Page 21 - 1917 February - To Dragma

112 TO PRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI
THE TWEET-TWEET FAMILY
Another Bed-time Story by ELVA PEASE PETTIGREW, I , ' 0 9
I n the eaves of an old house was a snug little nest in which lived a
family of birds. The tribe to which this family belonged was greatly
disliked by housewives, because of its untidy habits. Even in
winter these little feathered creatures stayed in the north and seemed
to enjoy the coldest weather, so that they were nuisances the whole
year around. Now I know you have guessed to what tribe this bird
family belonged—the English sparrow, of course.
In the Tweet-tweet family, for that was their name just the same as
yours is Smith or Brown or something else, there was Daddy Tweet-
tweet, Mother Tweet-tweet and two baby Tweet-tweets. Blinkie was
the little boy sparrow. They called him that for he always blinked
his eyes when he looked at anyone. Fluffy was his little twin sister,
called so because she had the habit of fluffing up her feathers when she
became frightened.
On a very cold day during the Christmas holidays, Blinkie, who
was rather cramped and tired of staying in the nest, decided to get
out and see i f he couldn't find a bug to eat. He flew around the
house, and right on the window he saw—yes, sir, it looked just like a
nice fat bug. Blinkie pecked at the window, but the bug wouldn't
come. Then he pecked again and again, but it was no use. Finally
he hopped down on the window-sill and looked into the house. Now
what do you suppose he saw? Why a beautiful Christmas tree with
lovely ornaments shining all over i t ! And Blinkie noticed that one
ornament pressed against the window-pane, and what he had been
pecking at wasn't a bug at all.
Away he flew back to the nest and told Daddy and Mother and
Fluffy all about the wonderful tree he had seen.
"Tweet-titi-tweet-tweet-tweet, I wish I had a Christmas tree," said
Blinkie. Just then, standing on the roof of the house right near
Blinkie was the daintiest little creature you ever saw. She was so
tiny that probably you couldn't have seen her, but Blinkie could and
he blinked and blinked.
"What do you want of me?" asked the fairy, for the little creature
was a fairy, you know. Blinkie had spoken the magical words that
called the fairy when he had said, "Tweet-titi-tweet-tweet-tweet," but
he didn't know that.
"Who are you?" asked Blinkie.
"Why I am the Christmas fairy," and she smiled so kindly that
Blinkie forgot to be afraid.
TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 113
" I f you are a really-truly fairy," said the sparrow, "maybe you
would bring me a lovely Christmas tree like the little boy in the
big house has."
"That I w i l l , " said the fairy, " i f you will go to bed early tonight.
In the morning you will find your Christmas tree."
And while the little sparrow boy blinked his eyes, the fairy
vanished.
Blinkie flew to the nest and told his family all that had happened.
They thought that Blinkie had been dreaming for they didn't believe
in fairies.
Blinkie went to bed early, however, and when he got up in the
morning, the first thing he did was to fly around the house. There in
the back yard, standing in a pile of snow was a beautiful Christmas
tree. I t was covered with strings of popcorn and cranberries. The
little boy sparrow hurried back to tell his mother, daddy, and Fluffy
what he had seen, but he was so excited that he couldn't say a word,
so they followed him to the Christmas tree. They, too, became
excited about it.
Blinkie tasted the popcorn and cranberries. "Tweet-tweet, they're
very good, have some."
"No," said Daddy Tweet-tweet, "we must not be greedy. Fluffy
and Blinkie, you fly just as fast as you can and invite all of the birds
in the neighborhood."
You may be sure that the little sparrow children hurried, for the
very sight of the beautiful tree made them hungry.
I n a short time, the tree looked as though it were decorated with
little brown birds, and Blinkie and Fluffy were chirping and swaying
in the very top of it. Such a feast the little creatures hadn't known in
years. Soon the popcorn and cranberries were gone, and even the
strings the birds carried away as souvenirs of the day or as helps in
making new nests in the Spring. A l l the birds had gone home, and
Blinkie found that he was alone on the tree.
"Thank you, kind fairy," said Blinkie although he couldn't see her,
" I ' l l always believe in fairies now," and the little sparrow flew home
and cuddled down in the nest near Fluffy.