“Yes, my dear, the creature that puts its head in the sand, and kicks when it’s pursued, you know.”

“James, the horrid thing shall not come here!  If it should kick baby we should never forgive ourselves.”

“No, no, my dear, I don’t think the stork is at all ferocious.  No, it can’t be.  Stork! stork!  I always associate storks with chimneys.  Yes, abroad, I think in Holland, or Germany, or somewhere, the stork sweeps the chimneys with its long legs from the top.  But let’s see what the Natural History says, my dear.  That will tell us all about it.  Stork—­um—­um—­’hind toe short, middle toe long, and joined to the outer one by a large membrane, and by a smaller one to the inner toe.’  Well, that won’t matter much for one night, will it, dear?  ‘His height often exceeds four feet.’”

“Four feet!!!” interrupted my wife.  “James, how high are you?”

“Well, my dear, really, comparisons are exceedingly disagreeable—­um—­um—­’appetite extremely voracious,’ and his food—­hulloa! ‘frogs, mice, worms, snails, and eels!’”

“Frogs, mice, worms, snails, and eels,” repeated my wife.  “James, do you expect me to provide supper and breakfast of this description for the horrid thing?”

“Well, my dear, we must do our best for baby’s sake, you know, for baby’s sake,” and, getting my hat, I left as usual for the office.  I passed anything but a pleasant day there, my thoughts constantly reverting to our expected visitors.  At four o’clock I took a cab to the docks, and on arriving there inquired for the ship, which was pointed out to me as “the one with the crowd on the quay.”  On driving up I discovered why there was a crowd, and the discovery did not bring comfort with it.  On the deck, on one leg, stood the stork.  Whether it was the sea voyage, or the leaving his home, or, that being a stork of high moral principle, he was grieving at the persistent swearing of the parrot, I do not know, but I never saw a more melancholy looking object in my life.

I went down on the deck, and did not like the expression of relief that came over the captain’s face when he found what I had come for.  The transmission of the parrot from the ship to the cab was an easy matter, as he was in a cage; but the stork was merely tethered by one leg; and although he did his best, when brought to the foot of the ladder, in trying to get up, he failed utterly, and had to be half shoved, half hauled all the way.  Even then he persisted in getting outside of every bar—­like this.  After a great deal of trouble we got him to the top.  I hurried him into the cab, and telling the man to drive as quickly as possible, got in with my guests.  At first I had to keep dodging my head about to keep my face away from his bill, as he turned round; but all of a sudden he broke the little window at the back of the cab, thrust his head through, and would keep it there, notwithstanding that I kept pulling him back.  Consequently when we drove up to my house there was a mob of about a thousand strong around us.  I got him in as well as I could, and shut the door.