{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_15367/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_15367","id":"gutenberg_15367","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15367","summary":null,"tags":["Animals -- Folklore","Animals -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Novels"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the PG Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SPEECH FLOWER\n\nOR LITTLE LUKE AND HIS\nANIMAL FRIENDS\n\n\n\nBY MELVIN HIX\n\nAUTHOR OF \"ONCE UPON A TIME STORIES,\" \"UNITED\nSTATES HISTORY FOR FIFTH YEAR,\" CO-AUTHOR\nOF \"THE HORACE MANN READERS,\" ETC.\n\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATED_\n\n\n  LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.\n  FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK\n  LONDON, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1912, BY\nLONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.\n\nFIRST PUBLISHED, OCTOBER, 1912\n\n\n\nTHE PLIMPTON PRESS\n[W.D.O]\nNORWOOD. MASS. U.S.A\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n  ONCE-UPON-A-TIME STORIES\n\n  By MELVIN HIX, B. Ped., Principal\n  of Public School 9, Long Island City,\n  New York City.\n\n\n  The aim of the author is to retell these familiar\n  stories of childhood in such way as to give\n  added interest to first and second grade pupils.\n\n  _ELEVEN STORIES.  ILLUSTRATED.\n  105 PAGES.  PRICE, 25 CENTS._\n\n\n  LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.,\n  PUBLISHERS\n  Fourth Avenue and 30th Street, New York\n  LONDON, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SPEECH FLOWER\n\nOR LITTLE LUKE AND HIS\nANIMAL FRIENDS\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nCHAPTER\n\n       I. THE FINDING OF THE MAGIC FLOWER\n      II. LITTLE LUKE AND THE BOB LINCOLNS\n     III. THE STORY OF THE SUMMER LAND\n      IV. BOB LINCOLN'S STORY OF HIS OWN LIFE\n       V. LITTLE LUKE MAKES FRIENDS AMONG THE WILD FOLK\n      VI. LITTLE LUKE AND KIT-CHEE THE GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER\n     VII. WHY THE KIT-CHEE PEOPLE ALWAYS USE SNAKE-SKINS IN NEST-BUILDING\n    VIII. LITTLE LUKE AND NICK-UTS THE YELLOWTHROAT\n      IX. WHY MOTHER MO-LO THE COWBIRD LAYS HER EGGS IN OTHER BIRDS' NESTS\n       X. THE STORY OF O-PEE-CHEE THE FIRST ROBIN\n      XI. HOW THE ROBIN'S BREAST BECAME RED\n     XII. HOW THE BEES GOT THEIR STINGS\n    XIII. THE STORY OF THE FIRST SWALLOWS\n     XIV. LITTLE LUKE AND A-BAL-KA THE CHIPMUNK\n      XV. HOW A-BAL-KA GOT HIS BLACK STRIPES\n     XVI. HOW A-BAL-KA THE CHIPMUNK HELPED MEN\n    XVII. LITTLE LUKE AND MEE-KO THE RED SQUIRRELS\n   XVIII. THE STORY OF THE FIRST RED SQUIRRELS\n     XIX. HOW THE RED SQUIRREL BECAME SMALL\n      XX. LITTLE LUKE AND MOTHER MIT-CHEE THE RUFFLED PARTRIDGE\n     XXI. WHY THE FEATHERED FOLK RAISE THEIR HEADS WHEN THEY DRINK\n    XXII. LITTLE LUKE AND FATHER MIT-CHEE\n   XXIII. THE STORY OF THE FIRST PARTRIDGE\n    XXIV. WHY PARTRIDGES DRUM\n     XXV. MOTHER WA-POOSE AND OLD BOZE THE HOUND\n    XXVI.  MOTHER WA-POOSE AND OLD KLAWS THE HOUSE CAT\n   XXVII. THE RABBIT DANCE\n  XXVIII. WHY THE WILD FOLK NO LONGER TALK THE MAN-TALK\n    XXIX. THE TALE OF SUN-KA THE WISE DOG\n     XXX. HOW THE DOG'S TONGUE BECAME LONG\n    XXXI. THE STORY OF THE FAITHFUL DOG\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SPEECH FLOWER\n\n\n\n\nI. THE FINDING OF THE MAGIC FLOWER\n\n\nIt was June and it was morning. The sky was clear and the sun shone\nbright and warm. The still air was filled with the sweet odor of\nblossoming flowers. To little Luke, sitting on the doorstep of the\nfarmhouse and looking out over the fresh fields and green meadows, the\nwhole earth seemed brimful of happiness and joy.\n\nFrom the bough of an apple tree on the lawn O-pee-chee the Robin chanted\nhis morning song. \"Te rill, te roo, the sky is blue,\" sang he.\n\nFrom the lilac bush Kil-loo the Song Sparrow trilled, \"Sweet, sweet,\nsweet, sweet, the air is sweet.\"\n\nOver in the meadows Zeet the Lark fluttered down upon a low bush and\nsang, \"Come with me, come and see,\" over and over. Then he dropped down\ninto the grass and ran off to the nest where his mate was sitting on\nfive speckled eggs.\n\nBob-o'-Lincoln went quite out of his wits with the joy of life. He flew\nhigh up into the air, and then came fluttering and falling, falling and\nquivering down among the buttercups and daisies. He was very proud of\nhimself and wanted everybody to know just who he was. So he sang his own\nname over and over. With his name-song he mixed up a lot of runs and\ntrills and thrills that did not mean anything to anybody but himself and\nhis little mate nestling below him in the grass. To her they meant,\n\"Life is love, and love is joy.\"\n\nOld Ka-ka-go the Crow, sitting on the top of the tall maple, felt that\non such a morning as this he, too, must sing. So he opened his beak and\ncroaked, \"Caw, caw, caw, caw.\" What he meant to say was, \"Corn, corn,\ncorn, corn.\" Sam, the hired man, heard him and came out of the barn door\nwith his gun. Old Ka-ka-go spread his black wings and flapped off to the\nwoods on the side of the mountain.\n\nFar up in the blue sky Kee-you the Red-shouldered Hawk wheeled slowly\nabout in great circles. When he saw Sam with his gun, he screamed,\n\"Kee-you, kee-you, kee-you,\" over and over.\n\nThat was a poor song, but a good war cry; It sent every singer plunging\nto cover. O-pee-chee the Robin hid himself among the thick branches of\nthe apple tree. Kil-loo the Song Sparrow hopped into the thickest part\nof the lilac bush. Zeet the Lark and Bob Lincoln squatted in the thick\ngrass. Not a bird note was to be heard.\n\nBut Ka-be-yun the West Wind was not afraid of the warrior hawk. He\nbreathed softly among the branches of the trees and set every little\nleaf quivering and whispering. Then he ran across the meadows and the\nwheat fields. As he sped along, great waves like those of the sea rolled\nin wide sweeps across the meadow and through the tall wheat.\n\nTo little Luke it seemed as if the leaves and grass and wheat all\nwhispered, \"Come away. Come and play.\" Just then a great bumblebee flew\nby and now the call was clear. \"Come away, come away! Follow, follow,\nfollow me!\"\n\nThe boy jumped up and ran down the path into the garden. There he met\nOld Klaws the House Cat, with a little brown baby rabbit in his mouth.\n\"You wicked old cat,\" said little Luke, \"drop it, drop it, I say.\" But\nOld Klaws only growled and gripped the little rabbit tighter. Little\nLuke seized the old cat by the back of the neck and choked him till he\nlet go. The little brown rabbit looked up at him with his big round\neyes, as much as to say, \"Thank you, little boy, thank you.\" Then he\nhopped off into the thicket of berry bushes, where Old Klaws could not\ncatch him again.\n\nLittle Luke went on down the path, through the garden gate, and into the\nmeadow beyond. All at once Bob Lincoln sprang up out of the grass right\nbefore his feet.\n\nLittle Luke thought he would find Bob Lincoln's nest. So he got down\nupon his knees and began to look about in the grass very carefully. He\ndid not find the nest, but he did find a fine cluster of ripe, wild\nstrawberries. He forgot all about the nest and began to pick and eat the\nsweet berries. So he ate and ate till his lips and fingers were red as\nred wine and smelled strongly of ripe strawberries.\n\nSuddenly, as he put out his hand for another cluster, up sprang a black\nand brown and yellow bird. That was Mrs. Bob Lincoln. Little Luke put\naside the grass and there was the nest. It was so cunningly hidden that\nhe could never have found it by looking for it.\n\nMr. and Mrs. Bob Lincoln were greatly frightened. They fluttered and\nquivered about, and talked to each other, and scolded at the boy. Little\nLuke could not understand what they said, but part of it sounded like,\n\"Let it be! Don't touch, don't touch! Go away, please, p-l-e-a-s-e, go\naway.\" So he got up and said, \"All right, don't be afraid. I'll not take\nyour eggs, I'll go right away.\" And so he did.\n\nWhen he had gone two or three rods, Mrs. Bob Lincoln fluttered down to\nher nest and settled herself quietly over her eggs. But Mr. Bob flew to\na tall weed in front of little Luke. There he sat and swung and teetered\nand sang his merriest song. To the little boy it seemed as if he was\ntrying to say, \"Thank you, thank you, little boy.\"\n\nThere was an old apple tree standing near the meadow fence. On one of\nits branches was the nest of O-pee-chee the Robin. Both Mr. and Mrs.\nO-pee-chee had gone away to pick worms from the soft, fresh earth in the\ngarden.\n\nAs little Luke drew near to the tree, he saw Mee-ko the Red Squirrel\ncrouching by the side of the nest with a blue egg in his front paws.\nHe had not yet broken the shell when he saw little Luke. At first he\nthought he would run away. But he wanted that egg; so he squatted very\nquietly where he was and hoped the little boy would not see him.\n\nBut little Luke's eyes were very keen. He saw Mee-ko and guessed what\nhe was about. So lie picked up a small round stone and threw it at the\nrobber squirrel. His aim was so true that the stone flicked Mee-ko's\ntail where it curled over his shoulders.\n\nMee-ko was so scared that he dropped the egg back into the nest and ran\nalong the branch and across to another. From the end of that he dropped\ndown to the fence and scampered along the rails up toward the woods on\nthe side of the mountain.\n\nHe went all the faster because Father O-pee-chee flew down into the\nbranches of the apple tree just as little Luke threw the stone. He saw\nMee-ko and understood exactly what had happened. He flew a little way\nafter the thieving squirrel. Then he came back and lit on the highest\nbranch of the apple tree and began to sing. \"Te rill, te roo, I thank\nyou; te rill, te roo, I thank you,\" the little boy thought he said.\n\nLittle Luke went over to the fence. In a bush beside the fence there was\na big spider's web. Old Mrs. Ik-to the Black Spider had built the web as\na trap to catch flies in. But this time there was something besides a\nfly in the trap. Ah-mo the Honey Bee had blundered, into the web and was\ntrying hard to get away.\n\nOld Mrs. Ik-to was greatly excited. She was not sure whether she wanted\nbee meat for dinner or not. She knew very well that bees are stronger\nthan flies and that they carry a dreadful spear with a poisoned point.\n\nMrs. Ik-to ran down her web a little way, then she stopped and shook it.\nAh-mo the Honey Bee was not so much entangled by the web that he could\nnot sting and the old spider knew that. So she ran back again to one\ncorner of the web.\n\nLittle Luke stood and watched poor Ah-mo for a moment. Then he took a\ntwig from the bush and set him free. Ah-mo rubbed himself all over with\nhis legs and tried his wings carefully to see if they were sound. Then\nhe flew up from the ground and buzzed three times round little Luke's\nhead.\n\nThe little boy was not afraid. He knew that bees never sting anyone who\ndoes not hurt or frighten them, and besides, he thought the buzzing had\na friendly sound to it. It seemed to him as if Ah-mo was trying to say,\n\"Thank you, little boy, thank you,\" as well as he could.\n\nWhen Ah-mo had flown away, little Luke looked around to see what old\nMrs. Ik-to was doing, but he could not find her.\n\nLeaving the old spider to mend her web as well as she could, little Luke\ngot over the fence into the pasture. As he was going along he heard Mrs.\nChee-wink making a great outcry. She was flying about a little bushy fir\ntree not bigger than a currant bush. \"Chee-wink, to-whee; chee-wink,\nto-whee!\" she called. Little Luke thought she was saying, \"Help! Help!\nCome here, come here!\" And so she was.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe went up toward the fir bush. As he walked along, he picked up a stout\nstick that was lying on the ground. When he came to the bush, Mrs.\nChee-wink flew off to a tall sapling near by and watched him without\nsaying a word.\n\nAt first he could not see anything to disturb anybody. But he knew that\nMrs. Chee-wink would never have made all that fuss for nothing. So he\ntook hold of the fir bush and pulled the branches apart. Then he\nunderstood. He had almost put his hand on A-tos-sa the Big Blacksnake.\n\nA-tos-sa had a half-grown bird by the wing and was trying to swallow\nit. The young bird was strong enough to flutter a good deal and Mother\nChee-wink had flapped her wings in the snake's eyes and pecked his head,\nso that he had not been able to get a good hold.\n\nLittle Luke struck at once. The stick hit the snake and he let go of the\nbird and slid down to the ground. Little Luke hit him again, this time\nsquarely on the head. Then with a stone he made sure that A-tos-sa would\nnever try to eat young birds again.\n\nAfter he had finished with the snake, he picked up the young bird which\nhad fallen to the ground. It seemed more scared than hurt, so he put it\ncarefully into the nest, where there were two other young birds. Then he\nwent on up toward the woods.\n\nMrs. Chee-wink flew back to the fir bush. She looked first at the dead\nsnake and then at her nest. Then she said, \"Chee-wink, chee-wink,\nto-whee, chee-wink, to-whee,\" two or three times very softly and settled\ndown quietly on her nest. Of course that meant, \"Thank you, little boy,\nthank you!\"\n\nUp above the fir bush in the pasture stood an old apple tree, all alone\nby itself. On a dead branch was Ya-rup the Flicker. He was using the\nhard shell of the dead branch for a drum. \"Rat, a tat, tat,\" he went\nfaster and faster, till the beats ran into one long resounding roll.\nThen he stopped and screamed, \"Kee-yer, kee-yer!\" Perhaps he meant,\n\"Well done! good boy! good boy!\"\n\nYou see he had seen little Luke's battle with the blacksnake and was\ndrumming and screaming for joy. Little Luke stopped under the old apple\ntree and listened to Ya-rup's drumming and screaming for a while. Then\nhe went on up to the edge of the big woods.\n\nThere he found an old trail which he followed a long way till it forked.\nRight in the fork of the trail, he saw a young bird. Its feathers were\nnot half grown and of course it could not fly. Little Luke knew that\nit must have fallen out of the nest by accident. So he ran after the\nfrightened little bird and picked it up very carefully. Just then\nO-loo-la the Wood Thrush flew down into a bush by the side of the trail\nand began to plead, \"Pit'y! pit'y! don't hurt him! Let him go, little\nboy; please let him go!\" he seemed to say.\n\nLittle Luke looked around for the nest. Soon he saw it in a tangle of\nvines that ran over a dogwood bush.\n\nVery carefully he picked his way through the bushes toward the nest.\nO-loo-la seemed to guess what he meant to do and hopped from bush to\nbush without saying a word.\n\nWhen the little boy went to put the young bird back into the nest, he\nsaw why he had fallen out. There were three young birds in it, and they\nfilled it so full that there was scarcely room for another. Little Luke\nsaw that the bird he held was smaller than the others. So he took one of\nthem out and put his bird down into the middle of the nest. Then he put\nthe bigger one back. When this one snuggled down into the nest, it was\nquite full.\n\nWhen little Luke went back into the trail, O-loo-la flew to a branch\nover his head and began to sing very happily. The little boy thought\nthat he, too, was trying to say, \"Thank you, little boy, thank you.\"\n\nLittle Luke took the left-hand trail and followed it till he came to a\nbeautiful spring which gushed from under a tall rock. He lay down upon\nhis stomach and took a long drink of the cool, sweet water.\n\nJust beside the spring stood a big beech tree. Near the ground two large\nroots spread out at a broad angle. Little Luke sat down between the\nroots and leaned his head against the tree. It was a very comfortable\nseat. So he sat there and dreamed with his eyes wide open. Just what he\nwas dreaming about he did not know. He only knew that he felt very happy\nand very quiet.\n\nMee-ko the Red Squirrel ran out upon a branch just over his head and\npeeked and peered at him with his bright, inquisitive eyes. As little\nLuke sat very still, Mee-ko cocked his long tail up over his shoulders\nand sat and watched him.\n\nLittle Luke felt so very comfortable and quiet that he closed his eyes\nfor a moment. At least it seemed only a moment to him. All at once he\nheard a loud hum. He opened his eyes and there was Ah-mo the Honey Bee\njust before his face. When Ah-mo saw that little Luke was watching him,\nhe flew down toward the spring and lit upon a beautiful flower.\n\nLittle Luke was surprised; he had not seen that flower before. It was a\nvery beautiful flower. He leaned over and looked at it. Its petals were\nblue as the sky, except near the heart, where they were pink as a baby's\nfingers; and its heart was as yellow as gold.\n\nLittle Luke reached out his hand to pick the strange flower. As soon as\nMee-ko saw what he was doing, he fairly screamed. To little Luke it\nseemed as if he said, \"Stop, stop, let it be. Leave it alone. Go away.\"\n\nLittle Luke was used to Mee-ko's scolding. He had heard it many times\nbefore, but never before had he thought there was any sense in it. It\nseemed very queer to him that he could understand the speech of a\nsquirrel.