Our Green Birds. 55 



a glance that she was nothing of the sort. There she 

 sat languid and listless on her perch, evidently quite 

 overpowered hy the heat, if not absolutely ill from 

 other causes. Still the German stuck to his text, or 

 rather her text, for it was a woman I had to do with, 

 and to every objection that I advanced she made a 

 counter-assertion in the opposition direction. So, like the 

 man who goes into a horse-dealer's yard, and ventures 

 to think that the animal he is shown turns in his toes a 

 trifle too much, and is shut up at once by the fierce off- 

 hand dictum of the dealer that so far from anything of 

 the sort, that worthy thinks if there is any fault at all 

 in this respect he rather turns them out, I began to 

 think that perhaps after all there was not much in it, 

 and so concluded the purchase. On my way home, 

 however, I called and showed her to Mr. M , men- 

 tioning my suspicions, which he immediately confirmed 

 on taking her into his hand, from her feeling soft and 

 spongy, instead of firm and hard to the touch, as a 

 bird in good health and condition invariably is. My 

 worst fears were soon verified on our arrival at home, 

 when she had to be consigned to the hospital at once, 

 instead of being introduced to her intended lord, for 

 whom she would otherwise have been a most excellent 

 match. I kept her some time during the winter, and 

 tried every remedy I could think of to cure her, but she 

 proved in the end asthmatical and finally died after I 

 had parted with her in the spring. 



Thus we wasted our time, and lost our money, and 

 were no forwarder than when we first began our search 

 for a mate worthy the exquisite Dandy. Winter passed 



