hen Pop started to get out and
go in with Tom and get Mom.

"About a dozen," Pop told him. "He put them in the pigeon cage out in
the woodshed."

Right away I spoke up and said, "Were there any _white_ ones?"
remembering the beautiful white pigeon with pink eyes which had her
nest up in the cupola of our barn, and whose big beautiful brown
husband was so proud of her and always was cooing to her when they
were on the roof of our barn and was always strutting around so very
proud, with his neck all puffed out like he was very important.

"I don't know," Pop said, and I said, "Can I go and look, Tom?" and
Tom said, "Sure, I'll go with you."

"Let me hold Charlotte Ann," Little Jim said, he liking to hold babies
on his small lap, anyway.

Pop went in to get Mom, and Tom and I went into their woodshed to look
through the chicken-yard wire cage at about fifteen very pretty
pigeons.

All of a sudden, while I was looking, I got a hot feeling all inside
of me, 'cause right there in front of my eyes with the other different
colored pigeons, was a beautiful albino one--the prettiest snow white
one I ever saw with pretty pink eyes, and I knew right away it was my
favorite pigeon, old Snow-white herself, who had her nest in the
cupola of our barn.

"There's my pigeon!" I cried to Little Tom, and when he asked me which
one and I told him, he said, "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," I said. "See that little brown spot just below the
left pink eye. I'm going to get her out, and take her home."

Little Tom looked, and swallowed and got a very scared expression on
his face, and started to say something, and then stopped.

"'Smatter?" I said, and he said, "Nothing, only--"

"Only what?" I asked him.

"Only--only Bob's got a terrible temper, and he's already mad at me."

Say, when I saw the scared expression on that little guy's face, I
realized that if I let Snow-white out of that cage, Tom would maybe
get a terrible beating-up-on from his big brother, and it'd be my
fault. Just that minute, Pop and Mom came out of the side door of
Tom's house, and it was time for us to go home. Mom was going to hurry
with our own dinner, which had nearly all been cooked yesterday, and
we were going to bring some nice chicken soup back in the car for
Tom's mom's dinner, and also some chicken for Tom, himself.

I still didn't know who was coming to our house for dinner, and
whoever did come would have to wait awhile, on account of Mom woul