\n\nIn his surprise he forgot about the strange flower and sat looking up at\nMee-ko. At once Mee-ko became quiet. He ran along the branch and down\nthe tree behind little Luke. Then he leaped to the ground and ran across\nto another tree. When he thought he was safe, he began to talk and scold\nagain. To the little boy it seemed as if Mee-ko was saying, \"Come here,\ncome away, follow me, follow me!\"\n\nBut little Luke did not care to chase Mee-ko. He knew he could not catch\nhim, and besides, he wanted the strange flower. As soon as he reached\nout his hand for it again, Mee-ko began to scold more angrily than\nbefore. \"Stop, let it alone, go away,\" he screamed.\n\n\"That is queer,\" thought little Luke; \"I wonder what is the matter with\nhim. What can he care about the strange flower?\"\n\nJust then Ah-mo the Honey Bee flew up toward little Luke and then back\nagain to the flower. Little Luke reached over and seized the flower.\nThe stem was strong and he pulled it up, root and all. He put it to his\nnose. Its odor was strangely sweet. From the broken stem some clear\njuice oozed out upon his hand. Ah-mo the Honey Bee flew down and sipped\nit. Then he rose and began to buzz around little Luke's head. Without\nthinking, the little boy put his hand to his lips and his mouth was\nfilled with a strange, sweet taste. At the same time a mist rose before\nhis eyes, a strange feeling ran through his body, and his head swam.\n\nIn a moment the strange feeling passed away and the mist cleared from\nbefore his face. He looked up and could scarcely believe his eyes. There\nin a half circle around him sat a strange company--the strangest he had\never seen.\n\nThere was Mo-neen the Woodchuck, Unk-wunk the Hedgehog, A-pe-ka the\nPolecat, Wa-poose the Rabbit, A-bal-ka the Chipmunk, Tav-wots the\nCottontail, Mic-ka the Coon, and Shin-ga the Gray Squirrel. At one end\nof the line stood Mit-chee the Partridge, Ko-leen-o the Quail, and\nO-he-la the Woodcock. On the branches above them were Ya-rup the\nFlicker, O-pee-chee the Robin, O-loo-la the Wood Thrush, Har-por the\nBrown Thrasher, Chee-wink the Ground Robin, Tur-wee the Bluebird, Zeet\nthe Lark, and Bob Lincoln. Little Luke was surprised to see the last\ntwo, for he had never seen them in the woods before.\n\n\"What can have happened to me?\" said little Luke aloud. All the\ncreatures in that strange assembly stirred slightly and looked at\nWa-poose the big Rabbit. Wa-poose hopped forward a step or two and stood\nup on his hind legs. His ears were stretched straight up over his head,\nhis paws were crossed in front of him, and he looked very queer.\n\n[Illustration: THE MAGIC SPEECH FLOWER]\n\nThen to little Luke's surprise, he spoke. \"Man Cub,\" said Wa-poose,\n\"a wonderful thing has happened to you. You have found the Magic Speech\nFlower and tasted its blood. By its power you are able to understand the\nspeech of all the wild folk of field and forest. This great gift has\ncome to you because your heart has been full of loving kindness toward\nall the creatures that the Master of Life has made.\n\n\"Only he can find the Magic Flower who, between the rising and the\nsetting of the sun, has done five deeds of mercy and kindness toward the\nwild folk of forest and field. These five deeds you have done.\"\n\nWa-poose paused. For a moment there was silence. All the wild folk\nlooked steadfastly at the little boy, who in turn gazed at them with\nwonder-filled eyes. Then he spoke. \"Five deeds! What five deeds have\nI done?\" he asked, forgetting all about his morning's work.\n\n\"This morning you saved my child from the fierce jaws of Klaws the House\nCat. You drove off Mee-ko the thieving Red Squirrel when he was trying\nto steal the eggs from the nest of O-pee-chee. You helped Ah-mo escape\nfrom the trap of wicked old Ik-to. You saved Chee-wink's fledglings from\nthe cruel fangs of A-tos-sa, and you put the young one back into\nO-loo-la's nest safely.\n\n\"Two things you must remember if you wish to keep this magic power. You\nmust never needlessly or in sport hurt or kill any of the wild creatures\nthat the Master of Life has made and you must tell no one what has\nhappened to you. If you give heed to these two things, we will all be\nyour friends. When you walk abroad, you shall see us when no one else\ncan, and we will talk with you and teach you all the wisdom and the ways\nof the wild kindreds.\"\n\nJust then the sound of footsteps was heard coming down the trail. The\ngray mist rose again before little Luke's eyes and he heard someone say,\n\"Wake up, little boy, it is almost noon. Your Aunt Martha will have\ndinner on the table before you can get back to the farmhouse.\"\n\nLittle Luke looked up and there was Old John the Indian, who lived in\na lonely cabin on the other side of the mountain, and sometimes came to\nthe farmhouse to sell game he had killed or baskets that he had woven.\n\nLittle Luke sprang up and rubbed his eyes. Not one of the wild folk was\nto be seen. But he held in his hand a broken and crumpled flower. He put\nthe flower into his pocket and went along down the trail toward the\nfarmhouse with Old John.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nII. LITTLE LUKE AND THE BOB LINCOLNS\n\n\nThat night little Luke dreamed of the Magic Flower. The next morning,\nas soon as he had finished his breakfast, he ran down through the garden\nand into the meadow. He was eager to see his wild friends again and to\ntry his new gifts, \"Perhaps,\" he thought, \"it was only a dream after\nall.\"\n\nAs soon as Bob Lincoln saw him, he came flying across the meadow to meet\nhim, his black and white uniform gleaming in the bright sunlight. \"Good\nmorning, little boy, good morning,\" he trilled, and his voice sounded\nlike the tinkling of a silver bell.\n\n\"Good morning, Bob Lincoln,\" said the little boy, delighted that he\nreally could understand Bob Lincoln's language. \"How is Mrs. Bob Lincoln\nthis morning?\"\n\n\"Come and see, come and see,\" trilled Bob Lincoln, in his sweetest and\nfriendliest voice.\n\nLittle Luke walked over to the nest. When she heard him coming, Mrs. Bob\nLincoln was scared and flew up from the nest.\n\nBut as soon as she saw who it was, she fluttered down upon the top of\na tall weed and said, \"Oh, it's you, is it, little boy? I heard someone\ncoming and I was frightened, but I am not afraid of you.\" And so she sat\nswinging and teetering on the tall weed.\n\nThe little boy looked at the nest and admired the pretty eggs. \"Oh,\nthey're coming on finely,\" said Mrs. Bob Lincoln. \"In a day or two I\nwill show you five of the handsomest baby Bob Lincolns you will ever\nsee. I heard them peeping inside of the shells this morning.\"\n\nThe little boy looked at the father and mother birds. \"Bob Lincoln,\"\nsaid he, \"I wish you would tell me why you and Mrs. Bob Lincoln are so\nunlike. Your coat is white and black; her dress is black and brown and\nyellow. You do not look as if you belonged to the same family.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Bob Lincoln, \"that is a long story.\"\n\n\"Oh, please tell it,\" said little Luke; \"I want so much to hear it.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Bob Lincoln, \"we have both had our breakfast and I have\nsung my morning song. So if Mrs. Bob will excuse me [Mrs. Bob gracefully\nbowed her permission] I will take the time. You go over there and sit\ndown under the old apple tree and I will come and find a comfortable\ntwig and tell you all about it.\"\n\nWhen little Luke had seated himself cozily with his back against the\ntrunk of the old apple tree, Bob Lincoln began his story.\n\n\n\n\nIII. THE STORY OF THE SUMMER LAND\n\n\n\"Long, long ago when the world was new,\" said he, \"the first Bob Lincoln\nfamily lived in a beautiful country in the distant north. In that country\nit was always summer. None of those who dwelt in that land knew what\nwinter was.\n\n\"Ke-honk-a the Gray Goose, who spent half the year in northern\nGreenland, had mentioned it, but the people of the Summer Land did not\nunderstand him. They had never felt winds or seen ice or snow.\n\n\"But there came a time when Ke-honk-a said, as he flew over, 'Winter is\ncoming, winter is coming.' But nobody understood and nobody cared. Why\nshould they care about winter when they did not know what it was?\n\n\"Soon after this the people of the Summer Land noticed a change in the\nweather. One half of the year was cooler than the other half. The first\ntime this happened they did not mind it at all. Indeed, they rather\nliked it. It was pleasant to have a change.\n\n\"The next year it was cooler and the next still cooler. And so it went\non for some years, each winter getting colder than that which had gone\nbefore.\n\n\"One day a dull, gray cloud came up out of the north and hid the face of\nthe sun. Out of its gray bosom there came floating to earth a whole\nflock of big, white snowflakes. The people of the Summer Land were\namazed.\n\n\"As the great flakes came wavering lazily down through the air, they\nlooked at them and thought that they must be some new kind of winged\ncreatures. 'What a lot of them,' thought they, 'there must be to make\nthat great cloud which hides the sun!'\n\n\"In a short time the sun shone out from behind the gray cloud. In the\ntwinkling of an eye all the snowflakes were gone. 'Strange, strange!'\nthought the people of the Summer Land. 'What has become of all those\nwhite-winged creatures?'\n\n\"The next winter so many snowflakes fell that they hid the brown earth\nfor many weeks. This happened again and again, and the people of the\nSummer Land began to understand what winter was. The snow became so deep\nfor months at a time that they found it hard to get food.\n\n\"After a while life became so hard for them that they felt that\nsomething must be done. So they summoned a Great Council to consider the\nmatter. After much talk they decided to send a messenger to the Master\nof Life, who lived far away among the western mountains, to beg him to\ncome and help them. For their messenger they chose the swallow, the\nswiftest of all the birds.\n\n\"The swallow flew for many days, until at last he reached the lodge of\nthe Master of Life, and told his story.\n\n\"'Go back,' said the Master when he had heard it, 'and after four moons\nI will come to visit you. Summon all the people of the Summer Land to a\nGreat Council and I will tell them what they must do.'\n\n\"At the time appointed, the Master of Life came. When all the people of\nthe Summer Land had assembled, he spoke to them and said, 'I have heard\nof your troubles and have thought of a plan to help you.\n\n\"'Henceforth, so long as the world shall last, there shall be summer and\nwinter in this land. Half the year shall be summer and half the year\nshall be winter.\n\n\"'While summer reigns, this is a pleasant land, and you may live here\nand find plenty of food. Before winter comes, you must leave this land\nand journey far away to the south, to another country where summer\nalways reigns. But when the snow melts and winter returns to his home in\nthe distant north, summer shall come again to this land, and so it shall\nbe every year.\n\n\"'When summer comes back, you may return with it and dwell in your own\nhome until it is time for the return of winter.'\n\n\"When the people of the Summer Land heard this, some were glad, some\nwere sorry, and some were angry.\n\n\"'What!' said the angry ones, 'shall we leave our pleasant homes on\naccount of winter? No, indeed; we will stay.' And so they did.\n\n\"When summer was over and the cold winds began to blow, the Bob Lincoln\nfamily, obeying the command of the Master of Life, set out for the\nSouthland. On and on they traveled for many days.\n\n\"At last they came to the end of the land, and before them was the\ngreat, salt sea. But far on to the southward, they could dimly see\nislands rising out of the salt water.\n\n\"So they flew bravely on across the great, salt sea, till they reached\nthe islands; and beyond these islands they saw others. On and on they\nflew from island to island until they reached another great land like\nthe home they had left behind them. In it there were vast meadows and\nforests, mountains and rivers. In that land it is always summer and food\nis plenty all the year round. There in the pleasant meadows, the Bob\nLincolns stopped and there they lived happily for half a year.\n\n\"When it was time for summer to revisit the Summer Land, the Bob\nLincolns returned also and this they did every year.\n\n\"In those days all the Bob Lincolns wore black and white clothes\nlike mine. But, as you see, this black and white dress is very\ncon-spic'-u-ous.\n\n\"Now it happened that in their journeyings to and fro, the Bob Lincolns\nmet many enemies, and these enemies wrought sad havoc in their ranks.\nWhen they were flying in the air, the hawks and the eagles would swoop\nupon them and kill them. If they sat upon the ground, the weazels and\nthe minks, the wildcats and other four-footed prowlers, would pounce\nupon them and devour them. Even the Red Men, with their feathered\narrows, would shoot them. So many of them were killed that they began\nto fear that soon none of their family would be left alive.\n\n\"So they called a family council, to consider their sad state and\ndecide what it was best to do. When they were all assembled together,\nthey talked the matter over and decided to go and ask aid from the\nMaster of Life.\n\n\"'I have heard your complaint,' said the Master of Life when they\nhad finished, 'and I am willing to assist you. But first you must\nunderstand that the cause of all your trouble is your love of fine\nclothes. Your black and white uniforms are very beautiful, but they\nare too con-spic'-u-ous for your safety. By day your enemies can spy\nyou afar because you are black; by night they can see you because you\nare white.\n\n\"'Hereafter you shall wear different clothing. No longer shall your\nfeathers be black and white; they shall be black and brown and yellow.\nWhen you sit upon the ground you shall look like the dry, brown grass,\nand when you fly through the air your enemies shall not be able to mark\nyour flight from a distance. Thus it shall come to pass that, if you act\nwisely, you shall live in peace and safety.'\n\n\"When they heard this the Bob Lincolns were grieved at heart. They\nloved their gay black and white uniforms and sorrowed at the thought of\nparting with them. So they humbly begged the Master of Life to let them\nkeep their gay clothing and tell them some other way of escaping their\nenemies.\n\n\"'There is no other way,' said he. 'But tell me, when do you suffer\nleast from your enemies? Is it when you are dwelling in your old\nnorthern home, or when you are dwelling in the sunny Southland?'\n'When we are dwelling in our old homes,' answered the Bob Lincolns.\n\n\"'Very well, then,' said the Master of Life, 'while you are dwelling in\nyour old home, all the male Bob Lincolns may wear their black and white\ngarments. Nevertheless they shall suffer for their vanity, for their\nenemies shall find and slay many of them.\n\n\"'But your wives and sisters must be content with a quieter dress. It is\nthey who have the most to do with tending your nests and rearing your\nyoung ones. If they should wear your gay black and white garments, your\nenemies would find and kill you all, and the Bob Lincoln family would\nperish from the earth,'\n\n\"That is the story,\" said Bob Lincoln, \"that my grandfather told me\nlong ago in our distant winter home in the Southland. If you keep watch,\nlittle boy, for a month or so, you will see me put off my black and\nwhite suit for one just like Mrs. Bob Lincoln's. Then you will know that\nwe are getting ready for our journey to our distant winter home in the\nsunny Southland, far away across the great, salt sea.\"\n\n\"Now,\" said Bob Lincoln, when he had finished his story, \"it's time for\nme to be off to see how Mrs. Bob Lincoln is getting along.\"\n\nAnd off he flew before little Luke had time to thank him for his\npleasant story. The little boy sat quietly for a while under the old\napple tree. Then he got up and went slowly back to the house.\n\n\n\n\nIV. BOB LINCOLN'S STORY OF HIS OWN LIFE\n\n\nDuring the long summer days little Luke went often to visit the Bob\nLincolns. The more he watched them, the more he grew to love them. Bob\nLincoln himself was the merriest, jolliest fellow of all the little\nboy's feathered friends.\n\nLittle Luke saw the baby birds as soon as they had broken their shells.\nHe watched the anxious parents feed them. And how those young Bob\nLincolns could eat! How their busy parents had to work to support the\nlittle family! Back and forth over the meadow the old birds flew hour\nafter hour, searching for food for their hungry babies. And they were\nalways hungry! Whenever they heard anyone coming, they would close their\neyes, stretch their long necks, and open wide their yellow mouths.\n\nThe young birds grew larger and hungrier every day. And every day Bob\nLincoln became busier and quieter. Little Luke noticed that the jolly\nlittle fellow did not sing so much and that his gay coat was becoming\nrusty. One by one his bright feathers fell out and dull brown or yellow\nones took their place, until at last he looked just like his little\nwife.\n\n\"Well, little boy,\" said Bob Lincoln one morning, \"we must be getting\nready to move. These youngsters can fly pretty well, and it is time for\nus to go. I am sorry, for I love our meadow home, and a long and\ndangerous journey is before us.