uuue ao, iyi5. 
TALES OF THE UNTAMED. 
MARGOT (continued). 
Adapted from the French by Douglas English. 
i 
BIT, as the enveloping hand squeezed past (he oj)eii- 
lag. the grip of it relaxed. Her wings slipped 
clear; she made full use of them, dug l>eak deep 
down into the palm, and, with one supreme effort, 
wriggled free, and winged towards the sky. 
A stunning crashing jar cut short her flight. With 
wounded breast, with .-splintered beak, she fell, wings spread 
across the sink. ° '■ 
The crockery danced and rattled, glasses spun round and 
shat ered on the floor-and she wa.r once more pri.soner. The 
hand had pounced on her afresh and gripped her like a vic(» 
Windows were things undreamt of in her world. The 
outer sky had beckoned her. An unseen barrier, permeable 
by sight, was past her understanding. 
ctr. ^'/^'^^" T^r '"'t^t^d- He gripped as though to 
strangle her, and Margot strove against him. 
She writhed and twisted in his hands, she sou-ht to 
use her beak again. ° 
Her puny "force was chilled and quenched by fear— fear 
of the .scissor.s b.v„K-Iished by the Woman 
onf Z^^^'°'T'- • '"'I ^""'' ^'"•^^-^ ^"^ l^^'-- They opened 
out and closed again, their edges grinning, raspi,i<r" 
her fllh"? ""'■^°'^' P''*'"^^ ^^^ «^ «teel be plunged into 
She was flung backwards, pinned by hands confederate • 
and scream of agony proclaimed the wrenching of her tail- 
qiulls from their sockets. 
So steering power was torn from her. 
The wings were crippled next. Nipped right and left 
they numbed in pain, and right and left, clicked scissor-snip, 
and pit-a-pat of feathers, lightly falling ^ 
ri, ^'*\''^^'^/"''o'«^»'-st from her dumb lungs. She glucked 
like blooded fowl. She waited for the finishing stroke the 
fortTe"^ '*''^ '"*° ^" "'™^^' *^" ^^^*' *^« ^"P'-^'"^ 
But suddenly the hands were lifted from her. She sat 
dumb on the table's edge, her every nerve ajar with pain 
fftllf '^^"""'t smarting. And round her laughter s^.en 
Itself, and mockery, and railling ^ 
The sky at least was there, the beckonin<x .sky 
She spread her wings and leapt towards "the window 
The leap was limit of her course. wuiajw. 
V . V''^'^"^ '^^ ^^" ^""^ ""^is^d a mockin- lau-h ac^ain 
Yet she did not despair. ° ° ° 
tim^^J'rf^^rPP^'^ *'"■ ^"PP^'^ "'"""P^ "^ ^'"S^' «"d time and 
fl^ht '^''" ''''^'^ '^' ^"''"« °''^« ^^^'^^ ^««ds to 
ablv'^''Fe!t*'w '* ""^ISone. She toppled, stumbled piti- 
laughter waited on her always " 
was cJan".ed''tW "' 't'' '^-^ '^'^'^ '^'' '^^^ -^«1« -'-l^' 
Trol f T ' h^ ^" ,^^^^ impassable had sundered her 
pron!:;tri'if?^' ''^'^ ^^^ ^^^^ ''--'' ^-- ^^^^ ^^^ - 
c^rcle?^^'^l""'' ^''ri *^* ^'^S'^-its door was closed-she 
■ Zfl a\ "^ •^'•""^'hed against the side of it. She ducked 
her head beneath her crippled wing and till that H.^i i 
passed she iieither ate, noTdrank, Lr Ived '' ''' 
_ Man, Woman, Child took curious note of her like 
visitors round a sickbed. They whispered, argued threat 
ened ghe paid no heed. Despair had laid a hand on her" 
a chilly, numbing hand. A momentary rustle of her feathers' 
fnr L'^Sdr;; -' '- ^^- -'« ^'^ -°^ 'S- o?!^ 
woke from sleep to find her troubles softened 
stincts hew' he?\P°'' f^' 'V'' P'"^^' ^wo mastering in- 
roo"sSng'place ' "" ""' '"' ''''^' '''' ^^^ ^^ sheltered 
She ate the scraps and morsels that lay near her- «1,» 
bhe questioned every stick and stone she mp°f «i,' ■ j 
m corners, sounded holes With b!.?,? T u ^ P"^*^ 
el«ff r,„A o,» • i ""^es. witu head aslant she eyed each 
l^!L^^±^I^^[}^^iJ^±me^snveo the chinks between the 
Printed by tho VicroEiA House PBraTi.,7c^ 
boards; appraised with care meticulous, the chance-found 
treasures of the littered floors. 
