"It's a parrot!" cried Charlie Star. "A poll parrot!"

"Yes, I believe it is," said Miss Bradley.

"You didn't bring a parrot to school to-day, did you, Bunny?" she asked.

"Oh, no, Ma'am!" he exclaimed, so earnestly that of course Miss Bradley
believed him.

"But I know whose parrot it is," said Sue, eagerly.

"Whose?" asked the teacher.

"Mr. Winkler's! He's got a parrot and a monkey. They're always getting
loose. Maybe the monkey's in the cloakroom, too, only the monkey can't
talk like Polly," went on Sue.

"Keep your seats, children!" said Miss Bradley. "I'll look in the
cloakroom. There is no need to be excited. A parrot will hurt no one,
nor a monkey, either. Keep your seats!"

As she opened the cloakroom door the harsh voice again sounded more
loudly than before.

"Bow! Wow! Wow!" it barked. "Cracker! Cracker! Polly wants a cracker!
Let's have a song! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Then it began what I suppose the bird thought was singing.

The children laughed, and so did the teacher.