\"\n\n\"Tell me about it,\" said little Luke.\n\n\"Well,\" said Bob Lincoln, \"you must know that I was hatched in this very\nmeadow. There were five of us and I am the only one that is left.\n\n\"When we young ones had learned to fly pretty well, we started south.\nAfter a few days we reached a land where there were broad marshes\ncovered with reeds. There we stopped for a while. But the men of that\ncountry hunted us with their fire-sticks. They called us reed birds arid\nliked us to eat. They shot many of our friends, but for a few days our\nfamily all escaped. But one morning we heard a sound like thunder and\nour mother fell to the ground and we saw her no more.\n\n\"This frightened us and we flew on to the southward for many days. Of\ncourse wherever we found a good place, we stopped to rest and eat. But\nwe did not stop for long until we came to a land where there were great\nfields of rice. There we found great flocks of our kindred, who had\ngrown fat by feeding upon the rice.\n\n\"But here again were men with their fire-sticks and they killed two of\nmy brothers. All the time we stayed there, we lived in fear. So after\nsome days we left the rice land and went on toward the south. We crossed\nthe great, salt sea and at last found the winter home of our kindred.\n\n\"In the spring we came back again to this meadow. And here I found Mrs.\nBob Lincoln. I courted her with my sweetest songs, and after a short\ntime we were married and set up house-keeping.\n\n\"That autumn I led a family of my own on the long journey to our\nsouthern home. Three times have I made the journey to and from this\nmeadow, and each time some of my family have fallen a prey to our many\nenemies. But the men with their fire-sticks are the worst of all. Why\nare they so cruel to us?\"\n\n\"Alas,\" said Bob Lincoln, after a pause, \"I dread this journey. Not many\nof my friends have escaped so long. I fear I shall never return. But it\ncannot be helped, we must go. I think, little boy, we shall start this\nmorning. So I will say good-bye now.\"\n\n\"Good-bye, Bob Lincoln,\" said little Luke, \"I hope it will not be as you\nfear. I shall look for you again next May.\"\n\nThe Bob Lincoln family started on their long southern journey and little\nLuke went sadly back to the house. Now that the Bob Lincolns were gone,\nthe meadow no longer seemed so pleasant to him.\n\n\n\n\nV. LITTLE LUKE MAKES FRIENDS AMONG THE WILD FOLK\n\n\nWhile little Luke spent a good deal of his time with the Bob Lincoln\nfamily, he did not neglect his other friends among the wild folk. Almost\nevery day he had long talks with one or more of them. Thus it came to\npass that he soon became exceeding wise with the wisdom of the wild\nkindreds; for his eyes were sharper and his ears keener than those of\nany other of the house people.\n\nThere was Sam, the hired man, who thought he knew a good deal about the\nwild folk. And there was Old Bill, the hunter, who had done little\nbesides hunting and trapping all his long life; even these did not begin\nto know the beasts and birds as little Luke knew them. Before the\nFinding of the Magic Flower, he had thought them marvels of woodcraft\nand fieldcraft. Now they seemed to him almost blind and deaf.\n\nAs he went about with them, he found that for all their boasting (and\nthey often boasted) they really knew little about the wild folk. Many\ntimes they would pass Wa-poose the Rabbit sitting unseen on his form\nwithin a few feet of them. Mother Mit-chee the Ruffled Partridge made\nher nest in plain sight on the ground beside the old trail and they\npassed by a hundred times and never saw her. And so it was with many\nothers of the wild folk. Often they went quietly about their business\nbefore the very eyes of the house people who did not see them.\n\nDuring that summer little Luke spent much time with Old John the lone\nIndian, who lived at the foot of Black Mountain. For Old John, seeing\nthe little boy's love of woodcraft and his wonderful keenness of ear and\neye, and understanding, came to love him more than he had loved anyone\nor anything for many years.\n\nHe would make some excuse to come to the farmhouse. Then, when his\npretended business was finished, he would sit with the little boy on an\nold bench on the lawn and tell him stories of the Red Men or of the wild\nfolk.\n\nSometimes, too, the little boy would go up the trail and sit by the\nspring where he had found the Magic Speech Flower and wait for the old\nIndian. Or, when Old John started for home, he would go along with him\nup into the woods and there they would sit on a fallen log and talk of\nthe old days when the Red Men dwelt in that land, or of the wood folk\nthey saw and heard about them. These were most enchanting tales, and\nlittle Luke enjoyed them exceedingly.\n\nAnd he learned that in some matters Old John was very wise. But these\nwere mostly concerned with hunting and trapping. Little Luke did not\nlike the idea of killing any of his wild friends, even though he knew\nthat their flesh and fur were very useful. He knew, too, that the Law of\nthe Wild Kindred allowed everyone to kill to supply his need and so he\ndid not much mind the killing in Old John's stories, for he knew that\nthe old man never killed any creature needlessly.\n\nAnd he learned, too, that the old Indian had some strange notions about\nthe wild folk. He believed that long ago they had all been very much\nlike men. \"In those days,\" he said, \"the animals could talk and build\nwigwams just as the Red Men did.\" He believed, too, that the forefathers\nof some tribes of the Red Men had been animals, and that the forefathers\nof some of the animal kindreds had been men. All this seemed queer to\nthe boy, but not half so queer as it would have seemed before the\nFinding of the Magic Speech Flower and his talks with the wild folk.\n\nNow the tale of the Finding of the Magic Flower was told abroad among\nall the tribes of the wild folk round about. For this reason, as time\nwent on, many of them came to see the wonderful Man Cub (as they often\ncalled little Luke) who could speak and understand the language of the\nwild kindreds.\n\nIn that way little Luke came to know many of the wild folk that he had\nnever seen before. Some of them were furry folk, who lived in the woods\nand fields and along the brooks, and some were beautiful feathered folk,\nwho came down from the tops of the tall pines and spruces and hemlocks.\n\nThese were mostly bird folk who had once lived in the Summer Land and\nhad learned to travel southward before the return of Pe-boan the cruel\nWinter King. They loved the upper spaces of the great forests, and there\nthey lived as some of the water folk live in the lower depths of the\ngreat sea.\n\nThese bird folk hated the open fields and even the lower air, in the\nthick forests, seemed heavy and unpleasant to them. So they seldom came\ndown from their airy homes in the upper branches of the great trees. For\nthis reason little Luke did not see much of them, but when he did see\none of them, it was as if he had seen an angel.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nVI. LITTLE LUKE AND KIT-CHEE THE GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER\n\n\nDown in the far corner of the orchard stood an old apple tree. Some of\nits limbs were dead and the rest of it was so covered with orchard moss\nthat it seemed gray with age. As little Luke was passing one day, he\nnoticed a round hole in one of its branches. \"Now,\" thought he to\nhimself, \"I'll climb up and take a peep into that hole.\" And so he did.\n\nAs he looked into the dark cavity, there was a sudden explosion, which\nsounded like the noise made by an angry cat. The little boy jumped back\nso quickly that he almost fell to the ground. Just then he heard someone\nin the branches of the tree above him. \"Whee-ree, whee-ree,\" sounded a\nmocking; voice, that made little Luke think that somebody was making fun\nof him. He looked up and saw Kit-chee the Great Crested Flycatcher.\n\n\"Ah-ha!\" said Kit-chee; \"so she scared you, did she?\"\n\nThe little boy moved his hand toward the hole.\n\n\"Better not; better not,\" said Kit-chee; \"that's Mother Kit-chee in\nthere. She doesn't like to be disturbed, and she has a temper of her\nown, and a sharp bill to go with it.\"\n\n\"Excuse me, Father Kit-chee,\" said the little boy; \"I didn't know. I\nonly wanted to see what was in that hole.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said Kit-chee. \"We don't mind you. Perhaps, if you ask her\npolitely, she'll come out and let you take a peep.\"\n\n\"Pray, Mother Kit-chee,\" said the little boy, \"aren't you hungry? There\nare some nice flies and bugs out here, and besides, if you will be kind\nenough to allow me, I should like a peep at your nest and eggs.\"\n\n\"Oh, very well,\" answered Mother Kit-chee, \"I'll do anything to oblige\nyou, when you speak in that way.\" And out she came.\n\nBoth Father Kit-chee and Mother Kit-chee were rather handsome, dignified\nbirds. They each wore a coat of butternut brown, mixed with olive green,\nand a vest pearl gray toward the throat and yellow lower down.\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the little boy to Mother Kit-chee as she came out,\n\"I'll not disturb anything. I'll be very careful.\" And so he was. He\nlooked down into the hole, where he saw five creamy-white eggs, streaked\nlengthwise with brown. But the queerest thing he saw was a snake-skin\nwhich formed part of the nest.\n\n\"There's the skin of a snake,\" exclaimed the little boy. \"How did that\ncome there? Did the snake try to steal your eggs, and did you kill him?\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" replied Father Kit-chee, \"I found that skin over yonder in the\npasture. You know that A-tos-sa the Snake sheds his skin when it grows\nold and stiff, and grows a new one that fits him better. We just pick up\nthe cast-off skins and build them into our nests.\"\n\n\"What on earth do you do it for?\" asked the little boy. \"I wouldn't want\nsuch a thing around my bed. I don't like snakes, or even their skins.\"\n\n\"I don't like snakes either,\" said Kit-chee, \"but it's a custom in our\nfamily to use their skins in nest-building. Wherever you find a home\nof one of our tribe, there you will find a snake-skin. I've heard my\ngrandfather say that our kinfolk, who dwell far to the south beyond the\nbig seawater, have the same custom. There's a tradition about it, too.\"\n\n\"Oh, please tell me about it,\" said the little boy. \"I'm sure it will be\nan interesting story.\"\n\n\"Very well; anything to please you,\" said Kit-chee.\n\n\n\n\nVII. WHY THE KIT-CHEE PEOPLE ALWAYS USE SNAKE-SKINS IN NEST-BUILDING\n\n\n\"Long, long ago,\" began he, \"when the world was new, all the beasts and\nbirds were at peace with each other. In those days it was summer all the\nyear round. After a while a change came.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, I've heard about that,\" said the little boy. \"Pe-boan the\ncruel Winter King came down from the frozen North and drove off Ni-pon\nthe Queen of Summer. Then the animals and birds got hungry and began to\nkill each other. I've heard about that several times.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Kit-chee, \"that was the way it was. The animals and birds\nbegan to kill and rob each other. No nest was safe. Mee-ko the Red\nSquirrel, A-tos-sa the Snake, Ka-ka-go the Crow, and many others learned\nto rob our nests and eat our young ones.\n\n\"Every one of the birds tried to hide her nest, but in spite of the\nbest that they could do, the robbers would often find them. The worst of\nall our enemies was Kag-ax the Weasel. The Kit-chee families suffered\nterribly. They built their nests as we do now in holes in trees. Kag-ax\nis a good climber and has sharp eyes. It was almost impossible to hide\na nest from him.\n\n\"After a while things got so bad that the Kit-chee family came together\nin a council. They talked over their troubles and made up their minds to\ngo to the Master of Life and ask him to help them. And so they did.\n\n\"'I am sorry for you,' said he, when he had heard their story, 'and will\ntell you what to do. As you say, your worst enemy is Kag-ax the Weasel.\nNow Kag-ax is more afraid of A-tos-sa the Snake than of any other\ncreature in the whole world. He cannot bear even the sight of a\nsnake-skin. You must weave a snake-skin into each one of your nests.\nThen he will not dare to trouble you.'\n\n\"'But how shall we get the snake-skins?' asked Grandfather Kit-chee, the\nhead of the family.\n\n\"'That is easy,' answered the Master of Life. 'A-tos-sa, as you know,\nsheds his skin. If you look sharp, you can find the cast-off skins\nalmost anywhere. Do as I have said, and you will be safe. Even Mee-ko\nthe Squirrel and others of your enemies will be afraid of the snake-skin\nand let your nests alone.'\n\n\"The Kit-chee family did as the Master of Life told them to do. From\nthat time to this they always have woven a snake-skin into their nests,\nand their nests have seldom been robbed.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the little boy, \"that was a good story. Now I must be\ngoing home. There's Aunt Martha calling for dinner.\" And he slid down\nout of the old apple tree and went across the orchard to the house.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nVIII. LITTLE LUKE AND NICK-UTS THE YELLOWTHROAT\n\n\nAmong little Luke's bird friends was little Nick-uts the Yellowthroat.\nHe was a dainty little fellow, with an olive green back, a bright\nyellow breast, and a black mask across his face that made him look\nlike a highwayman. Though he was lively and nervous, he had a gentle\ndisposition and a sweet voice. His home was in some low bushes in the\npasture.\n\nWhenever little Luke went up to see him, he would hop up on a branch and\ncall out, \"Which way, sir? Which way, sir?\" And when the little boy\nstarted to go away, he would say, \"Wait a minute. Wait a minute.\"\n\nEvery time the little boy went for the cows he would stop and chat a\nmoment with Mr. and Mrs. Nick-uts. To be sure, Mrs. Nick-uts never had\nmuch to say. She was a quiet little body, not so fidgety as Nick-uts,\nand besides, she had to stay close at home and see to the eggs and\nbabies.\n\nOne morning, as little Luke was going for the cows, he saw Nick-uts\nbobbing around very excitedly.\n\n\"Come here. Come here,\" called Nick-uts, when he saw the little boy;\n\"I want some help.\" And he hopped over by the nest.\n\nLittle Luke went over to the nest and looked in. \"Look there,\" said\nNick-uts, \"see that big, ugly egg. Take it out, please.\"\n\n\"Take it out?\" said little Luke. \"Why should I do that? Isn't it yours?\"\n\n\"No, indeed,\" said Nick-uts, \"it's old Mother Mo-lo's. The nasty old\nwretch laid it in there while we were away from home. She's always\nsneaking around, the lazy old thing, to lay her eggs in some other\nbird's nest. She's cowardly too. She always picks out the nest of one\nsmaller than herself. I wish I were big enough to give her a sound\nthrashing.\n\n\"Please take the egg out,\" he went on. \"I can't do it myself, and if you\ndon't take it out, we shall have to leave the nest and our own eggs and\nbuild a new one.\"\n\nLittle Luke took the egg out of the nest and threw it on the ground.\n\"Why don't Mother Mo-lo build a nest of her own?\" he asked.\n\n\"Oh, she can't. She doesn't know enough,\" answered Nick-uts. \"In the old\ndays she had a chance to learn the same as the rest of us. She wouldn't\nlearn then, and now she can't. I don't believe she ever tries.\n\n\"She sneaks around and steals her eggs into the nests of other birds,\nand some of them are so silly they don't know the difference. They hatch\nthe egg and bring up the young one as if it were their own. The young\nMo-los are greedy things and they eat up everything away from the other\nlittle birds. Besides, they grow so fast that they crowd out the other\nyoung ones, so that they fall to the ground and die. I've known old\nMother Mo-lo to fool O-loo-la the Wood Thrush that way. It's a shame\nfor a decent bird to be imposed upon like that.\n\n\"She tried the trick twice on me last year. Once we managed to roll the\negg out, and once we built a second floor to the nest, but we lost two\nof our own eggs by doing it.\"\n\n\"You said that Mother Mo-lo had a chance to learn to build a nest,\" said\nlittle Luke. \"Tell me about it.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Nick-uts, \"since you have been so kind as to help me,\nI'll try. I haven't heard the story for a long while, perhaps I can't\nremember it very well. But I'll do the best I can.\"\n\n\n\n\nIX. WHY MOTHER MO-LO THE COWBIRD LAYS HER EGGS IN OTHER BIRDS' NESTS\n\n\n\"In the beginning,\" said he, \"the Master of Life made the world. When\nhe had finished the land and the sea, the mountains and the meadows,\nhe made the fishes, and then the four-footed kindreds. Last of all, he\ncreated the birds. But he didn't make them all at the same time. The\nlast ones were Father and Mother Mo-lo.\n\n\"When Mother Mo-lo began to fly about, the other birds went to her and\noffered to teach her how to build a nest.\n\n\"'Come with me,' said the oven bird; 'I'll show you how to build a nest\non the ground where no one will find it. You must just push up some of\nthe dry leaves in the forest, and then put some grass and twigs under\nthem. It's very easy.'