The Eagles Who Were Always Still

: Daddy's Bedtime Bird Stories

"In the house where Kenneth lived there was a chair which had always

fascinated him. It was a very, very old chair, and Kenneth's mother and

daddy were very proud of it," said daddy to Jack and Evelyn. "Kenneth's

daddy had bought it at a sale of old and curious things. It was a Roman

chair, and on either side were two heads of eagles. These four heads in

all always made Kenneth wonder, for they looked so very life-like. He
/> used to imagine that even little wooden eagles must get very tired of

always being just the same.



"Really it often made Kenneth quite sad to watch them. One afternoon

Kenneth went to a party. A little school chum of his had given it. It

had been a very nice party. But, oh, he did feel so tired, for they had

played blind man's buff, bull in the ring, squat tag, and other games.



"When Kenneth came home from the party it was not quite his bedtime, but

secretly in his heart he was hoping it would come soon, for he had made

up his mind that he wasn't going to bed until his bedtime.



"He got a book from the library shelf. It was full of pictures of

sailors and pirates and ships, because if anything would keep him awake

that would. He sat down with it on the Roman chair.



"Strangely enough, though, after a moment or two, he didn't seem to see

pirates, and the sea began to look very much more like the surface of a

chair. Soon the pirates disappeared entirely, and the four eagles of the

Roman chair were looking at him steadily.



"'You're terribly tired, aren't you?' said the first eagle.



"'Yes; I'm a little tired,' Kenneth admitted.




EAGLE."--Page 75]



"'Well, you're not as tired as we are,' said the second eagle.



"'No, indeed!' said the third eagle. 'You're only tired because you've

played so many games. We're tired because we're always still.'



"Kenneth listened eagerly, because he'd so often thought just what

he was hearing. 'Yes,' said Kenneth very sympathetically; 'I should

think you would be very dull. I've often thought that. Have you been

there a long time?'



"'Oh, ages and ages!' replied the fourth eagle, who up to this time

hadn't spoken. 'We were very old before your daddy got us. We've been on

this chair so long. We can't remember how long. And what makes us feel

so sad is that we are called eagles and should fly and yet are forever

glued to this chair.'



"'Kenneth, Kenneth,' cried Kenneth's mother, 'it's long past bedtime!'



"'Oh, I am not so tired as the eagles are!' said Kenneth. And Kenneth's

mother wondered if he was talking in his sleep."



More

;