The Jay. 3 



not part with his bird for that, ho must keep it, I could not 

 give him more: but that sum I had quite settled in my own 

 mind it was to be, so that I was not a little disappointed when 

 the boy asked just ^^quatre sous,'" and thought a great deal 

 less of the poor Jay, as I returned with it to my mother's 

 room, than I had done a few minutes previously. 



The wide-mouthed, gaping, half-naked, screeching little brute 

 was placed in a basket with some hay by way of a beginning, 

 and with the assistance of Marie, Yirginie, Pepee, or Julie, I 

 quite forget the name of the demoiselle who condescended to 

 occupy our kitchen at that time, the voracious appetite of the 

 creature was duly satisfied, when it tucked its head under its 

 wing, and went peacefully to sleep in the straw, without, 

 apparently, bestowing a thought on the mother and brethren 

 it was fated nevermore to see. 



My Jay throve, a merveille, as Mile. Yirginie, I am almost 

 sure it was Yirginie who lived with us then, used to say; and 

 my father one day, when he was in an unusually good humour, 

 bought me a wicker cage. After a while, however, the poor 

 bird rubbed the ends off his tail and wing feathers, and the 

 remainder of his plumage got clogged or glued together in a 

 manner that was sufficiently distressing to behold, and must 

 have been exceedingly disagreeable and uncomfortable for the 

 poor thing itself. 



I regret to say that my interest in my purchase declined 

 from the moment it became my very own for the preposter- 

 ously insignificant sum of four sous, or twopence sterling, so 

 that although he lived long enough to feed himself, instead 

 of gaping to have the food thrust down his throat, and to 

 hop about the kitchen, and on the terrace, his career was not 

 a long one; and I quite forget what became of him at last, 

 whether Yirginie trod on him by accident, whether ''Lucie", 

 the cat,' made a meal of his not over plump carcase, or whether 

 my father mercifully put the poor thing out of his misery. 

 JN'o: I am not quite sure what became of my ''pet", as it 