\n\n\"'For my part,' said the woodpecker, 'I wouldn't build on the ground\nanyway. I should be afraid that a deer or a bear or some other creature\nwould step on me. If you want a safe nest, I'll show you how to build\none. You just find a dead limb, not too dead, and bore a deep hole into\nit. Put a little soft, rotten wood in the bottom, and there you are!\n\n\"'That must be a close, stuffy kind of a nest; enough to smother one,'\nsaid the oriole scornfully. Come with me and I will teach you to hang\nyour nest on the end of an elm branch. You just weave together some hair\nand grass and moss and hang it on a slender, swinging branch, where\nnothing can get to it. Then you'll be safe. The wind will rock your\nbabies to sleep for you and you'll have plenty of fresh air.'\n\n\"'I wouldn't like that at all,' said the sand martin. 'I'd be seasick\nthe first half hour. A good hole in a sandbank suits me much better. To\nbe sure, the sand sometimes caves in. But that doesn't matter much. A\nlittle hard work will clear your doorway.'\n\n\"'What do you do when the high waters come?' asked the phoebe bird.\n'For my part,' continued she, 'I like a rock ledge for a foundation with\nanother one above for a roof. The rock never caves in on you. A little\nhair and grass, nicely laid down, with a little moss on the outside, and\nyou are comfortable and safe. You'll never be drowned out there.'\n\n\"'I don't like rocks,' said the robin. 'A fork in a tree suits me much\nbetter. Just lay down a few sticks for a foundation, then weave together\nsome twigs and grass and plaster the inside with some good thick mud,\nand you have a serviceable nest, good enough for anyone. A few feathers\nin the bottom will make it soft and comfortable. It may not be so\nelegant as some others, but it suits me.'\n\n\"And so it went on. Each one of the birds praised its own nest and\noffered to show Mother Mo-lo how to build one like it.\n\n\"But Mother Mo-lo cared little for what they said. She wasn't even\npolite enough to pretend to pay attention. She was too conceited.\nthought that she was handsome and knew about all there was to be known.\"\n\n\"Handsome?\" said little Luke; \"the ugly old thing! It can't be that she\nhad ever looked at herself.\"\n\n\"Oh, I don't know,\" said Nick-uts, \"the sillier people are, the wiser\nthey think themselves. And it's always the ugly ones who think\nthemselves the most beautiful.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said little Luke, \"I've seen a good deal of her, but I never\nthought her handsome in the least. You know she follows the cows about\nso much that we house people call her the cowbird.\"\n\n\"Well, at any rate,\" said Nick-uts, \"she thought she knew a great deal\nmore than she really did.\n\n\"So she said to the other birds, very haughtily, 'You are all very kind,\nand I am very much obliged to you. But I think I can get along without\nyour help. I know how to build a nest that will suit me better than any\nof yours.'\n\n\"'Indeed, is that so?' cried the other birds. 'You must have learned\nvery quickly. Who was your teacher anyway?'\n\n\"'Oh,' said Mother Mo-lo, 'nobody taught me, but I know how just the\nsame.'\n\n\"'Very well,' said the other birds, 'we only wanted to be kind and help\nyou. But we won't bother you any more. Good-bye.' And they all flew away\nto attend to their own affairs.\n\n\"After a while Mother Mo-lo tried to build a nest. First she tried to\nbore a hole in a dead branch, but she couldn't do it. Then she tried the\nsandbank, but the sand caved in and got in her eyes and almost smothered\nher. Then she tried the other kinds of nests. But every one was a\nfailure. At last she gave it up, and ever since then she has laid her\neggs in other birds' nests and let them rear her young ones for her.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nX. THE STORY OF O-PEE-CHEE THE FIRST ROBIN\n\n\nOne day little Luke heard Old John the Indian speak of redbreast as\nLittle Brother O-pee-chee. He wanted to ask the old man about the name,\nbut did not get a chance. So the next morning he went down to the apple\ntree in the meadow and asked Father Redbreast about it.\n\n\"That,\" answered redbreast, \"is an old tale which both the Red Men and\nour people know. According to the story, the first redbreast was an\nIndian boy, and that is why he calls us Little Brothers.\"\n\n\"Tell me about it,\" said the little boy.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Long, long ago,\" began Father Redbreast, \"there was a tribe of Indians\nwhich dwelt in the distant Northland. Their chief, who was a wise man\nand a brave warrior, had an only child, a little son. The boy was a\nbright little fellow, but not very strong. Somehow he was not so big and\nhardy as the other Indian boys. But his father loved him more than\nanything else in the world and wanted him to become the wisest man and\nthe greatest warrior of his tribe.\n\n\"'My son,' said the old chief one day, 'you are about to become a\nwarrior. You know the custom of our tribe. You must go apart and fast\nfor a long time. The longer you fast, the greater and wiser you will\nbecome. I want you to fast longer than any other Indian has ever fasted.\nIf you do this, the Good Man-i-to, the Master of Life, will come to you\nin a dream and tell you what you must do to become wise in council and\nbrave, strong, and skillful in war.'\n\n\"'Father,' said the boy, 'I will do whatever you bid me. But I fear that\nI am not able to do what you wish.'\n\n\"'Make your heart strong,' answered the father, 'and all will be well.\nMost of the young men fast only four or five days. I want you to fast\nfor twelve days, then you will have strong dreams. Now I will go into\nthe forest and build your fasting lodge for you. Make yourself ready,\nfor to-morrow you must begin your fast.'\n\n\"The little boy said no more and on the morrow his father took him to\nthe fasting lodge and left him there. The boy stretched himself upon a\nmat, which his mother had made for him, and lay still.\n\n\"Each day the old chief went and looked at his son and asked him about\nhis dreams. Each time the boy answered that the Man-i-to had not come.\n\n\"Day by day the boy became weaker and weaker. On the eleventh day he\nspoke to his father.\n\n\"'Oh, my father,' said he, 'I am not strong enough to fast longer. I am\nvery weak. The Man-i-to has not come to me. Let me break my fast.'\n\n\"'You are the son of a great warrior,' said the father sternly; 'make\nyour heart strong. Yet a little while and the Man-i-to will surely come\nto you. Perhaps he will come to-night.'\n\n\"The boy shook his head sadly and his father went back to his wigwam.\n\n\"The next day when he drew near to the fasting lodge, he heard someone\ntalking within it.\n\n\"'My father has asked too much,' said a voice which sounded like, and\nyet unlike, the voice of his son. 'I am not strong enough. He should\nhave waited until I became older and stronger. Now I shall die.'\n\n\"'It was not the will of the Man-i-to,' said another voice, 'that you\nshould become a great warrior. But you shall not die. From this time you\nshall be a bird. You shall fly about in the free air. No longer shall\nyou suffer the pain and sorrow which fall to the lot of men.'\n\n\"The old chief could wait no longer. He opened the door of the lodge and\nlooked within. No one was there, only a brown bird with a gray breast\nflew out of the door and perched upon a branch above his head.\n\n\"The old chief was very sad, but the bird spoke to him and said, 'Do not\nmourn for me, my father, for I am free from pain and sorrow. It was not\nthe will of the Man-i-to that I should become the greatest warrior of\nthe tribe. But because I was obedient to you and did the best I could,\nhe has changed me into a bird.\n\n\"'From this time, as long as the world shall last, I shall be the friend\nof man. When the cold winds blow and ice covers the streams, I shall go\naway to the warm land of the South. But in the spring, when the snows\nbegin to melt, I shall return. And when the children hear my voice, they\nshall be happy, knowing that the long, cold winter is over. Do not mourn\nfor me, my father. Farewell!'\n\n\"Ever since then, when the Indian children hear a robin singing, they\nsay, 'There is O-pee-chee, the bird that was once an Indian boy.' And no\nIndian boy ever hurts a robin.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXI. HOW THE ROBIN'S BREAST BECAME RED\n\n\nWhen the robin had finished his story, little Luke thought for a moment.\nThen he said, \"That's a very interesting story. But there is one thing\nabout it I don't understand.\"\n\n\"What is that?\" asked Father Redbreast.\n\n\"Why,\" said the little boy, \"you said that O-pee-chee's breast was gray.\nHow does it come that yours is red?\"\n\n\"That is another story,\" answered Father Redbreast.\n\n\"I should like very much to hear it. Please tell me about it,\" said\nlittle Luke.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Once upon a time,\" said Father Redbreast, \"long after the days of the\nfirst robin, old Mah-to the great White Bear dwelt alone in the far\nNorthland. He was the king of all the bears and was very cunning and\ncruel. He was so selfish that he did not like anybody else even to come\ninto his country.\n\n\"If a hunter wandered into the region where he lived, he would lie in\nwait for him and kill him. One stroke of his mighty paw and the man\nwould fall, to rise no more. He killed so many of them that the hunters\nbegan to be afraid to go into that land. As for the beasts and birds,\nthey all feared him and kept as far away from him as they could.\n\n\"After a time a brave hunter with his son wandered into the kingdom of\nthe great bear to hunt. Day after day old Mah-to followed the man and\nboy. But the hunter was cautious as well as, brave, and the old bear was\nafraid of his sharp arrows and did not dare to attack him openly.\n\n\"When the snow began to fall, the hunter built a lodge and kindled a\nfire. He cut down a great many trees and brought the wood close to the\ndoor of the lodge.\n\n\"'Now,' said he, to his son, 'we must keep the fire going day and night.\nThen we shall not freeze.'\n\n\"Old Mah-to, who was sneaking about the lodge, heard this and thought,\n'I will watch and wait until they have gone away or are asleep, and then\nI will put out the fire. Then they will have to go away or else freeze.'\n\n\"But the hunter was very careful. When he went out to hunt, he left the\nboy in the lodge to keep the fire burning. The old bear was afraid of\nthe fire, which he thought was some kind of magic, and so he did not\ndare to touch the boy. At night the hunter and the boy watched the fire\nby turns, and so kept it burning brightly.\n\n\"The old bear watched for many days before his chance came. At last one\nday when the hunter had gone away, the little boy fell asleep and\nallowed the fire to burn low.\n\n\"'Now,' thought the old bear, 'now is my chance.' So he walked into the\nlodge and trampled the fire with his great, wet feet, until he thought\nhe had put it all out. He meant to kill the boy, but the fire scorched\nhis feet and scared him. So he went away again to the edge of the forest\nand sat there licking his burnt paws, waiting to see what would happen.\n\n\"Now O-pee-chee had followed the man and the boy into the Northland. He\nwatched the old bear and saw what he did. When he went away, the robin\nflew down and scratched about among the ashes until he found a small,\nlive coal. Then he brought some splinters and dry moss and laid them\nupon the coal and fanned it with his wings until the fire caught the\nwood and burned up strong and bright.\n\n\"The heat of the blazing splinters scorched his breast and made it red,\nbut the robin did not stop until the fire was blazing brightly.\n\n\"Just then the hunter walked into the lodge and saw what the robin was\ndoing. He saw, too, the big footprints of the great bear and he knew\nthat the robin had saved his life and the life of his boy.\n\n\"All that winter the good hunter fed the kind robin and sheltered it in\nhis lodge. When he went back again to his people, he told them the\nstory, and they grew to love the robin more than before. To this day\nthey are never tired of telling their children the story of O-pee-chee\nthe Robin and how his breast became red.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXII. HOW THE BEES GOT THEIR STINGS\n\n\nLittle Luke was fond of watching the bees. He was not afraid of them,\nfor he knew that if he did not disturb or annoy them, they would not\nsting him.\n\nOne morning the bees in one of Uncle Mark's hives seemed greatly\nexcited. They buzzed and buzzed about the hive, till there was a great\nswarm of them in the air. All at once they started in a body and flew\ndown toward the orchard.\n\nThe little boy followed them. They settled in a great bunch on the\nbranch of an apple tree. The little boy ran back and told Uncle Mark\nthat the bees had swarmed. Then Uncle Mark and Sam the hired man took a\nbeehive, a ladder, and a saw and went down to the orchard. Sam climbed\nthe ladder, sawed off the limb, and lowered the bees to the ground.\nUncle Mark set the hive over the swarm and left it awhile. He knew that\nthe bees would settle down in the hive and soon feel at home and begin\nto gather honey. And so they did. But Sam the hired man was stung\nseveral times. One of his eyes swelled shut and one of his cheeks looked\nas if he had the toothache.\n\n\"Why did your friends sting Sam?\" asked little Luke the next day of his\nfriend Ah-mo the Honey Bee.\n\n\"Oh,\" answered Ah-mo, \"he was too rough. The bee people have sharp\ntempers and ever since they got stings they are apt to use them when\nthey get angry.\"\n\n\"Got stings!\" exclaimed the little boy. \"Didn't the bee people always\nhave stings?\"\n\n\"Oh, no,\" answered Ah-mo; \"not always.\"\n\n\"How did they get them?\" asked little Luke. \"Tell me about it.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Long, long ago, when the world was new,\" said Ah-mo, \"the bee folk had\nno stings. They were just as busy workers as they are to-day. All day\nlong and all summer long they flew from flower to flower and gathered\nwax and honey, which they stored against the winter, when there would\nbe no flowers and no honey.\n\n\"But many of the other creatures liked honey as well as the bees. They\nwould watch the bees till they found out where their storehouses were.\nThen they would break them open and steal all the honey. This was bad\nfor the bee people. For without their honey they would starve to death\nduring the long, cold winters.\n\n\"At last matters got so bad with the bee people that they sent a\nmessenger to the Master of Life to ask him to come to their aid. When he\nhad heard about their trouble, he said to their messenger, 'Go back to\nyour people. In two moons I will come to visit you. By that time I shall\nhave thought out a way to help you.'\n\n\"The bee people were very glad. They told their cousins, the hornets and\nthe wasps, that the Master of Life had promised to assist them against\ntheir enemies. At the end of the two moons, the Master of Life came and\nall the bees assembled to meet him. The wasps and the hornets came also.\n\n\"'I have thought of a way to help you,' said the Master of Life to them.\n'From this day you shall have stings. Hereafter, if anyone comes to\nsteal your honey, you will be able to defend yourselves.'\n\n\"The bees were greatly pleased. They were no longer afraid of their\nenemies and did not try to hide their storehouses as they had done\nbefore.\n\n\"Now the worst of all the enemies of the bee people was Moo-ween the\nBlack Bear. One day Mr. and Mrs. Moo-ween were walking by a hollow tree\nwhere the bees had made their home. They looked up and saw many of the\nbee folk going in and out of a hole in the tree.\n\n\"'What lots of honey there must be in that tree,' said Moo-ween. 'How\ngood it would taste. Let us climb up and take it away from the bees.'\nSo the two bears began to climb the tree.\n\n\"But the bees were not afraid of them. They did not fly away and leave\nthe bears to eat their honey, as they had always done before. Instead,\nthey flew down and began to sting the bears. The two bears could not\nunderstand it. They had never been stung before and they groaned and\ngrowled with pain. The bees settled upon their eyes, their ears, and\ntheir noses, and stung them again and again, until they had to let go\nof the tree, and fell to the ground. There they rolled over and over,\ngrowling and groaning and snapping their teeth. The bees kept on\nstinging them. The bears could not stand it. They got up and ran away as\nfast as they could, Since that time the bee folk have had stings and the\ncourage to use them whenever any creature, little or big, attempts to\nannoy or injure them.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXIII. THE STORY OF THE FIRST SWALLOWS\n\n\nIn May little Luke had watched Mr. and Mrs. Lun-i-fro the Eave Swallows\nwhile they had built their queer, pocket-shaped, mud hut beneath the\neaves of the big barn. He saw them on the muddy shores of the river,\nrolling little pellets of mud, which they carried to the barn and built\ninto their nest, and wondered at their odd ways.\n\n\"I wish,\" he often said to himself, \"that they could talk. I would ask\nthem how they learned to do it.\" At that time he had no idea he would\never be able to talk to them.