mps," Mr. Bullfinch
said in a low voice to Jerry, which proved that he had been bidding
for the sport of it.

Mr. Bullfinch did not open his mouth when the next few items were
sold. After starting the ball rolling he was content to let others
keep it rolling for a while. Besides, a bed, two French chairs, and a
worn oriental rug were not unusual enough to interest him. Such items
came up, he explained to Jerry, at nearly every auction held in
Washington or its suburbs. But when Mr. Bean was handed a large cage
with a large bird in it by one of his helpers, Mr. Bullfinch sat up
straight on the edge of his chair again.

"Never knew a parrot to be auctioned off before," he told Jerry.

[Illustration]

"Diplomat leaving the country says, 'Sell everything,' and that
included this handsome bird. Speaks Spanish, they tell me. Wish Polly
would oblige us by saying something in Spanish, but he--I understand
it's a male--is too shy to speak before strangers. He's been well
taken care of. Wonderful gloss to his feathers," praised Mr. Bean.
"Beautiful color. Give an accent to any decor, modern or traditional,
besides being a wonderful pet. Now who is going to be the lucky owner
of this gorgeous bird?"

Jerry was surprised that Mr. Bullfinch did not begin the bidding,
which started at a disgusting low of fifty cents. Mr. Bullfinch did
not speak until the bidding rose to three dollars. Then, "Five
dollars," he said in a firm voice that dared anybody to bid higher.
Since nobody did, the parrot was Mr. Bullfinch's for five dollars.

"Guess I could have had it for four," Mr. Bullfinch said to Jerry.
"Thought it would go to seven."

Jerry was very glad that Mr. Bullfinch's had been the winning bid. It
would be interesting to have a Spanish-speaking parrot next door,
though Jerry would have bid for the parrot himself if he had had the
money. The only pet the Martin family had was Bibsy. "Wish we had a
parrot," thought Jerry.

Jerry rather lost interest in the auction after the high spot of
selling the parrot. Mr. Bullfinch put in a bid once in a while but let
his bid be topped.

Since Mr. Bullfinch already had a parrot cage, he could keep one cage
in the house and the other out in the yard, Jerry was thinking, as a
mahogany sewing table was lifted to the auctioneer's platform. Neither
Jerry nor Mr. Bullfinch was interested in mahogany sewing tables.
Jerry's eyes wandered. He hardly heard Mr. Bean praise the sewing
table and ac