ts. They had a squirrel and
some guinea-pigs and a parrot that could talk everything. Didn't he want
to see them?

Hanny looked eager as well.

"Can I take her?" asked Lu.

"The boys are down-stairs. Don't be rough."

It was rather dark. Lu caught Hanny in her arms and whisked her down to
the dining-room. The boys were thirteen and eleven, and were playing
checkers on the large dining-table. Everything looked so immensely big
to Hanny. The shelves of the sideboard were full of glass and silver and
queer old blue china; the chairs had great high backs and were
leather-covered.

"We want to see the guinea-pigs," said Lu. "But I'll take her out to see
the parrots first."

There was a fat colored woman in the kitchen who suggested Aunt Mary.
They went through to a little room under the great back porch, made in
the end of the area.

There were two parrots and a beautiful white paroquet. Polly was sulky.
"Mind your business!" was all she would say. Dan soon began to be quite
sociable, declaring "He was glad to see them, and would like to have
some grapes."

"You shut up!" screamed Polly.

"I'll talk as much as I like."

"No, you won't. I'll come and choke you."

"Do if you dare!"

Then they shrieked at each other with the vigor of fighting cats. Polly
rustled around her cage as if she would be out the next moment. Hanny
clung to Lu and was pale with fright.

"They can't get out. They'd tear each other to pieces when they're mad,
and sometimes they're sweet as honey. Pa's going to sell one of them,
but we can't decide which must go. Polly talks a lot when she's in the
mood. I don't know what's ruffled her so. Polly, my pretty Polly, sing
for me, and the first time I go out I'll buy you some candy with lots of
peanuts in it--lots--of--peanuts," lingeringly.

"Polly sing! Oh, ho! ho! Polly can't sing no more'n a crow," squeaked
out Dan.

"Can too, can too!"

"Pretty Polly! Polly want a cracker. Polly sing for her dear Dan. Oh,
boo hoo!"

Polly screamed in a tearing rage.

The young colored lad entered. "Miss Lu, de birds disturb yer gramper.
Lemme take Polly. You bad bird, you're goin' in a dungeon."

With that he whisked Polly off. Dan laughed gleefully. The boys came,
and Dan went through his stock accomplishments, much to their delight.

"But Polly's a sight the funniest," declared Lu. "Only she has such a
horrid temper and it just grows worse. We had a monkey and that got to
be so awful bad. Now