ks of biting his perch, pulling his
feathers out, scattering refuse and spilling the water of his
bath. Madame Aubain grew tired of him and gave him to Felicite for
good.

She undertook his education, and soon he was able to repeat:
"Pretty boy! Your servant, sir! I salute you, Marie!" His perch
was placed near the door and several persons were astonished that
he did not answer to the name of "Jacquot," for every parrot is
called Jacquot. They called him a goose and a log, and these
taunts were like so many dagger thrusts to Felicite. Strange
stubbornness of the bird which would not talk when people watched
him!

Nevertheless, he sought society; for on Sunday, when the ladies
Rochefeuille, Monsieur de Houppeville and the new habitues,
Onfroy, the chemist, Monsieur Varin and Captain Mathieu, dropped
in for their game of cards, he struck the window-panes with his
wings and made such a racket that it was impossible to talk.

Bourais' face must have appeared very funny to Loulou. As soon as
he saw him he would begin to roar. His voice re-echoed in the yard,
and the neighbours would come to the windows and begin to laugh,
too; and in order that the parrot might not see him, Monsieur
Bourais edged along the wall, pushed his hat over his eyes to hide
his profile, and entered by the garden door, and the looks he gave
the bird lacked affection. Loulou, having thrust his head into the
butcher-boy's basket, received a slap, and from that time he
always tried to nip his enemy. Fabu threatened to wring his neck,
although he was not cruelly inclined, notwithstanding his big
whiskers and tattooings. On the contrary, he rather liked the bird
and, out of deviltry, tried to teach him oaths. Felicite, whom his
manner alarmed, put Loulou in the kitchen, took off his chain and
let him walk all over the house.

When he went downstairs, he rested his beak on the steps, lifted
his right foot and then his left one; but his mistress feared that
such feats would give him vertigo. He became ill and was unable to
eat. There was a small growth under his tongue like those chickens
are sometimes afflicted with. Felicite pulled it off with her
nails and cured him. One day, Paul was imprudent enough to blow
the smoke of his cigar in his face; another time, Madame Lormeau
was teasing him with the tip of her umbrella and he swallowed the
tip. Finally he got lost.

She had put him on the grass to cool him and went away only for a
second; when she