“Please come in and rest yourselves,” said Miss Cynthia with urgent hospitality, as they reached the door of the small old-fashioned looking house which Ruth had often noticed before.

Dorothy began hasty explanations about being in a hurry to get home, but Miss Cynthia laid an imploring hand on Ruth’s arm and, looking at her with real appeal in her blue eyes, almost drew her into the house.

“We’ll let Dorothy go if she must,” she said decidedly, “but I want to get acquainted with you, child, and I’m terribly lonesome, too, these winter afternoons.”

Even with every desire to escape Ruth couldn’t resist the pleading old eyes which were looking at her almost tearfully.

“Do come in, Dolly,” she begged; “I shall have time before I need to study to stay a little while.”  But almost as she spoke Dorothy vanished unaccountably, and there was nothing left for Ruth but to follow Miss Cynthia.

“Come right into the parlor and sit down, while I find Luella and have her light a lamp,” said the old lady, hurrying out of the room with surprising agility.

The room was so dark that at first Ruth hardly dared to move, then as her eyes became accustomed to the gloom she found her way to a chair and sat down on the edge of it.  She didn’t enjoy the situation in which she found herself, and she wished she were out of it.  Even the algebra which she must study as soon as she got home possessed a charm for her in comparison with the present moment.  She half smiled as she thought of the suddenness with which Dorothy had faded from sight.

“She might have waited after getting me into this,” she said to herself impatiently.

Just then with a suddenness which sent her flying out of her chair a harsh voice said almost in her ear: 

“Cheer up!  Cheer up!  Don’t you cry!” and then followed an unintelligible variety of sounds ending with a cackling laugh.

Ruth knew almost at once that it must be a parrot, but the surprise had been so great that she stood shaking in the middle of the room, not daring to move for fear of stepping on the uncanny bird.  She remembered that once when she was a very little girl she had confidingly held out her finger to a parrot and that the unfriendly creature had immediately taken a bite out of it.  She wished that the light would come; it made her nervous to be in a dark room with only a voice for company.

“Who’s afraid?” asked the parrot with surprising distinctness.

“I am, Polly,” answered Ruth with great truthfulness, and just then the maid brought in a lamp and her mistress followed.

“Oh, you bad bird,” said Miss Cynthia reproachfully, as the friendly gleam of the lamp disclosed the parrot perched on the back of the chair next to the one on which Ruth had been sitting.  “You bad Ebenezer, you’ve opened your cage again.  Isn’t it clever of him. to do it?”

“Very clever,” answered Ruth politely, but she still kept a safe distance from Ebenezer, who cocked his head on one side to look at her. and then burst into a hoarse, chuckling laugh as though he had seen something very funny.