CHAPTER X.
A NEW HOME Should it happen that the last egret is shot and the last bird of paradise is snared to adorn a lady's dress, then--then I would not like to be a woman for all that earth could hold .-- _Herbert O.Ward._ When at last my covering was removed I found myself in a large, long room, which I afterward learned was a millinery store.

In fact the store was the front part of the family residence, the living rooms being behind and upstairs over it.

My cage was hung near the wide doorway at the end of the apartment and my new mistress at once ran to fill my cup with fresh water and bring me a supply of clean millet.
After I had refreshed myself I began to look about me and study my strange surroundings.
My new home was so unlike the little log house in the South from which I had come that it was many days before I could accustom myself to the clatter of voices which buzzed monotonously all day through the store.
From ten o'clock in the morning, if the day were fine, till three in the afternoon, the din at times was almost deafening; for it was the busy season and customers were constantly coming and going, not all of them to buy, merely to look over the ribbons and tumble up the goods, as I heard the tired clerks say complainingly more than once.
Numerous glass cases were placed near the walls, and running cross-wise were a counter and shelves much frequented by ladies who stood eagerly examining the array of bright gauzes, the glittering buckles, the flowers and plumes displayed there.

And what a chattering they kept up! What a stir and a hubbub they made! So many "Oh-h's" and "Ah-h's," so many "How lovely's," and other ecstatic exclamations, were mingled with their conversation as was quite bewildering.

In time, however, I became accustomed to this and discovered it was simply a way ladies have of expressing their approval of things in general.