MARSHALL SAUNDERS
Reading edition
Author of “Beautiful Joe,” etc.
WITH FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR BY GEORGE W. HOOD
“For I am my brother’s keeper And I will fight his fight; And speak the word for beast and bird Till the world shall set things right.” —Ella Wheeler Wilcox
NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1919, by Frederick A. Stokes Company
All Rights Reserved
I dedicate this story to my fellow-members of the TORONTO HUMANE SOCIETY and especially to our President, THE RIGHT REVEREND JAMES FIELDING SWEENEY, Lord Bishop of Toronto, who at all times takes a most faithful and painstaking interest in our work for dumb animals and for children.
Marshall Saunders
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
Introduction ix
I. I Begin the Story of My Life 1
II. A Trip Downstairs 17
III. Sammy-Sam and Lucy-Loo 26
IV. A Sad Time for a Canary Family 32
V. My New Friend, Chummy Hole-in-the-Wall 41
VI. Chummy Tells the Story of a Naughty Squirrel 51
VII. More About Squirrie 66
VIII. Chummy’s Opinions 72
IX. A Bird’s Afternoon Tea 84
X. Another Call from Chummy 95
XI. Billie Sundae Begins the Story of Her Life 103
XII. Just One Thing After Another 120
XIII. Mrs. Martin Adopts Billie 129
XIV. Billie and I Have One of Our Talks 143
XV. The Children Next Door 154
XVI. Stories About the Old Barn 166
XVII. I Lose My Tail 183
XVIII. Nella the Monkey 195
XIX. Squirrie’s Punishment 206
XX. Sister Susie 218
XXI. More About Sister Susie 227
XXII. A Talking Dog 236
XXIII. Third Cousin Annie 248
XXIV. Black Thomas Catches a Burglar 256
XXV. The Children’s Red Cross Entertainment 265
XXVI. The Beginning of My Family Cares 272
INTRODUCTION
KNOWN the world over as the champion of the dumb animals, to which her lively imagination has given human speech, Marshall Saunders, the author of “Beautiful Joe,” a book translated into many languages, has enlarged her range of humanitarian interests to take the feathered world into her protecting care. A new story of hers, entitled “Golden Dicky, the Story of a Canary and His Friends,” presents a moving plea, not only in behalf of those prime favorites of the household, the canaries, but of other birds as well, even the too much despised sparrow coming in for anything but half-hearted defence. While one may feel that his imagination must take to itself powerful pinions to follow the story, particularly in the dialogues, yet at the same time he is made aware of how largely the practical enters into it. Miss Saunders has made a careful study of animal
While Dicky-Dick’s chronicles mainly concern the familiar feathered folk of our homes and their leafy environment, the author cannot forego an excursion into her old haunts, and in Billie Sundae, the fox-terrier, a capital new chapter is added to the literature of dog biography and autobiography. The squirrels also come in for a share of attention. Squirrie, the bad squirrel, supplies a proper villain to the cast of characters, with the sensible and good Chickari to redeem his race from opprobrium.
The children who read these delightful pages will surely form lasting friendships with Dicky-Dick, the cheery songster, and Chummy, the stout-hearted little sparrow, and all the robins and grackles and crows who with the dogs and squirrels and Nella, the monkey, make up the lively company embraced in these chronicles. In Mrs. Martin, the kind-hearted lover and protector
Edward S. Caswell.
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
DICKY-DICK, the canary. DIXIE, his mother. NORFOLK, his father. GREEN-TOP, his brother. SILVER-THROAT, his uncle. CHUMMY HOLE-IN-THE-WALL, his friend the sparrow. MRS. MARTIN, who owns DICKY-DICK. OUR MARY, her daughter. MR. MARTIN, her husband. SAMMY-SAM, her nephew. LUCY-LOO, her niece. BILLIE SUNDAE, her dog. SISTER SUSIE, her dove. VOX CLAMANTI, the robin. SLOW-BOY, the pigeon. SUSAN, his mate. SQUIRRIE, a bad squirrel. CHICKARI, a good squirrel. BLACK THOMAS, the boarding-house cat. NELLA, the monkey. FREDDIE, BEATRICE, Children in the boarding-house. NIGER, the talking dog.
GOLDEN DICKY