BY THE WAYSIDE 
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WISCONSIN AND ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETIES 
One Year, 25 Cents Price Three Cents One Year, 25 Cents 
Published by the Wisconsin Audubon Society 
Entered January 27, 1903, at Milwaukee, Wis., as second-class matter, under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. 
VOL. VI. DECEMBER, 1903 No. 8 
Almost a Tragedy. 
(A True Story.) 
“Christine! May we come in and see yon 
1 to-night, Christine?” The children, peeping in 
at the kitchen door, pushed it wide and danced 
over the threshold, delighted at the smile 
I which greeted them. 
j There were three cf them, Sylvia Hastings 
and her little brother Charlie, and Archie, a 
boy of fourteen, at home for the winter holi¬ 
days. Dearly they loved to visit Christine in 
her bright kitchen, and no wonder, for both 
the place and its occupants were most cheerful, 
to sav nothing of the charms of Minzie, the 
sleek Maltese cat that lay basking on the mat 
in the red glow of the tire, and the absurd old 
gray parrot that sat muffled up in his feathers 
on a perch in a corner of the room. It was 
early dusk of the winter day, sharp and cold; 
a thin crisp layer of snow covered the ground 
without, and made the warmth and brightness 
within more delightful. And as for Christine, 
I the Norwegian maid who kept the house, she 
was as refreshing as morning sunshine, with 
her rosy cheeks and milk-white skin, and rich 
hair piled in a beautiful red-gold heap at the 
t , t>o p of her head. The children adored her 
and her employers blessed the land of Nor¬ 
way for having produced anything so charm- 
ling and sio satisfactory. 
| ® • 
! “Now, what are you doing, Christine?” ask- 
; ed Sylvia, as they stood bv the table and peered 
; into a dull red earth em dish filled with water, 
in which lay potatoes peeled as smooth as 
iviery. “What are those things? Potatoes? 
Aren’t they pretty, Archie? They look just 
like ivory!” 
** 
“Take me up and show me!” cried little 
Charlie, and Archie lifted him so that he could 
peep, too. Christine laid a clean towel on 
the table, spread the potatoes on it, rolled 
them about in it till they were quite dry, then 
put them into a shallow tin pan which she had 
! buttered, and shook them till they all shone 
i with a thin coat of butter. 
“What are they for?” asked Sylvia. 
“To bake for your supper, Miss Sylvia,” an¬ 
swered Christine. 
“But why do you butter them?” 
“Oh, so they may bake a lovely light brown, 
and the skin you will not have to take off at 
all!” a ns w e r ed she. 
“Oh, yes, I know,” said Sylvia, “they are so 
good!” and while Christine went on with her 
preparations for supper, all three sat them¬ 
selves down on the neat braided mat beside 
Minzie, the sleepy comfortable cat. She 
stretched her long length out slowly, and real¬ 
ly seemed to smile at the children, as she lay 
in the ruddy firelight with her eyes half shut, 
lazily responding to- their caresses. She put 
out her paw, its sharp claws softly sheathed, 
and with a deprecating gesture gently patted 
their hands as if she were boxing her pet 
kitten’s ears. . 
“Pretty Minzie!” Archie said, “you are so 
good-natured and you know so much!” 
“Ship ahoy!” cried a harsh voice from the 
corner. “Good morning, dear! How do you 
do? What have you got in your pocket? Polly 
wants a. cracker! Good gracious! Wish you 
a happy New Year!” 
They all broke into laughter, Christine’s 
merry voice mingling in the chorus. Minzie 
rose from the mat. stretched herself, slowly 
crossed the room to where Polly sat chattering 
on her perch and began to play with the chain 
by which the bird was fastened, giving the 
loop a push with her paw where it hung down, 
striking it every time it swung within reach. 
The parrot watched her meanwhile with the 
greatest interest. “Miaw!” cried Polly sud¬ 
denly. Minzie stopped and looked up. “Ha, 
ha, ha!” shouted the bird, as much as to say, 
“Did you think it was another cat?” and 
forthwith began to scream afresh, crowing 
like a dock, barking like a dog, imitating the 
creaking of a door, and then suddenly going 
into a frenzy of sneezing, and coughing and 
