after a busy day. No, indeed! He would not stay in box or basket, or anywhere but cradled close in my neck. There he wished to remain, twittering happily, giving now and then a sweet, little, tremulous trill, indicative of content, warmth, and drowsiness; if I dared to move ever so little, showing by a sharp scratch from his claws that he preferred absolute quiet. One night, when all worn out, I rose and put him in a hat box and c

llowed me out of the room and down-stairs. Alas! it was not far from his breakfast hour, for he preferred

was ordered by his eccentric physician to buy a Barbary ostrich

em. Christopher North (John Wilson) used to carry a sparrow in his coat pocket. And his friends

fraid of him, as he liked to watch my eyes, and once p

instinct is an inspiration. Kizzie liked to perch on my finger and catch flies for his dinner. How solemn, wise, and bewitching he did look

rsonal appearance, pruning and preening his pretty feathers many times each day, paying special attention to his tail-not more than an inch long-but what a p

s fondness for me, of his daily increasing in

ar gazelle experienc

night to a friend who assured me that she was a most quiet sleeper, a

s honor has been done by this inadequate recital of his charms and his capacity. After a few days of sincere grief I reflected phi

e as possible for me, and he now adorns the parlor ma

is pa

was a victim of Beauty's vanity. A friend who was present said, as he tenderly held the glass between thumb and finger: "It is now easy to see through the cause of her death; under the circumstances, it wou

uch like h

. His voice, always distressingly harsh, was now so awful that it was fascinating. The notes seemed cracked by grief or illness. At last, growing feebler, he succumbed to some wasting malady and no longer strutted about in brilliant pre-eminence or came to the piazza calling imperio

s legs and gaze wistfully on the lively crowd so unmindful of his wretchedness, then sink back exhausted, reminding me of some grand old monarch, statesman, or warrior looking for the last time on the scenes of his former triumphs. I should have named him Socrates. At last he was carried to a cool rest

live and resplendent; his consort, modest hued and devoted,

"Let him keep peacock to hi

ttacks, his ministers got him to read the king's speec

excellent word for ending a sentence, only kings shoul

e pause at the close of each sentenc

e new display, yield to another temptatio