\n\nAfter he had found the Magic Speech Flower he often talked to Father\nand Mother Lun-i-fro. But their talks were always short, for the two\nswallows were always too busy chasing gnats and flies through the air\nto spend much time on anything else.\n\nEarly in September the swallows began to gather in large flocks.\nThe young ones, who were now finishing their lessons in flying, were\nintroduced to the rest of the tribe and the little boy often saw them\ntraining in squads. They would sit in a long row upon the peak of the\nbarn roof. Suddenly they would start off all together and fly about for\na while. Then they would come back and settle down upon the roof again.\n\nOne day as little Luke was watching them, Father Lun-i-fro happened to\nlight upon a fence stake near him. \"Father Lun-i-fro,\" said the little\nboy, \"what are you swallow folk doing these days?\"\n\n\"We are holding our councils and getting ready to go to the sunny\nSouthland for the winter,\" answered the old swallow.\n\n\"Before you go,\" said the boy, \"I wish you would tell me how you learned\nto build your nests in such an odd way.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Father Lun-i-fro, \"since you have been so nice to us this\nsummer, I'll tell you.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Long, long ago,\" went on the old swallow, \"there was an Indian village\nupon the top of a high hill.\n\n\"The grown-up people of the village were very good. But alas! the\nchildren were naughty. They were so disobedient that they could never be\ntrusted to mind anything that their parents said to them. The old people\noften talked to them and did their best to make them behave better, but\nit did no good. As soon as their backs were turned, those naughty\nchildren would begin to quarrel and fight and steal and run away.\n\n\"The old people were much troubled. The woods were full of bears and\npanthers and wolves, and they felt sure that some time the wicked\nchildren would be eaten up by them.\n\n\"They did everything they could think of to make it so pleasant for the\nchildren that they would stay at home. They made bows and arrows for the\nboys, and Indian dolls for the girls, and all sorts of playthings for\nall of them, but it did no good. They would run away just the same.\n\n\"At last the elders of the village held a council to see if they could\nnot think of some plan to make their children behave better. After much\ntalk it was thought best to call in all the children and have the\nvillage chief talk to them. This was done, but it did no good. The next\nday they ran away just the same. Their parents had to search far into\nthe night before they found them. This time the old folks were very\nangry.\n\n\"Another council was held. They talked the matter over a long time and\nmade up their minds to send for Gloos-cap the good and wise Magician,\nwho was yet upon the earth. And so they did.\n\n\"When he came he found that, as usual, the children had run away from\nhome and could not be found. They had already been gone two or three\ndays.\n\n\"Gloos-cap frowned and looked very stern. 'I will find them,' said he,\n'and when I find them I will punish them as they deserve.'\n\n\"By his magic power he was able to follow their trail, which their\nparents had not been able to find.\n\n\"At length he saw them. They were playing about on the muddy shore of\na small lake. Out of the mud they were making many different kinds of\nobjects, especially little wigwams.\n\n\"He walked down to where they were. 'You naughty children,' said he,\n'are you not ashamed of yourselves, to disobey your parents and make\nthem so much sorrow and trouble?'\n\n\"'No, we are not,' spoke up one bold, saucy little fellow. 'We don't\ncare for what they say. We've been having a good time all by ourselves.'\n\n\"'Very well,' said Gloos-cap, 'since you are not willing to obey your\nparents, you shall never trouble them any more. You shall become birds.\nSince you love to play in the mud, you shall always build your nests of\nmud; and since you love to gad about so much, you shall wander about the\nearth forever.'\n\n\"And so it has been with the swallow folk since that time.\n\n\"But,\" went on the old swallow, \"our foreparents learned their lesson,\nand since that time we always bring up our children to be very obedient.\nNo doubt you have noticed how very well they mind.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXIV. LITTLE LUKE AND A-BAL-KA THE CHIPMUNK\n\n\nOne of little Luke's best friends among the wild folk was A-bal-ka the\nChipmunk. He was a dainty little fellow about five inches long, with a\ntail of the same length. His coat was of a yellowish-brown color, with\nblack stripes running down his back. This fine, striped coat made him\nlook much prettier than his cousin Mee-ko the Red Squirrel.\n\nHe was a clean, jolly, little chap, and very fond of singing, though he\nknew but two songs. One was a sharp chip, chip, chip, which he would\nsometimes keep up for a long time. At a distance it sounded like the\ncall note of some bird. The other was a cuck, cuck, cuck, which sounded\nmuch like the song of the Cuckoo. A curious thing about this song was\nthat one could scarcely tell where it came from. Little Luke was often\ndeceived by it. Sometimes when it sounded as if A-bal-ka was near by, he\nwas really a good way off, and when it sounded as if he were a good way\noff, he was really close by.\n\nBeside these songs, A-bal-ka had an odd way of saying chip,\nchur-r-r-r-r, when he was scared. This meant, \"I am not afraid of you,\"\nand he never said it till he was safe in some hole where no one could\nget at him.\n\nA-bal-ka never harmed any one, nor did he scold and steal like Mee-ko\nthe Red Squirrel. Yet he had many foes. Ko-ko-ka the Owl, Ak-sip the\nHawk, Kee-wuk the Fox, Kag-ax the Weasel, Ko-sa the Mink, and A-tos-sa\nthe Snake were always ready to pounce upon him at sight and make a\nmeal of him. Even Mee-ko was not to be trusted. Sometimes he would\nchase A-bal-ka and rob him of the nuts which he was carrying to his\nstorehouse. He would have robbed the storehouse, too, if he could have\ngot into it. But A-bal-ka's door was too small, and his hallways too\nnarrow for Mee-ko.\n\nLittle Luke knew all about A-bal-ka's underground dwelling. The way he\nfound out was this: Uncle Mark and Sam the hired man were digging stones\non the hillside in the edge of the woods for the foundations of a new\nbarn. While at this work, they uncovered the home of one of A-bal-ka's\nbrothers. It was made up of a long, winding passageway, ending in a\nsleeping chamber, near which was a storehouse, and in this storehouse\nthere was a large quantity of nuts. These nuts were all good ones. The\ngreater part of them were little, three-cornered beech nuts, which the\nsquirrels like better than anything else. In all there was as much as\nhalf a bushel of nuts, enough to last a chipmunk all winter. The bedroom\nwas a neat, little, round chamber, nicely filled with leaves, grass, and\nmoss. In such a house as this, with its store of nuts, a chipmunk could\nlive snug and warm all winter long and come out sleek and fat in the\nspring.\n\nBecause of A-bal-ka's many enemies, he was very watchful. He seldom went\nfar from home, and when he did venture to go abroad, he nearly always\nfollowed the same path. At first it ran along under the side of a fallen\nlog. From the end of this, a few quick leaps carried him to a brush\npile. A jump or two more brought him to a rock and yet a few more to a\nstone fence. Once there, he felt safe. At the least alarm, he could run\ninto a hole too small for any of his foes except, perhaps, A-tos-sa,\nwhom he dreaded more than any of the others.\n\nAll along the stone fence stood nut trees,--oaks, hazels, walnuts,\nbeeches, and others. And at one end was a cornfield.\n\nThis made it very handy for A-bal-ka. He could gather the nuts which\nfell upon the stone fence, and when he went for corn, he could keep to\nthe fence and thus avoid his enemies. Early in the fall he began to fill\nhis storehouse. To and fro he went along the fence with his\ncheek-pouches full of corn and nuts.\n\nLittle Luke often amused himself by watching him. He would pick up the\nnuts with his paws and put them into his cheek-pouches, and it was\namazing how many they would hold. When he started for home, his cheeks\nsometimes looked as if he had a very severe case of the mumps.\n\nOne day in the autumn little Luke found out a queer thing about\nA-bal-ka. He was going up the trail with Old John. A-bal-ka started to\ncross the trail, but seeing the old Indian he became scared and ran up a\ntree. This was a thing which he seldom did; never unless he was obliged\nto, to escape from his enemies. He is a ground squirrel, and no tree\nclimber, like his cousins the Red and the Gray Squirrels.\n\n\"Now,\" said Old John, \"I'll show you something.\" So he got a stout stick\nand began to tap the tree. Tap, tap, tap, tap, as if he were beating\ntime to music. This tapping had a strange effect upon A-bal-ka. At first\nhe was greatly excited and tried to run farther up the tree. Soon he\ngave this up, turned around, and began to come down head foremost. He\nwould lift his little feet and shake them as if something hurt them.\nLower and lower he came, until the old Indian could easily have killed\nhim with his club or caught him with his hand. He did neither. He just\nlaughed and threw away his stick.\n\n\"There,\" said he, \"that's the way to make a chipmunk come down out of a\ntree. They'll always do it, if you tap long enough,\"\n\n\"That's queer,\" said the little boy; \"what makes them come down? Why\ndon't they run farther up?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" said Old John, \"perhaps they think you are trying to cut\ndown the tree, or maybe the jar hurts their feet. The Red Men used to\nthink that there was some kind of a magic charm about it.\"\n\n\"I am glad you didn't hurt him,\" said the little boy, as they went on up\nthe trail.\n\n\"Hurt him!\" exclaimed the old Indian, \"why, don't you know that no\nIndian ever hurts a chipmunk?\"\n\n\"Why is that?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"It's an old, old story,\" said Old John, \"but come, let us sit down on\nthis log, and I'll tell it to you.\"\n\nSo when they were both comfortably seated, the old Indian began the tale\nwhich you will find in the next chapter.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXV. HOW A-BAL-KA GOT HIS BLACK STRIPES\n\n\n\"In the old days before winter had come into the land, the beasts and\nthe birds, the fishes, and even the insects, all had one language. They\ncould speak the speech of the Red Men and they all lived together in\npeace and friendship.\n\n\"In those days, there was no killing and no war. But after winter had\ncome upon the land, the Red Men learned to kill the wild folk and to use\ntheir flesh for food and their skins for wigwams and for clothing.\n\n\"At first this was bad enough, but after men had learned to use bows and\narrows, spears, knives, and hooks, it was still worse. They became more\nand more cruel. They delighted to slaughter even creatures for which\nthey had no use. Out of heedlessness, they trod upon the worms and the\nfrogs, and killed them without caring for the pain and suffering which\nthey caused. At last the animals made up their minds to try to find out\nsome means to check the slaughter of the wild kindreds.\n\n\"The bears were the first to meet in council. After much talk, they\ndecided to begin war at once against the human race.\n\n\"'What weapons shall we use against them?' asked one of the bears.\n\n\"'Why,' answered another, 'the same that they use; bows and arrows, of\ncourse.'\n\n\"'But how shall we make them?' asked one bear.\n\n\"'Oh, that is easy,' said another. 'I'll show you how to do it. You know\nI lived for a long time in one of their villages.'\n\n\"So this bear got a piece of ashwood and a string, some straight reeds\nand pieces of flint, and made a bow and some arrows.\n\n\"The White Bear, who was chief of the council, stepped out to make a\ntrial of the bow. He pulled back the string and let the arrow fly, but\nhis long claws caught the string and spoiled the shot.\n\n[Illustration: THE TESTING OF THE BOW]\n\n\"Seeing this, one of the bears proposed to cut off his own claws and\nmake another trial. This was done and the arrow went straight to the\nmark.\n\n\"Now all the bears were ready to cut off their claws that they might\npractice with the bow and arrow. But their chief, the old White Bear,\nwas wise.\n\n\"'No,' said he, 'let us not cut off our claws. If we do, we shall not be\nable to climb trees or to tear our food to pieces, and we shall all\nstarve together. It is better to trust to the teeth and claws that the\nMaster of Life has given us. Man's weapons are not for us.'\n\n\"All the bears agreed to this, and the council broke up without any plan\nfor dealing with their cruel enemies.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"The deer were the next to hold a council. Each one had some story to\ntell about the cruelty of men. Each one had lost his father or his\nmother, his wife or his children, his brother or his sister.\n\n\"After much talk, their chief, Little Deer, spoke. 'It is a law,' said\nhe, 'among all the kindreds that each may kill to supply his needs. The\nmen folk need our flesh to eat and our skins for clothing.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"'But there is another law. It is that no one shall kill cruelly or\nneedlessly. Upon such as do so, let us send pains and aches. Let us make\ntheir joints swell and become stiff, so that they cannot follow us and\nkill us. Besides, let us make another law, that when a hunter kills one\nof the deer family, he must pray to the spirit of the deer for pardon.\nIf he has killed to supply his needs and without cruelty, he shall be\npardoned. If not, he shall become a helpless cripple.'\n\n\"The deer people all agreed to this and sent word to the nearest Indian\nvillage, to tell the hunters about the new law.\n\n\"Since that time every Indian hunter is careful to pray to the spirit of\nthe deer which he has killed.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Next the fishes and the snakes held a council. Each one had complaints\nto make against the cruelty of men. After much talk, A-tos-sa the chief\nof the snakes spoke.\n\n\"'We of the snake kindred,' said he, 'will afflict men with diseases of\ntheir nerves. They shall tremble and shake when there is nothing to be\nafraid of. And when they draw the bow-strings, their arrows shall go\nwide of the mark by reason of the unsteadiness of eye and hand. And we\nwill send upon them in their sleep evil dreams. The ghosts of the snakes\nwhich they have needlessly killed shall twine about them, with fearful\nfangs, ready to pierce their flesh, and the cold sweat of terror shall\nooze from their skin, and they shall awake with cries and tremblings.'\n\n\"After him the chief of the fishes spoke.\n\n\"'We,' said he, 'will afflict men with diseases of the stomach. In their\nsleep, they shall dream of eating raw or decayed fish and their\nappetites shall pass from them.'\n\n\"These plans were agreed upon, and the council of the fishes and the\nsnakes broke up.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"After this, the smaller animals, the birds and the insects, gathered\nthemselves together in a common council. Here, too, all were bitter\nagainst the useless cruelty of mankind. After all complaints had been\nheard, Am-wee-soo the Wasp addressed the council.\n\n\"'Each creature,' said he, 'has the right to live. Our cruel enemies\ndeprive us of our lives which they cannot restore. It is just that they\nshall be punished. We, the wasps, the bees, and the flies, will send\nupon men boils and wasting fevers, which shall sap their strength and\nbring them to their graves.'\n\n\"'And we,' said Da-hin-da the Bull Frog, 'will afflict men with colds\nand coughs, which shall make them weak and short of breath.'\n\n\"'We, the birds,' declared E-kes-ke the Blue Jay, 'will afflict them\nwith sores and diseases of the skin.'\n\n\"And so it went on. Each of the tribes of the wild folk agreed to\nafflict mankind with some sort of sickness.\n\n\"A-bal-ka the Chipmunk alone spoke in favor of the men. But he had\nhardly said ten words, before the others became so enraged that they\nfell upon and drove him from the council. He barely escaped with his\nlife.\n\n\"And as it was, Up-wee-kis the Lynx fastened his claws on A-bal-ka's\nneck and tore four gashes the length of his back. You can see the marks\nto this day. That is the way the chipmunk got his black stripes.\"\n\n\n\n\nXVI. HOW A-BAL-KA THE CHIPMUNK HELPED MEN\n\n\n\"The wounded ground squirrel hid himself in his den beneath the roots of\na great oak, where his enemies could not get at him. There he remained\nuntil the other creatures had departed and his wounds were somewhat\nhealed.\n\n\"When he was well enough to get about again, he visited the villages\nof the Red Men. Everywhere he went, he found sickness and death. The\nkind-hearted chipmunk was sorry to see so much suffering and sorrow.\nSo he revealed the secret plans which had been formed in the councils\nof the wild folk.\n\n\"Men now knew what was the cause of their troubles. But this knowledge\ndid little good, since it did not heal their diseases or save them from\ndeath. For a time, it seemed as if the human race would be entirely\ndestroyed.