L. Frank Baum Read Online Free Page A

when the man climbed the tree to get them she screamed and
tried to peck out his eyes. Usually we orioles are very timid, you
know; so you can well understand how terrified Susie was to fight
against this giant foe. But he had a club in his hand, with which he
dealt my poor cousin such a dreadful blow that she was sent whirling
through the air and sank half unconscious into a bush a few yards away.
    "After this the man stole the eggs from the nest, and also picked up
the dead body of Susie's husband and carried it away with him. Susie
recovered somewhat from the blow she had received, and when she saw her
eggs and her poor dead husband being taken away, she managed to flutter
along after the man and followed him until he came to the edge of the
forest. There he had a horse tied to a tree, and he mounted upon the
beast's back and rode away through the open country. Susie followed
him, just far enough away to keep the man in sight, without being
noticed herself.
    "By and bye he came to a big house, which he entered, closing the door
behind him. Susie flew into a tree beside the house and waited
sorrowfully but in patience for a chance to find her precious ones
again.
    "The days passed drearily away, one after another, but in about a week
my cousin noticed that one of the windows of the house had been left
open. So she boldly left her tree and flew in at the window, and
luckily none of the people who lived in the house happened to be in the
room.
    "Imagine Susie's surprise when she saw around the sides of the room
many birds sitting silently upon limbs cut from trees, and among them
her own husband, as proud and beautiful as he had ever been before the
cruel man had killed him! She quickly flew to the limb and perched
beside her loved one.
    "'Oh, my darling!' she cried, 'how glad I am to have found you again,
and to see you alive and well when I had mourned you as dead. Come with
me at once, and we will return to our old home in the forest.'
    "But the bird remained motionless and made no reply to her loving
words. She thrust her bill beside his and tried to kiss him, but he did
not respond to the caress and his body was stiff and cold.
    "Then Susie uttered a cry of grief, and understood the truth. Her
husband was indeed dead, but had been stuffed and mounted upon the limb
to appear as he had in life. Small wires had been pushed through his
legs to make his poor body stand up straight, and to Susie's horror she
discovered that his eyes were only bits of glass! All the other birds
in the room were stuffed in the same way. They looked as if they were
alive, at the first glance; but each body was cold and every voice
mute. They were mere mockeries of the beautiful birds that this
heartless and cruel man had deprived of their joyous lives.
    "Susie's loving heart was nearly bursting with pain as she slowly
fluttered toward the open window by which she had entered. But on her
way a new anguish overtook her, for she noticed a big glass case
against the wall in which were arranged clusters of eggs stolen from
birds of almost every kind. Yes; there were her own lovely eggs,
scarcely an inch from her face, but separated from her by a stout glass
that could not be broken, although she madly dashed her body against it
again and again.
    "Finally, realizing her helplessness, poor Susie left the room by the
open window and flew back to the forest, where she told us all the
terrible thing she had seen. No one was able to comfort her, for her
loving heart was broken; and after that she would often fly away to the
house to peer through the window at her eggs and her beautiful husband.
    "One day she did not return, and after waiting for her nearly two weeks
we sent the bluejay to see what had become of her. Our policeman found
the house, and also found the window of the room open.
    "He boldly entered, and discovered Susie and her husband sitting side
by side upon the dried limb, their bodies both stiff and dead. The man
had caught the poor wife at