Mr. Chickadee 113 



but alas, the "trees he saw walking" had no leaves 

 on them. 



A few years ago, with the help of this same 

 little girl, now grown to womanhood, we devoted 

 some winter days, we each had our separate 

 window, to watching the Chickadees that came 

 to the free lunch counter that we maintained out- 

 side on the veranda. By no stretch of the imagi- 

 nation could we have called our work either Salva- 

 tion Army or Red Cross, for our visiting dough- 

 boys always brought their cheer with them. They 

 all wore the same uniform but no two looked alike, 

 and by the third day all had gone through with 

 their baptismal service and in the name of the 

 Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, had been 

 given Christian names. Please do not think that 

 I am going to give the whole list of names, for 

 such is not my intention, except in the case of 

 certain individuals to whom you are given a spe- 

 cial introduction. It went a long way in the 

 direction of confidential relations when we could 

 call each by his first name and with them as with 

 people, nicknames stood for chumminess. "Othel- 

 lo" was certainly blacker than the average, but 

 to be perfectly honest, failed a little in jealousy 

 toward his wife, "White Girl," and tragedy was 

 unknown in a conventional marriage in which 

 they lived happily ever afterward. Neither could 

 we keep it up, and later on they became "Blackie" 