\n\n\"In their despair, they appealed to their kind friend A-bal-ka the\nlittle ground squirrel. 'What shall we do?' they wailed. 'Cannot you,\nwho are so kind of heart and so wise, help us?'\n\n\"'I will do my best,' he replied, 'but I must take time to think about\nit.' After turning the matter over in his mind carefully, he went about\namong the plants and trees and told them what had been done by the wild\nfolk against their friends the men.\n\n\"'Cannot you,' said he, 'do something to heal their diseases and save\nthe human race from destruction?'\n\n\"After much coming and going on the part of A-bal-ka the ground\nsquirrel, and much talking and thinking on the part of the plants and\ntrees, it was resolved that they, too, should hold councils, to see\nwhat they could do toward checking and overcoming the evils which had\nbefallen the human race.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"First the big trees of the forest and the shrubs held their council.\nThey talked over the matter and agreed that each should do all in its\npower to furnish remedies to cure the diseases which the wild folk had\ninflicted upon men.\n\n\"'We,' said the pine, the spruce, and the balsam trees, 'will give our\ngums and our balsam.' The slippery elm offered its bark; the sassafras\nits roots; the cherry tree its bark and its berries. One after another,\nthe other trees and shrubs offered their berries, their bark, their\nleaves, or their roots as medicine to heal the diseases of men.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Next the plants held their council and resolved to come to the aid of\nmen in their distress. 'I,' said the ginseng plant, 'will give my roots\nto make a healing drink. It shall be good for headaches and for cramps\nand for many other kinds of pains and aches.'\n\n\"'And I,' said the snake-root, 'will give my roots also for a healing\ndrink. It shall cure fevers and coughs and many other diseases.'\n\n\"And so it went on. The silkweed, the skull-cap, catnip, boneset, the\npeppermint, wild ginger, wintergreen, and scores of other plants, all\ngladly offered their roots, their berries, or their leaves.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Their number was so great that the little striped squirrel, who had\nattended both councils, was scarcely able to remember them all.\n\n\"After the councils were over, he went about among the villages of the\nRed Men and told them what the trees and the plants had said. They at\nonce began to gather and prepare the medicines which they needed to cure\nthe different diseases from which they suffered. And from this time, on\naccount of the use of these medicines, they were sometimes able to heal\ntheir diseases and save many of their people from death.\n\n\"This is the story of how diseases came upon men and medicines to cure\nthem were found.\n\n\"The Red Men were grateful to the little ground squirrel for the help he\nhad given them, and loved him more than any other of the wild folk, and\nto this day no Indian boy will injure a chipmunk.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXVII. LITTLE LUKE AND MEE-KO THE RED SQUIRREL\n\n\nOne day as little Luke was sitting on a fallen log in the woods, Mee-ko\nthe Red Squirrel ran out on a branch over his head. There he sat up on\nhis hind legs and began to chatter and scold and cough.\n\nHe remembered the day when the little boy had stoned him away from the\nnest of O-pee-chee the Robin. Ever since that time he had never missed\na chance of saying bad words at him. But the little boy didn't mind\nMee-ko's scolding; he only laughed at him for his bad temper and\nspitefulness.\n\n\"Mee-ko,\" said he, \"what makes you cough so? Tell me. I think there must\nbe a story about it.\"\n\n\"Well, suppose there is?\" snapped Mee-ko. \"I wouldn't tell you anyway.\nA Man Cub has no business to know the animal talk. I did my best to\nkeep you from touching the Magic Speech Flower. I hate you! I hate you!\nI wish I were as big as my forefathers were, I'd drive you out of the\nwoods!\"\n\n\"Come, now, Mee-ko,\" replied the boy, \"don't be so spiteful. I haven't\ndone you any harm. I stopped you from stealing Mother O-pee-chee's eggs,\nbut you had no business with the eggs anyway. How would you like to have\nsome one eat up your young ones? Let bygones be bygones and tell me\nabout your forefathers.\"\n\n\"I'll not be friends with you on any terms,\" replied Mee-ko. \"I wish\nyou'd stay about the farmhouse where you belong. You've no business\nsneaking about in the woods, disturbing us wood folk, and spying on us\nand tattling about us. Go away. You know too much now.\"\n\n\"Yes, no doubt he knows too much about you. We all do,\" said a voice.\nLittle Luke looked up and there was old Ko-ko-ka the Big Owl, sitting in\na hole in a tree. \"As for spying and tattling,\" Ko-ko-ka went on, \"you\nare the worst of all the wild folk. It runs in your blood. The Mee-ko\nfamily have always been meddlers. It was the first of your tribe, as\nall the wood folk know, who, with his tattling; tongue, set Mal-sum the\nWicked Wolf trying to kill Gloos-cap the Good. Your foreparents were\nthieves and murderers too; and you take after them.\n\n\"The Master of Life has formed some of us so that we must kill to live\nand for us to kill is lawful. It is not so with you. You were made to\nlive on seeds and nuts, yet Kag-ax the Weasel, whom we all hate, is\nscarcely more bloodthirsty than you are. And you are a coward to boot.\nYou haven't the courage to fight and you kill for pleasure and by\nstealth.\"\n\nMee-ko started to talk back at Ko-ko-ka, but the big owl snapped his\nbeak angrily and rustled his wings. Mee-ko saw and heard and he didn't\nwait to finish his remarks. He scurried along the branch, took a flying\nleap to the next tree, and disappeared.\n\n\"Let him go. His room is better than his company,\" remarked Ko-ko-ka.\n\n\"That's so,\" said little Luke, \"I never did like him much anyway. But\ntell me, what did he mean about his forefathers?\"\n\n\"Well,\" answered Ko-ko-ka, \"I've had a good nap and haven't anything to\ndo till sundown. So, if you like, I'll tell you about it.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXVIII. THE STORY OF THE FIRST RED SQUIRRELS\n\n\n\"Long, long ago,\" began the old owl, \"when the world was new, there\ndwelt upon the earth a wise and good man whose name was Gloos-cap. He\nwas a servant of the Master of Life, who had sent him to teach the men\nand all the other creatures everything that was good for them to know.\nSo he went about from place to place, teaching the kindreds.\n\n\"He taught the Red Men how to build their wigwams and to plant corn and\ncare for it. He taught the beavers how to build their lodges and the\nbirds how to build their nests and care for their little ones. To all\nthe kindreds he taught the things which each most needed to know.\n\n\"At first all the creatures were good and heeded the teachings of\nGloos-cap. But after a time their hearts became evil. Gloos-cap often\nspoke to them and did his best to turn them from their wicked ways, but\nin vain. They grew more and more envious, spiteful, and quarrelsome. At\nlast they became so wicked that they began to fight and kill each other.\nWorse than all else, the victors took to devouring the bodies of the\nslain.\n\n\"The good Gloos-cap was grieved and disgusted. He made up his mind to\ninvite them to a feast and try once more to turn them from their evil\nways. When they came, he set before each one of them food in abundance.\nAlthough each had enough and more than enough for himself, some of them\nwere not satisfied. They began to quarrel and fight, each striving to\ntake from the other his portion.\n\n\"Now Gloos-cap was a mighty magician. By his magic power, he caused the\nfood to turn to ashes in the mouths of the greedy ones. As soon as they\ntasted the ashes, they tried to talk and scold, but they could scarcely\nsay two words on account of the ashes which got into their throats.\n\n\"The angry Gloos-cap waved his hand over them, and by his magic power\nthe quarrelsome, envious, and greedy ones disappeared. In their place\nthere were a number of red squirrels, who chattered and scolded and\ncoughed as red squirrels always do even to this day. These were the\nforeparents of all the red squirrels in the world.\n\n\"'Now,' said Gloos-cap to the other creatures, 'take warning by the\nfate of these who are now squirrels and cease from being quarrelsome,\nenvious, and greedy.'\"\n\n\n\n\nXIX. HOW THE RED SQUIRREL BECAME SMALL\n\n\n\"Now in those days Mee-ko the Red Squirrel was much larger than he is\nto-day,--as large as Moo-ween the Bear; and his temper was even as his\nsize. He desired most earnestly to take revenge upon Gloos-cap the Good\nfor what he had done to him. So he sought out the brother of Gloos-cap,\neven Mal-sum the Wicked Wolf, and tempted him to kill his brother.\n\n\"'I would gladly slay him,' said Mal-sum, 'but I know not how it may be\ndone. On account of his magic power, there is only one thing in all the\nworld that can hurt him, and I know not what that is.'\n\n\"'Go you,' said Mee-ko, 'and pretend to be friendly with him and find\nout his secret. Then you may slay him.'\n\n\"Mal-sum thought this good advice, and acted according to it. For many\ndays he behaved to his brother with pretended kindness, always watching\nto find out his secret.\n\n\"'My brother,' said he, one day when they were hunting together, 'you\nknow that there is but one thing in all the world that can hurt either\nof us, one thing for you, and another for me. Tell me what it is with\nwhich you may be slain?'\n\n\"Now Gloos-cap the Good knew the wickedness and spite that lay hid in\nthe heart of his brother. So he said, 'Nay, but tell me first, what it\nis with which you may be slain?'\n\n\"And the wicked Mal-sum thought in his heart, 'What would it matter even\nif he knew the truth? I shall slay him before he can harm me.' So he\nanswered truly, 'By the stroke of a fern-root only can I be slain. Now\nwhat is your secret?'\n\n\"But Gloos-cap, knowing his brother's wickedness, was unwilling to trust\nhim. So he answered falsely and craftily, 'By the stroke of an owl's\nfeather it is fated that I shall be some day slain.'\n\n\"Now the wicked Mai-sum was greatly rejoiced in heart at hearing this.\nSo he left his brother, making some excuse, and went off into the woods\nalone. There finding an owl, one of my foreparents, he shot him, and,\ntaking some of his feathers, returned home.\n\n\"That night while Gloos-cap was sleeping, the wicked Mai-sum arose, and\ntaking the owl's feather, struck his brother upon the forehead. But\nGloos-cap, awakened by the blow, only laughed. 'It is not really a\nfeather,' said he, 'but a pine-root that shall end my life. I was but\njoking with you this morning.'\n\n\"But the wicked Mai-sum feigned that lie, too, had been only in sport,\nand the two brothers lay down again and slept.\n\n\"But the next night, while Gloos-cap was sleeping, Mai-sum again arose\nand struck him upon the forehead with a pine-root.\n\n\"This time Gloos-cap, seeing the wickedness of his brother's heart, and\nthat he was bound to take his life, arose and drove Mai-sum forth into\nthe woods. Then he went away and sat down by the brookside, considering\nwhat he should do.\n\n\"'Truly,' said he to himself, 'he will yet slay me. If he but knew that\na flowering rush is fated to be my bane, my life would not be safe for a\nmoment.'\n\n\"Now it chanced that the beaver was hidden among the reeds in the brook\nand heard what Gloos-cap had said. So he went off to Mal-sum, and told\nhim his brother's secret for a reward.\n\n\"The reward was that Mal-sum by his magic power should grant whatever\nthe beaver might ask. So the beaver asked that he might have wings\nlike a wood dove. But Mal-sum only laughed at him. 'Wings for you!' he\nchuckled; 'you, who have nothing to do but paddle about in the mud and\neat bark! what need have you of wings? Besides, how would you with that\nflat tail of yours look with wings!'\n\n\"Now you may be sure that the beaver was angry at being thus made sport\nof. So he went straightway to Gloos-cap and told him that Mal-sum had\nfound out his secret.\n\n\"'Now,' said Gloos-cap to himself, 'I must needs slay him. He does\nnaught but evil in the world, and I have not yet finished the good\nwork which the Master of Life sent me to do.' That night he arose and,\ntalking a fern-root, smote the wicked Mal-sum on the head so that he\ndied.\n\n\"Now Gloos-cap knew that Mee-ko the Red Squirrel had tempted his brother\nto try to slay him, and since Mee-ko was so large and of such an evil\ntemper, lie feared that he would do much harm. So meeting Mee-ko one day\nin the woods, he said, 'Tell me, what would you do if you should see a\nman?'\n\n\"'If I should see a man,' answered Mee-ko, 'I would dig up the trees of\nthe forest, so that they would fall upon and slay him. Then I would\nfeast upon his dead body.'\n\n\"'You are too large and too wicked,' said Gloos-cap. 'I fear I cannot\nchange your temper, but I can your size,' So he passed his hands over\nthe big red squirrel's back, and behold, he shrunk and shriveled until\nhe became small, even as small as he is at this day. But his temper\nremained almost as bad as before. Even to-day, he can scarcely see\nany creature without scolding and saying bad words.\"\n\n\n\n\nXX. LITTLE LUKE AND MOTHER MIT-CHEE THE RUFFLED PARTRIDGE\n\n\nUp in the woods on the side of the mountain Mother Mit-chee the Ruffled\nPartridge built her nest, close beside the trail. It was nothing but a\nlittle hollow in the ground, lined with leaves.\n\nIt was in plain sight and you would have supposed that anyone going\nalong the trail would have seen it. But they didn't. Old John the Indian\nand Sam the hired man passed it a dozen times and never noticed it. Even\nOld Boze did not find it, although he followed Sam up and down the trail\nmany times.\n\nYou see, Mother Mit-chee knew enough to sit perfectly still, and her\nmottled feathers blended so exactly with the tree trunks and the dead\nleaves about her that only the sharp eyes of the Finder of the Magic\nFlower ever found her out.\n\nLittle Luke saw her one day as he was walking up the trail beside Sam\nthe hired man, and with Old Boze following at his heels. But he went\nright on by, as if he had not seen Mother Mit-chee at all. He did not\nwant Sam or Old Boze to see her, for he knew they could not be trusted.\nThey would be almost sure to try to kill Mother Mit-chee, or at the very\nleast, they would rob her nest.\n\nThe next morning the little boy went up the trail alone, to pay Mother\nMit-chee a visit. \"Good morning, Mother Mit-chee,\" said he, \"I saw you\nyesterday, but Sam and Old Boze didn't, and I wouldn't tell them.\"\n\n\"I knew you saw me,\" replied Mother Mit-chee, \"and I knew you wouldn't\ntell. You are too kind-hearted for that, especially since you found the\nMagic Flower and learned the animal talk. We all trust you. You may come\nto see me as often as you like, but be careful not to leave any trail\nnear my nest. I don't want Old Boze nosing around here. And when you\ncome along with any of the house people, just go right by and don't look\nthis way. I am more afraid of Old John the Indian than of anyone else.\nHe looked right at me the other day and I was sure he saw me. I was\nscared, I tell you. I was all ready to fly away. But he didn't see me.\nIf he had, I never should have seen my eggs again.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said the little boy, \"I'll do just as you say.\" And after\nsome more talk, he went on up the trail to visit some of his other\nfriends among the wild folk.\n\nMany times during the days that followed the little boy stopped and\ntalked with the Mother Partridge. \"If you will come to-morrow,\" said\nshe, one day, \"I'll show you as fine a brood of partridge chicks as\nanyone could wish to see.\"\n\n\"I'll be sure to come,\" answered the little boy, \"for I want to see them\nvery much.\"\n\nAs he came up the next day, Mother Mit-chee stepped off her nest.\n\"There,\" said she, \"there they are. Now aren't they fine ones?\"\n\nThe little boy looked. In the nest there were a dozen of the daintiest,\ndowniest, little creatures he had ever seen. They were scarcely bigger\nthan an acorn. \"They surely are a fine brood,\" said he. \"Aren't you\nafraid that something will catch them?\"\n\n\"Of course I am afraid. I'm always afraid.\" said Mother Mit-chee, \"but\nthe creature that catches them will have to be pretty sharp. I know a\ntrick or two that will fool most of the wild folk, and the house people\nas well. You come up to-morrow and I'll show you. They are pretty young\nnow, and I don't want to disturb them unless I have to.\"\n\nThe next day the little boy found the nest empty. He looked carefully\nabout for Mother Mit-chee and her brood. Suddenly something rose almost\nfrom under his feet, and whizzed off through the wood. There was a sound\nlike an explosion, followed by thunder, which scared the little boy so\nthat he jumped. But he saw that it was only Mother Mit-chee, and he had\nseen her do that before.\n\nHe knew that the chicks were near at hand, and looked around carefully\nfor them.\n\nPretty soon Mother Mit-chee sailed around through the woods and dropped\nto the ground but a little way from the boy. She seemed to have been\nhurt, badly hurt. One wing dragged as if it was broken, and she limped\nsadly.