Were these close scrutinies casual or ordered by soma 
mystic sense of profit? ^ 
From time to time, no doubt, she chanced on food, but 
gh.stening things allured her most. She worshipped the.se 
Tound ecsUs^ '''"' ""^^"'' ''^ *'^^"' ''' "-^'d' ^P^l^" 
Most finds she quickly tired of. She prized them for 
their novelty, their opportune presentment, their momentary 
Re,,.!!*!! ■.^^°'' *^ • «f':^'°g-c°"nter for headquarters. 
dre..ser And this was lit with gleam of polished metal 
and forks ■' "'"' ^*"^^ ^'''"^ °" ^^«'"' ^-h^vers, spooni,' 
her hA' '^"'''''^ '!u'""* ^""'^ ^'^'^"'S tin.es. She mustered 
her best manners then, and with coquettish beaks and nods 
sought and compelled attention. ' 
n.m^''^ Tf^7 i"^'"* ^^^'''' ^«"-note-the syllables of her 
name— and linked it in her mind with food 
She fixed its distance in.stantly, and with giant hen- 
and fluttery wings made bee-lino to its source ^ 
And she had other company than Man: the dog whose 
presence she took little heed of; "the cat whom she dSZuT 
The cat s advances frightened her. She feared the twitchin.: 
of his ears, his lashing tail, his sleepy-stretching claws the 
down-drawn corners of his whiskered muzzle. Yet the e 
was truce between them, truce after strenuous contest, where 
each had learnt the other's qualities-and weapons 
I lie days trailed by monotonous. 
Under two deadening influences, the frousty, heated 
atmos,,here, the incessant glut of food, her senses dulled 
the outer world had almost passed from her though 
every dawn she flapped her stumps of wings, as tho'Uh some 
sleepmg instinct woke in her and called her to the sky 
staJZlTTnW'-^'' ^°"*'''' "^ *^« kitchen-behi'nd the 
stove, beneath the baking-range. 
She knew safe spots from which to scold the cat, or tease 
-nendly. The dog had smelt her dubiously at first- had 
The strange wild captive thing was of the household 
So, when from stress of boredom or excitement Mar;rot 
was stirred to mischief, she crept behind the dog and'tweaa 
His tail. He swung a drowsy head at her. and with round 
serious eyes and upcurled lip, growled dislpproval ' 
went on *"™''^ *' "'PP^^ ^8*^^°' '^^'^ - the gama 
like tt SreLt ''^ ''"'''''■ ^' ^" ^^ ^^^-^ ^'^^^7' 
But it was different with the cat. The cat snp»l.«,^ f^^A 
ruTc^at^tirer '-- '^''^'^' -'' ^^^^:^ 
then every fortnight, the ordeal of the scissor^s was renewed 
traug?t\o™:or. "' ''-'' ^'■"^^^'°^" ^^^^- '^-'^ 1- dt 
and ^corntr^^ She''''' '^' ^"""^i"'"'' "''''^''^ ^^ ^ark hole, 
eye. wer. u„.v.ili„g. T).« Girl betr.V.rher to h. £ 
hi. ."t/wr?br liTltt '""" '"'" '" «»"» 
(To be con/iniifd.) 
Ltd-, Tudor Street. Whitefriars, London, RcT 
