Daddy Longlegs
crowed hoarsely his delight, the peacock tried his musical powers by
shouting Ne-onk! ne-onk! and Duck Waddler quacked away more ridiculously
than ever. Just then the mocking-bird ruffled his brown neck-feathers and
began to sing. All the melody of all the song-birds of the South seemed
to be bottled up in that one little bosom. Even Miss Guinea-fowl had
sense enough to stop her hideous operatic "pot-rack," to listen to the
wonderful sweetness of the stranger's song. Becoming cheered with his own
singing, the bird began to mimic the hoarse crowing with which Daddy
Longlegs wakened him in the morning. This set the barn-yard in a roar,
and the peacock shouted his applause in a loud "ne-onk!" Alas! for him,
the mocking-bird mimicked his hideous cry, then quacked like the duck,
and even Miss Guinea-fowl found that he could "pot-rack" better than she
could.
The Shanghai remarked to the peacock that this young Louisianian was a
remarkable acquisition to the community; Gander White thought he ought to
be elected to the city council, and Miss Guinea-fowl remarked that she
had always thought there was something in the young man. Dr. Parrot
laughed quietly at this last remark.
The very next day the mocking-bird was asked to take up a singing-school.
Pages:
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179