\n\n\"Ha, ha,\" laughed the little boy, \"you can't fool me with that trick.\nYou needn't keep it up any longer, I shan't follow you. I know that you\nare not hurt at all. Old John told me all about it. He told me that he\nsaw you playing that very trick on Kee-wuks the Red Fox only the other\nday.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Well, well!\" said Mother Mit-chee. \"Did Old John see that? I didn't\nknow he was anywhere about. Yes,\" she went on. \"Kee-wuks thought he had\nme that time. I let him get close up. Then he jumped for me; but when he\nlanded where I was, I wasn't there! If I hadn't made him believe he\ncould catch me he might have found my chicks.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Little Luke, \"I heard Sam say that no one could find a\nyoung partridge chick, but I'm going to try it. You know since I found\nthe Magic Flower my eyes are sharper than those of any of the other\nhouse people.\"\n\n\"All right,\" said Mother Mit-chee, \"I'll call them out. I'm afraid if\nyou walk around there, you'll step on them; they're right around your\nfeet.\" And she began calling to the chicks. \"Kreet, kreet, come out,\ncome out, right away,\" she called.\n\nRight before little Luke a dead leaf that was curled up seemed to come\nto life, but it wasn't really the leaf. It was the partridge chick that\nhad squatted upon it that moved. Just before him, little Luke saw a tiny\nbunch under the dead leaves. He reached down and seized it, but very\ncarefully. It was another one of the chicks. And the ground about him\nseemed alive with the little ones as they came out at their mother's\ncall.\n\n\"Well done,\" said Mother Mit-chee, \"your eyes certainly are good. But\nhandle him carefully. Don't squeeze too tight. There now, you've hurt\nhim!\" (The little one was peeping as if in pain.)\n\nLittle Luke set him very carefully on the ground. \"Don't worry,\" said\nhe, \"he isn't hurt, he's only a little scared.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Mother Mit-chee, \"I must take these babies of mine down\nto the spring and teach them how to drink. They have never tasted\nwater yet.\"\n\n\"Kreet, kreet, come along, come along,\" called Mother Mit-chee.\n\n\"Peep, peep, we're coming, we're coming, mother,\" said the little ones.\nAnd they all started down the mountainside toward the spring.\n\nIt took a good while to get there, for the chicks were young, and their\nlittle legs so short and so weak that Mother Mit-chee had to wait for\nthem a good many times. But it was a pretty sight. The yellow, downy,\nlittle fellows marched along boldly behind their mother. Sometimes she\nwould go on a little way ahead. Then she would stop and call, \"Kreet,\nkreet, come along, children,\" and the little fellows would race to see\nwho could catch up first.\n\nSome of them were not so strong as others, and at times they would squat\nupon the ground to rest. Mother Mit-chee would wait as long as she\nthought proper, and then tell them to \"come along.\" And away they would\ngo down the mountainside.\n\nAt last they reached the spring. The little ones had never seen water\nbefore, and did not know what to do. But Mother Mit-chee took a drop of\nclear, cold water in her bill, and raised her head before she swallowed\nit. Each chick copied her motion exactly. It was fun for the little boy\nto watch them. Nearly the whole dozen would clip their little bills into\nthe water at once, and raise their heads to swallow it, as they had seen\ntheir mother do.\n\n\"Mother Mit-chee,\" said the little boy, after they had all finished\ndrinking, \"what makes you raise your head before you swallow the water?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Mother Mit-chee, \"that is our way of giving thanks to the\nMaster of Life for the cool, sweet water. Our family learned to do it a\nlong time ago, and we have always done it since.\"\n\n\"That sounds as if there might be a story about it,\" said the little\nboy, who was always on the watch for stories.\n\n\"Well,\" said Mother Mit-chee, \"there is a story about it.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXI. WHY THE FEATHERED FOLK RAISE THEIR HEADS WHEN THEY DRINK\n\n\n\"A long time ago,\" she went on, \"there came a summer when no rain fell\nfor many weeks. As you know, all the feathered folk can get along pretty\nwell if there are only dew-drops to drink. But after a time there was no\ndew, and even the grass withered and died.\n\n\"All the feathered tribes suffered terribly from thirst. At last they\ngathered together in a great council, and asked the Master of Life to\ntake pity on them in their sad state. He heard their prayer, and sent\nthe angel who cares for the wild folk to speak to them.\n\n\"'The Master of Life,' said he, 'has seen your sufferings and heard your\nprayers. He is merciful and kind, and has given orders to the Angel of\nthe Rain Clouds to supply your needs. Look!' said he, pointing to the\nwest. All the feathered folk looked, and behold, in the distance, the\ndark Rain Clouds were already flying toward them, driven by the breath\nof the Angel of the Winds.\n\n\"Soon the rain began to fall, the grass, the flowers, and the trees\nrevived, the springs were filled, and the sweet murmur of running water\nwas again heard in the brooks and rivers. The wild folk drank and were\nrefreshed.\n\n\"Before the Angel of the Wild Folk departed, he said, 'From this time on\nforever when you drink, you must raise your head as a token of\nthankfulness to the Master of Life who has sent you the refreshing\nrain.'\n\n\"If you watch them, you will notice that all the feathered folk show\ntheir gratitude to the Master of Life in the same way.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXII. LITTLE LUKE AND FATHER MIT-CHEE\n\n\n\"Where is Father Mit-chee?\" asked the little boy of the Mother\nPartridge, one day.\n\n\"I don't know,\" she answered; \"I haven't seen him since I began to sit.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the little boy, \"I think he's a mean, lazy scamp, to go off\nand leave you to take care of the family alone.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Mother Mit-chee, \"it would be rather nice to have some\nhelp. I feel a bit lonesome sometimes, especially when I notice how kind\nFather O-loo-la is to his wife and family. But it isn't the custom in\nour family. The fathers leave the mothers to take care of the family.\nThey never come near us until their children are able to take care of\nthemselves. I've taught these youngsters of mine what to eat and where\nto find it. They have learned to fly pretty well, and taken some lessons\nin whirring, so that they can frighten their enemies. I wouldn't be\nsurprised to see Father Mit-chee any day. Why, there he is now! I can\ntell his drumming any time.\"\n\nThe little boy listened. Far off in the distance he heard\nthump!--thump!--thump!--thump!--thr-r-r-r-r-r!\n\n\"Let's go and meet him,\" said Mother Mit-chee. \"He doesn't know you, so\nI'll go ahead. Then he won't be frightened.\"\n\nSo they went through the woods, Mother Mit-chee in the lead, till they\ncame in sight of the Father Partridge. He was standing on a fallen log\nand drumming. Just how he did it the little boy could not tell. He\nflapped his wings like a rooster, and seemed to beat the log or his own\nsides. As the little boy watched him, he thought that perhaps the sound\nwas made by Father Mit-chee's wings striking together over his back.\nWhen he saw Mother Mit-chee coming, he walked up and down the log very\nproudly. Then he stopped and drummed louder than ever.\n\n\"Well,\" said Mother Mit-chee, \"so you've come back at last, have you?\nHere are your children. Don't they look as if I had taken good care of\nthem?\"\n\n\"Why, yes,\" replied Father Mit-chee, \"they're looking pretty well. I've\nheard of you several times, and knew that you were getting along all\nright. But who's that over yonder?\" he asked, as he caught sight of\nLittle Luke.\n\n\"Oh,\" answered Mother Mit-chee, \"you've heard of him before. He's the\nboy who found the Magic Flower, and learned the animal talk.\"\n\nThat was the way little Luke came to know Father Mit-chee.\n\n\n\n\nXXIII. THE STORY OF THE FIRST PARTRIDGE\n\n\n\"Father Mit-Chee,\" said little Luke one day as the two were sitting\ntogether on the drumming log, \"can't you tell me a story?\"\n\n\"Why, yes,\" said Father Mit-chee, \"I suppose I might, I might tell you\nthe story of the first partridge.\"\n\nLong, long ago an Indian was hunting in the woods. As he went along, he\nheard a noise as of people jumping and dancing on hard ground. \"That is\nqueer,\" said he to himself. \"I will go and see what is going on.\"\n\nSo he turned his steps in the direction of the sound, and went on\nthrough the forest swiftly but silently. Though at the first the noise\nhad seemed to come from a place near at hand, it was a long time before\nhe came in sight of the dancers. They were a man and a woman, and they\nwere jumping and dancing about a tree, in the top of which was Hes-puns\nthe Raccoon.\n\nNow all three of them, the raccoon as well as the man and woman, were\nmagicians. The man and the woman were enemies to the other, and as their\nmagic was stronger than his, he had turned himself into a raccoon to\nescape them.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe hunter did not know this. He went toward them, and as he drew near,\nhe saw that the dancers had worn a ditch waist-deep about the tree.\n\nHe went up to them and asked them why they did this strange thing.\n\nNow the man and the woman did not want the hunter to know the truth of\nthe matter. So they said, \"We are trying to wear away the earth from the\nroot of this tree, so that we can get it down and catch Hes-puns, We are\nhungry and we have no tomahawk.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the hunter, \"I have a good tomahawk and I will cut down the\ntree for you. But you must give me the skin of Hes-puns.\"\n\nThey agreed to this, and the hunter soon brought the tree to the ground.\nThey caught the raccoon and killed and skinned him. Then they gave the\nskin to the hunter, who went home.\n\nA few days after this, the hunter saw a stranger coming toward his\nlodge. On his head he wore a strange kind of cap which looked like a\nsmall wigwam. When the hunter went out to meet him, the stranger took\noff his cap and set it upon the ground. At once it grew larger and\nlarger until it became a beautiful lodge with several fine rooms in it.\n\nThe hunter was greatly amazed, but invited the stranger into his own\nlodge and set food before him. While eating, the visitor chanced to see\nthe pelt of Hes-puns hanging on one of the lodge poles.\n\nNow he was a magician and the brother of the one who had turned himself\ninto a raccoon. As soon as he saw the skin, he knew it by certain marks\nto be the skin of his brother, and supposed that the hunter had killed\nhim. So he thought, how he might be revenged upon him.\n\n\"That is a fine pelt you have there,\" said he to the hunter. \"I should\nlike to buy it.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" replied the hunter, \"it is a fine one, but I do not care to sell\nit.\"\n\n\"I will give you more than it is worth,\" said the magician. And he\noffered everything that he had except his magic wigwam.\n\n\"No, I do not care to sell it,\" answered the hunter to each new offer.\nBut finally, he said, \"If you will give me that fine lodge of yours, you\nmay have the skin.\"\n\n\"It's a bargain,\" said the magician; \"the lodge is yours. But you must\nkeep me overnight. We will sleep in your new lodge, which is much finer\nand better furnished than this.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" replied the hunter, \"but you must show me how to carry my\nnew lodge upon my head as you did.\"\n\n\"Oh, that is easy,\" returned the magician, \"you just pick it up and put\nit on your head. Come out and try it now.\"\n\nThe hunter went out and picked up the lodge and put it upon his head. He\nfound he could carry it easily, for it was as light as a wicker basket.\n\nWhen he put it upon the ground, it at once grew as large as before. So\nthe hunter and his wife and the stranger went into the lodge. Its new\nowner was greatly pleased with it. It contained several large rooms, in\none of which was a very fine bed covered with a white bear skin. On that\nbed the hunter and his wife lay down to sleep, while the stranger found\na bed in another room.\n\nIn the morning when the hunter and his wife awoke, they were more\ndelighted than ever with their new lodge. It seemed large and airy, and\nfrom the beams high above their heads hung all kinds of things good to\neat. There were ducks and geese, rabbits and venison, ears of corn, and\nbags of maple sugar.\n\nIn their joy, the man and his wife sprang out of bed and made a jump\ntoward the dainties. At once the white bear skin melted and ran away,\nfor it was nothing but the snow of winter. At the same time, their arms\nspread out into wings, and they flew up to the food, which was only the\nearly buds of the birch tree on which they hung. For the magician had\ncast a spell upon the man and the woman and they had become partridges\nand had been sheltering themselves from the storms of winter under a\nsnowdrift, after the manner of their kind, and now came forth to greet\nthe pleasant spring.\n\nAnd these two were the first partridges, the foreparents of all the\npartridges that are now in the world.\n\n\"That is a strange story,\" said the little boy. \"I thank you for telling\nit. But now I must go home. Good-bye for to-day.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXIV. WHY PARTRIDGES DRUM\n\n\nA few days later little Luke went up into the woods again. As he walked\nalong the trail, he heard Father Mit-chee drumming. He knew where the\ndrumming log was, so he went over to it and sat down on one end.\n\n\"Father Mit-chee,\" said he, when the old partridge had finished, \"I\nnoticed a queer thing about your drumming. One day I heard Old John\npounding on a canoe he was building. At a distance your drumming sounded\njust like his pounding. Why was that?\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Father Mit-chee, \"I suppose it was because Grandfather\nMit-chee, the first partridge, was a canoe builder. When he stopped\nbuilding canoes he kept up his drumming.\"\n\n\"Tell me about it, please,\" said the little boy.\n\n\"All right,' said Father Mit-chee, and he began this story.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"In the olden days, Mit-chee the Partridge was the canoe builder for all\nthe birds. Once upon a time they all came together on the bank of the\nriver, and each one got into his own bark. Truly that was a fine sight\nto see!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Kit-chee the Great Eagle paddled off first, using the ends of his broad\nwings. After him went Ko-ko-ka the Owl; Kusk the Crane; Wee-so-wee the\nBluebird; and Chip-sis the Blackbird. Even tiny A-la-moo the Humming\nBird had a neat little boat. But his wings were so small that Mit-chee\nhad made for him a dainty little paddle. Some of the birds thought it\nrather too large, for it was almost an inch long. So the fleet of canoes\nstood bravely out to sea, and after a pleasant voyage returned safely to\nland.\n\n\"Now the partridge had not taken part in the voyage, for he had built no\ncanoe for himself. 'It's great sport,' said the other birds, on their\nreturn. 'Why didn't you build a canoe for yourself?' But Mit-chee only\nlooked wise and drummed upon the log on which he was sitting, and the\nsound was the sound of one making a canoe.'\n\n\"But the birds kept asking him to build a canoe for himself and join\nthem. At last he remarked that he was about to do so, and that when he\nhad finished it, it would be a wonder, something new such as no eye had\never before beheld.\n\n\"Then he went off into the woods by himself and was seen no more for\nseveral days. When he came back, he invited all the birds to come and\nsee his wonderful canoe,--one he had built for himself on an entirely\nnew plan.\n\n\"Now Mit-chee had reasoned that if a boat having two ends could be rowed\nin two ways, one which was all ends (that is, round) could be rowed in\nevery direction. So he had made a canoe exactly like a nest, perfectly\nround. When the honest feathered folk saw this, they were greatly amazed\nand wondered that so simple a thing had not occurred to all of them.\n\n\"But when Mit-chee got into his new canoe and began to paddle, their\nwonder turned into amusement, for he made no headway at all. However\nhard he worked, the canoe simply turned round and round.\n\n\"After wearying himself, and all in vain, he went ashore, and flew off\nfar inland. There he hid himself for shame under the low bushes in the\nwoods, and there he has lived ever since. But at certain seasons, when\nhe thought no one was looking, he would get upon a dead log and drum\nwith his wings, and the sound was like the sound which he used to make\nwhen he was building canoes.\n\n\"And so his children have always done since that day.