Some Naturalized Foreigners 



No matter how much food was in their cages, 

 they ate only twice a day, in the early morning and 

 late afternoon. One evening when their guardian 

 opened the thrushes' door to refill a drinking cup, 

 suddenly a bird brushed past her face : a thrush had 

 escaped! From stem to stern of that great steamer 

 a lusty German sailor and the bereaved American 

 pursued that little bird. After resting a moment on 

 the moorings of a lifeboat it flew among the rigging, 

 then down on the deck, then up on the captain's 

 bridge, and finally took shelter from the wind and 

 human pursuers under a piece of sail-cloth beyond 

 reach. And the wise captain would not permit the 

 sailor to climb after it then. "If it flies away from 

 the ship," said he, "it is lost forever; it could never 

 overtake us and would soon die. Wait until it goes 

 to sleep ; then the sailor may try again." 



Darkness fell ; the long, table d'^hote dinner of a 

 German liner finally dragged to an end, and news of 

 the supperless, solitary thrush under the sail-cloth was 

 eagerly sought for. "It's too bad," said the officer 

 on the bridge, in his kind German way. "When you 

 were at dinner your little bird was sleeping with one 

 eye open, it seems ; he was too quick for that sailor. 

 No; I don't know which way he flew. Maybe he 

 went straight to sea in the dark; maybe he flew to- 

 ward the stern of the ship. If so, I guess he was 

 drawn by suction down one of those big funnels, and 

 that ends him, sure, if he went down the one that 

 leads to the engine-room. Never mind," he con- 

 tinued, trying to be consoling. "What's the use of 

 bothering about one leetle bird?" 



But the guardian, refusing to be comforted, 



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