Algernon Blackwood

“ All his life he had paced to and fro in a formal little garden with the most precise paths imaginable. Now he wanted a trackless world. The reaction was terrific. The desire of the Arab for the desert, of the gipsy for the open heaths, the “desire of the snipe for the wilderness”⁠—the longing of the eternal wanderer⁠—possessed his soul and found vent in words.
It was just as though the passion of the released thrush were reproducing itself in him and becoming articulate. ”

“ Blackbirds, thrushes, linnets and finches were gone in a twinkling, so that the eye could hardly follow them. Only the seagulls, puzzled by their sudden freedom, with wings still stiff after their cramped quarters, lingered on the edge of the roof for a few minutes, and looked about them in a dazed fashion, until they, too, realized their liberty and sailed off into the open sky to search for splendours of the sea. ”

“ It was enough that his orders had been carried out to his entire satisfaction, and that this little roof was a world of living colour, moving in the wind, scenting the air, welcoming the sunshine.
Everywhere among the pots and boxes of flowers stood the cages. And in the cages the thrushes and blackbirds, the larks and linnets, poured their hearts out with a chorus of song that was more exquisite, he thought, than anything he had ever heard. And there in the corner by the big chimney, carefully shaded from the glare, stood the large cage containing the owls. ”

“ But with the sight of those starry figures had come to him a strange whiff of the open skies, space, and wind⁠—the winds of the world.
“So that when the time comes,” the World-Policeman resumed, “you may have confidence. I will let you out without pain or fear just as you let out the bird. And, meanwhile, you may as well realize that you live in a cage just as cramped and shut away from light and freedom as the thrush did.”
“Thank you; I will certainly try,” whispered Parnacute, almost fainting with fatigue. ”

“ It was too late, however, to alter his mind, and after watching the man force the bird with gross hands into a cardboard box, he gathered up the noose of string with which it was tied and walked with as much dignity and self-respect as he could muster out of the shop.
But the moment he got into the street with this living parcel under his arm⁠—he both heard and felt the scuttling of the bird’s feet⁠—the realization that he had been guilty of what he considered an outrageous act of eccentricity almost overwhelmed him. ”

“ Sometimes they passed below the clouds and lost the stars, sometimes above them and lost the world; sometimes over forests roaring like the sea, sometimes above vast plains still and silent as the grave; but always Parnacute saw the constellations of Orion and Pleiades shining on the coatcollar of the soaring policeman, their little patterns picked out as with tiny electric lamps. ”

“ In one swift moment of genuine mystical sympathy he felt with their peculiar quality of unsatisfied longing exactly as though it were his own; the longing, not only of captive birds and animals, but of anguished men and women, trapped by circumstance, confined by weakness, cabined by character and temperament, all yearning for a freedom they knew not how to reach⁠—caged by the smallness of their desires, by the impotence of their wills, by the pettiness of their souls⁠—caged in bodies from which death alone could finally bring release. ”

“ Parnacute followed suit. The lightest desire, he found, gave him instantly the ease and speed of thought.
The policeman had taken off his helmet, overcoat and belt, and dropped them down somewhere into a London street. He now appeared as a mere blue outline of a man, scarcely discernible against the dark sky⁠—an outline filled with air. The Professor glanced down at himself and saw that he, too, was a mere outline of a man⁠—a pallid outline filled with the purple air of night. ”

“ Simon Parnacute looked up with the greatest possible surprise.
“I think⁠—well, well!⁠—perhaps it was,” he murmured apologetically. “The extraordinary singing⁠—it was extraordinary, you know, and the sight of the little thing beating its wings pained me.”
The big policeman put away his notebook suddenly, and moved closer to the bed so that his face entered the circle of lamplight.
“In that case,” he cried, “you are my man!”
“I am your man!” exclaimed the Professor, with an uncontrollable start.
“The man I want,” repeated the other, smiling. ”

“ The nurse would be back any minute now.
A sound of wings rapidly beating the air passed overhead, and he looked up and saw a flight of pigeons wheeling by. He fancied, too, that he just caught the notes of a thrush singing far away in the park at the end of the street. He recalled the phrases of that dreadfully haunting list. “Wild singing note,” “Can be heard two hundred yards off,” “Raving with song.” A momentary spasm passed through his frame. Far up in the air the seagulls still circled, making their way with all the splendour of real freedom to the sea. ”

“ You feel unhappy in that body of yours, and in that little careful mind you regulate so nicely; but, for the life of you, you don’t quite know what it is that’s wrong. You want space, freedom, a taste of liberty. You want to fly, that’s what you want! ”

“ For, as he slowly made his way down the street that led from his apartment to the Little Park, he was fully aware that this magic of the spring was in his own blood too, and that the dust which had accumulated with the years upon the surface of his soul was being stirred by one of the softest breezes he had ever felt in the whole course of his arduous and tutorial career. ”

“ Professor Parnacute now became aware that his vexation⁠—primarily caused by his act of impulse, and increased by the fact that he was observed⁠—had become somewhat acute. It was extraordinary, he reflected, how policemen had this way of suddenly outlining themselves in the least appropriate⁠—the least necessary⁠—places. There was no reason why a policeman should have been standing against that innocent shrubbery, where there was nothing to do, no one to watch. ”

“ That sound of wings, that racing sweep of the little quivering body escaping into limitless freedom, that penetrating look of gratitude from the wee brown eyes⁠—these stirred in him again the same prodigious emotion he had experienced for the first time that afternoon outside the bird-fanciers s shop. ”

“ He watched the policeman, too, out of the corner of his eye, longing to be done with the whole business.
“That policeman is a tremendous fellow,” he thought to himself. “I have never seen a constable so large, so stalwart. He must be the policeman of the district”⁠—whatever that might mean⁠—“a veritable wall and tower of defence.” The helmet made him think of a battering ram, and the buttons on his overcoat of the muzzles of guns. ”

“ He smiled as his head disappeared.
“Oh, but, my dear sir⁠—” cried the Professor, tripping overa flowerpot in his pleasure and embarrassment, and just reaching the skylight in time to add, “And, remember, there are cakes and lemonade on the floor below!”
The animals had all been provided with happy homes; the last cab had driven away, and the nurse had gone to find the flower-man. Parnacute had strewn the roof with food, and with moss and hair material for nesting, in case any of the birds returned. ”

“ Thus, all the animals have been disposed of according to your instructions,” ran the final letter from the solicitors, “and we beg to append list of items so allotted, together with country addresses to which they have been sent. We think you may feel assured that they are now in homes where they will be well cared for. ”

“ He went on reading, shedding rugs and pillows as though they oppressed him. His breath came a little faster.
“5 cock Blackbirds, full plumage, lovely songsters.” “1 Song-Thrush, show-cage and hamper; splendid whistler, picked bird.” “1 beautiful, large upstanding singing Skylark; sings all day; been caged positively five months.” Simon Parnacute uttered a curious little cry. It was deep down in his throat. He was conscious of a burning desire to be rich⁠—a millionaire; powerful⁠—an autocratic monarch. ”