a garden alley, so sweet and shady,
She answered, "I love not you,
John, John Brady,"
Quoth my dear lady,
"Pray now, pray now, go your way now,
Do, John, do!"

At first the gypsy did not seem to know where that mocking song came
from, but when she discovered that it was her prisoner, the old
parrot, who was thus daring to imitate her, she stood silent and
glared at him, and her face was almost white with rage.

When he came to the end of the verse he pretended to burst into a
violent fit of sobbing and crying, and screeched out to his wife,
"Mate! mate! hand up my handkerchief. Oh! oh! it's so affecting, this
song is."

Upon this the other parrot pulled Jack's handkerchief from under her
wing, hobbled up, and began, with a great show of zeal, to wipe his
horny beak with it. But this was too much for the gypsy; she took a
large brush from her cart, and flung it at the cage with all her
might.

This set it violently swinging backwards and forwards, but did not
stop the parrot, who screeched out, "How delightful it is to be
swung!" And then he began to sing another verse in the most impudent
tone possible, and with a voice that seemed to ring through Jack's
head, and almost pierce it:--

Yet my fair lady's my own, own lady,
For I passed another day;
While making her moan, she sat all alone,
And thus and thus did she say:
"John, John Brady,"
Quoth my dear lady,
"Do now, do now, once more woo now,
Pray, John, pray!"

"It's beautiful!" screeched the parrot-wife, "and so ap-pro-pri-ate."
Jack was delighted when she managed slowly to say this long word with
her black tongue, and he burst out laughing. In the mean time a good
many of the brown people came running together, attracted by the noise
of the parrots and the rage of the gypsy, who flung at his cage, one
after the other, all the largest things she had in her cart. But
nothing did the parrot any harm; the more violently his cage swung,
the louder he sang, till at last the wicked gypsy seized her poor
little young baby, who was lying in her arms, rushed frantically at
the cage as it flew swiftly through the air towards her, and struck at
it with the little creature's head. "Oh, you cruel, cruel woman!"
cried Jack, and all the small mothers who were standing near with
their skinny children on their shoulders, screamed out with terror and
indignation; but only for one instant, for the handker