A Street Troubadour 



IASTC . ■ 







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He was venturesome and heedless with carriages 

 as well as with children. This peculiarity was 

 greatly increased by his present preoccupation, 

 and while foraging somewhat listlessly on Madi- 

 son Avenue, that afternoon, a messenger-boy 

 on a wheel came silently up, and before Randy 

 realized his danger, the wheel was on his tail. 

 As he struggled to get away, even at the price 

 of his tail, his right wing flashed under the 

 hind wheel, and then he was crippled. The boy 

 rode on, and Randy managed to flutter and hop 

 away toward the sheltering trees. A little girl, 

 assisted by her small dog, captured the cripple, 

 after an exciting chase among the benches. 

 She took him home, and moved by what her 

 brothers considered sadly misplaced tenderness, 

 she caged and nursed him. When he began to 

 recover, he one day surprised them by singing 

 his Canary song. 



This created quite a stir in the household. 

 In time a newspaper reporter heard of it. The 

 inevitable write-up followed, and this met the 

 eye of the Sixth Avenue barber. He came 

 with many witnesses to claim his bird, and at 

 length his claim was allowed. 



134 



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