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXXV. MOTHER WA-POOSE AND OLD BOZE THE HOUND\n\n\nUp at the edge of the woods the wood-cutters had felled a tree into the\nopen pasture. As they trimmed the trunk, they threw the smaller branches\ninto a big pile. Uncle Mark intended to burn them when they became dry\nenough, but forgot all about it. There they had lain for years, till\nthey were dead and covered with moss. Over the heap of half-rotted\nbrushwood a tangle of wild vines had spread, and up through them a\nthicket of blackberry bushes had grown.\n\nThis was just the place for a rabbit nest. Mother Wa-poose could squat\nanywhere in the pile and her brown coat would blend with the dead brush\nso perfectly that only the keenest eye could see her. No hawk or owl\ncould swoop through such a tangle of vines and brush, and no fox or dog\ncould creep through the close-set hedge of thorny blackberry bushes\nwithout losing a good deal of his hide.\n\nThrough the thicket Mother Wa-poose cut two or three paths just wide\nenough for herself, but not big enough for a dog or a fox. In the middle\nof the brush pile, she dug a little round hollow about a foot across and\nlined it with coarse grass. On the top of this she placed another lining\nof finer grass. Then she filled the hollow quite full of soft fur from\nher own coat. No bird's nest could be cosier or safer. To be sure, it\nwas on the ground, but the land sloped and no water could settle into\nit.\n\nOne day as little Luke was passing by the brush pile, his keen eye saw\nMother Wa-poose. \"There,\" said he to himself, \"is just the place for a\nrabbit's nest. I'll take a look at Mother Wa-poose's babies.\"\n\nSo he got down on his hands and knees, pulled the bushes apart, and\ncrept into the thicket. He saw the nest, but could not get quite to it\nbecause of the sharp thorns on the blackberry bushes.\n\n\"Good morning, Man-cub,\" said Mother Wa-poose.\n\n\"Good morning, Mother Wa-poose,\" said little Luke; \"don't be afraid,\nI only want to take a look at your babies.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm not afraid,\" said Mother Wa-poose. \"None of us are afraid of\nyou any more. Look all you want to. But don't come any nearer. I am\nafraid you will open a path for Kee-wuk the Red Fox, or for Old Boze the\nHound. Both of them have been around here several times. They know that\nI and my babies are here, but they can't get in. Old Boze tried it the\nother day, but went back to the house with a pair of bloody ears for\nhis pains.\"\n\n\"Yes, I noticed his ears,\" said little Luke, \"and wondered what he had\nbeen up to.\"\n\nThe little boy sat down as comfortably as he could and looked at Mother\nWa-poose and her babies.\n\n\"Mother Wa-poose,\" said he after a while, \"what makes you wriggle your\nnose so?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Mother Wa-poose, \"I do that to keep my smeller clear. You see\nwe have so many enemies that we have to be on the watch all the time,\nand I can smell a fox or a dog almost as far as I can see them. You\nsee I always sit with my nose to the wind, and my ears in the other\ndirection. My nose tells me who is coming in front; my ears tell me who\nis coming from behind; and my eyes keep watch on both sides. I sleep\nmost of the day, but my eyes, my ears, and my nose are always awake.\nWhy, I knew you were coming almost half an hour ago. My nose told me.\nIt is only in such a place as this that my three sentinels ever get\nany rest.\n\n\"When I haven't any babies to care for, I like to sit in a more open\nplace in the sun. So long as I have a chance to run each way, I am not\nmuch afraid of anybody. And if it wasn't for the men with their dreadful\nfire-sticks, we of the Wa-poose family would have a pretty safe and easy\ntime of it.\"\n\nJust then the deep bay of a hound was heard. \"There,\" said Mother\nWa-poose, \"there's Old Boze now. Would you like to see how I can fool\nhim?\"\n\n\"I would indeed,\" said little Luke, \"if you are not afraid. Old Boze is\na wise, old hound, and he may catch you.\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm not afraid of that,\" said Mother Wa-poose. \"You just sit here\nwhere you can see, and I'll go down there and give Old Boze the time of\nhis life. I think he must be trailing me now by the sound. I was down in\nthe garden last night after a meal of cabbage leaves, and I suppose he\nhas found my track.\"\n\nMother Wa-poose sprang out of her hiding place and went down the slope\nten feet at a bound. She crossed her old track near the pasture bars and\nhopped slowly on to the edge of the blackberry patch. There she sat till\nshe was sure that Old Boze had found her new trail. Then she skipped\nhere and there through the briar patch till she came out on the other\nside. With a great leap she cleared the fence and ran on down through\nthe cornfield. When she was clear of that, she ran along beside the\nstone wall till she came to the creek. Over the creek she went at one\nleap; then down through the alder bushes till she came back again into\nthe pasture. Two or three times she crossed the brook. Then she came\naround up through the woods to the brush pile, where little Luke was\nsitting. From its lower edge there was a good view all down through the\npasture. There Mother Wa-poose sat up and watched the old hound, her\nbig, round eyes shining with glee.\n\nOld Boze followed her trail into the blackberry thicket. Round and round\nhe followed the scent, pushing his way through the stout bushes. Every\nbush was armed with a thousand sharp hooks, and every hook clung to the\nold hound's skin. He fairly whimpered with pain. Now and then he gave\ntongue, until at last he came out on the other side. But his ears were\nin tatters and blood drops oozed from his skin in a thousand places.\n\nAt the fence he was balked. Up and down beside the fence he ran several\ntimes, nosing the ground for the scent.\n\n\"Look at him! Look at him,\" said Mother Wa-poose, fairly shaking her\nsides with laughter. \"Isn't he a sight? But that won't teach him\nanything. He'll do it the next time. Rabbit chasing must be lots of fun\nfor him.\"\n\n\"I really do think he enjoys it,\" said little Luke.\n\nOld Boze jumped over the fence and found the trail again. He followed\nit until he came to the creek. There he was puzzled. But he crossed the\nbrook and found the trail at last. Over in the pasture he lost it again.\nMother Wa-poose had been too cunning for him this time. After nosing the\nground in all directions for a long time in vain, the old hound gave it\nup, and went back to the house.\n\n\"You see,\" said Mother Wa-poose, \"if it wasn't for the fire-sticks, the\nhounds would not bother us much. Why will the house people be so cruel\nto us? We never harm them. Last fall the fire-sticks killed six of my\nchildren.\" And Mother Wa-poose's eyes filled with tears at the thought.\n\n\"It is too bad,\" said little Luke, \"but Uncle Mark says that if some of\nthe rabbits weren't killed off every year, they'd soon eat all the grass\nfrom the sheep and cows, and we wouldn't be able to raise any cabbages\nor turnips at all. Besides, you know, the house people like rabbit's\nflesh to eat. I used to eat it myself, but I'll never do it any more.\"\n\n\"How dreadful!\" said Mother Wa-poose. \"I don't see how anybody can eat\nflesh. Clover, or a nice, tender cabbage leaf is a good deal better.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXVI. MOTHER WA-POOSE AND OLD KLAWS THE HOUSE CAT\n\n\nA few days after little Luke saw something that gave him a new feeling\nof respect for Mother Wa-poose.\n\nHe was going up to make her another visit. As he came near the brush\npile, he heard a thump! thump! thump! \"That's Mother Wa-poose,\" said he\nto himself, \"and she's angry about something. I wonder what can be the\nmatter.\"\n\nHe went around to the other side of the brush pile and then he knew.\nThere was Old Klaws the House Cat, his tail twitching and his round eyes\nshining hungrily.\n\nJust as the boy caught sight of the old cat, Mother Wa-poose sprang out\nof the thicket. She sprang straight at Old Klaws. The cat snarled and\nshrank to one side. But Mother Wa-poose was too quick for him. As she\nwent over, she struck him a sounding thwack with her hind feet. It\nfairly made the old cat's ribs crack, and he rolled over and over down\nthe slope. In a second he sprang up, snarling and spitting. Again Mother\nWa-poose sprang at him. This time she hit him squarely on the side of\nthe head. Old Klaws went down, rolling over several times before he\ncould right himself. The last thwack took all the fight out of him. He\nscrambled to his feet and went flying down the hillside at his best\nspeed.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"There,\" said old Mother Wa-poose, \"I guess he'll know enough to keep\naway from here after this.\"\n\n\"Why, Mother Wa-poose,\" said the little boy, \"I didn't know that you\nwere such a fighter.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Mother Wa-poose, \"we of the Wa-poose family never fight if\nwe can help it. We'd rather run. But we aren't really afraid of anything\nour size. And this time I couldn't run. If I had, Old Klaws would surely\nhave carried off one of my babies. He got one of them this spring. You\nremember the one you took away from him. He is grown up and has gone out\ninto the world for himself now. You know we Wa-pooses have three or four\nfamilies each year.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXXVII. THE RABBIT DANCE\n\n\n\"Would you like to see a rabbit dance?\" asked Father Wa-poose one day in\nSeptember.\n\n\"Indeed, I should,\" replied little Luke.\n\n\"Come out to-night then,\" said Wa-poose, \"and sit down in the shadow of\nthe stone wall in the corner of the clover field. There you will see\nsomething you have never seen before.\"\n\n\"I'll be there,\" said the boy.\n\nThat night little Luke went up to his room early. He took off his shoes\nand threw them heavily upon the floor, and blew out the light. Then he\njumped upon his bed, so that it creaked loudly. Without taking off his\nclothes, he got under the blankets, and when Aunt Martha looked in, he\nseemed to be sound asleep. She did not look into the closet to see\nwhether his clothes were hanging up there or not.\n\nWhen he thought Aunt Martha had gone to bed, the little boy got up\nquietly, took his shoes in his hand, and slipped softly down the back\nstairs. Silently he unlocked and opened the kitchen door, and went out\ninto the moonlight.\n\nHe did not feel that he was doing quite right, but he was afraid to ask\nAunt Martha. You see he was afraid that she might ask questions, which\nhe could not answer without telling about the Magic Flower and his wild\nfriends.\n\nHe went over to the clover field and sat down in the corner of the stone\nfence where some bushes hid him from view.\n\nFor some time nothing happened. Pretty soon he heard a queer thump!\nthump! thump! He looked up and there was old Father Wa-poose close\nbeside him. He had come into the field so quietly that little Luke had\nnot heard a sound.\n\n\"Hi! hi! there you are, Man-cub,\" said the old rabbit. \"Now you sit\nvery still, and you'll see something worth seeing. Of course we are not\nreally afraid of you, but if some of the young folks should see you,\nthey might get nervous. I'll just go out and get my supper, and when the\nfun begins I'll come back and keep you company. I don't care much for\ndancing. I leave that mostly to the young people.\"\n\nSoon from all sides, rabbits came leaping over the fence into the field.\nThere were young rabbits and old rabbits, big rabbits and little\nrabbits.\n\nSometimes one of them would stop and thump the ground with his hind\nfeet. This seemed to be a signal; for when one thumped, another would\ncome hopping toward him. The two would touch noses and then turn to on\nthe sweet, young clover, that had grown up since the July mowing.\n\nTheir feast lasted for an hour or more. Then the fun began. Several\nof them would hop close together in the centre of the field. Then they\nwould skip slowly about in a sort of stately dance. Little by little the\nmovement became faster and faster until they were spinning around like\na pinwheel in a brisk breeze. Round and round they went until it made\nlittle Luke's head dizzy to watch them.\n\nSuddenly a rabbit stamped with his hind feet,--thump! thump! thump!\nInstantly every rabbit squatted motionless. It was a danger signal, but\na false one. Nothing happened.\n\nSoon the fun began again. Several of the rabbits had a game of tag.\nRound and round they went, leaping ten feet or more at each bound.\nSometimes in the midst of their race, one of them would take a sky-hop.\nUp straight into the air he would go as if he were trying to reach the\nmoon.\n\n\"Why do they do that?\" asked little Luke of Father Wa-poose, who had\ncome back and was sitting quietly beside him.\n\n\"They do that,\" answered the old rabbit, \"to get a clear look all\naround them. You know we always have to be on the lookout for our foes.\"\n\nNot far from little Luke two rabbits were having a boxing match. They\nstood up to each other just like men. Little Luke could hear a soft\nspat, spat, spat, as the blows went home. Their paws were so soft that\nthe blows did not hurt and it was great fun.\n\nSuddenly thump! thump! thump! sounded the danger signal again. Not for\nnothing this time! Ko-ko-ka the Great Owl came sailing over the clover\nfield as silently as a ghost. But for all his great eyes, the old owl\ncould not see a single rabbit. Neither could little Luke.\n\n\"Where have they all gone to?\" he asked Father Wa-poose.\n\n\"Oh,\" said he, \"they're all there. So long as they sit perfectly still\nold Ko-ko-ka can't see them.\"\n\n\"Why didn't they run away?\" asked little Luke.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"What's the use?\" replied the old rabbit; \"so long as we know he is\ncoming, we aren't afraid of Ko-ko-ka. If he should swoop at one of them,\nhe'd just give a bound and get out of danger. Old Ko-ko-ka can't catch\na rabbit who knows he's coming. It's the way he comes that makes us fear\nhim. His wings are covered with down and do not make a sound. That's the\nreason we all dread him so. Ugh! I fairly shiver when I think of him. He\nnearly got me once. His sharp claws scratched my ears.\"\n\nKo-ko-ka was very hungry. He knew the rabbits were in that meadow, and\nhated to go off without one. While Wa-poose had been talking, he had\nbeen sailing slowly round the field. Now he was coming back again.\n\nAs he flew over little Luke's head he looked down. Perhaps he saw a\nslight movement as little Luke tried to look up at him. Instantly he\nswooped and his sharp claws struck the little boy's hat.\n\n\"Hi, there!\" said little Luke in astonishment. It was Ko-ko-ka's turn to\nbe astonished now. He dropped the hat, flapped his great wings, and\nfloated off towards the woods.\n\nLittle Luke left his hat where it fell and waited to see what the\nrabbits would do. After a short time the fun began again. There were two\nyoung ones that little Luke noticed in particular. They began their race\nin the middle of the field. Round and round they went and each time\nround their circles became larger.\n\nNow on the other side of the clover field there was an open gap in the\nfence. All at once the danger signal sounded again. Thump! thump! thump!\nAgain every rabbit squatted, with ears and eyes alert to catch sound or\nsight of an enemy.\n\nIt was too late. Through the gate bounded a ball of reddish, yellow fur.\nSnap! And the teeth of Kee-wuk the Red Fox had seized one of the young\nrabbits by the neck. Swinging the limp body over his shoulders, he\ntrotted quietly off through the gap.\n\nThat ended the fun. As they saw the Red Fox every rabbit sprang to his\nfeet, and with a hop, skip, and jump went over the fence and out of the\nclover field. And little Luke saw them no more that night.\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII. WHY THE WILD FOLK NO LONGER TALK THE MAN-TALK\n\n\nNow in his talks with his wild friends little Luke noticed that they\nused many Indian words such as he had learned from Old John the Indian.\n\n\"Why is it,\" said he, one day to Wa-poose, \"that you wild folk use so\nmany of the Red Men's words?\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the old rabbit, \"that is a long story. But if you will sit\ndown here beside me, I will tell you about it.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"In the first days,\" said Wa-poose, \"when the world was new, the men and\nthe wild folk were much alike. They all spoke one language.\n\n\"In those days it was always summer. All the year round the grass was\ngreen and the flowers bloomed. Twelve times a year the vines and bushes\nand trees bore fresh blossoms, and twelve times a year they were loaded\nwith ripe berries, fruits, and nuts.\n\n\"In those times there was no hunting and no killing. All the wild\nkindreds lived in peace with each other and with the Red Men, who then\ndwelt in this land. You see there was plenty to eat and the weather was\nso warm and pleasant that the Red Men did not need the skins of their\nwild brothers to keep them from the cold.\n\n\"But after a while a change came. Pe-boan the dreadful Winter King came\ndown from the North and made war upon Ni-pon the Queen of Summer. After\nmany battles peace was made and the year was divided; half the year was\nruled by the Queen of Summer, and half by the Winter King.\n\n\"Now it came to pass that after the war was over the vines and bushes\nand trees put forth their buds and blossomed and bore fruit but once a\nyear. The Red Men and the wild kindreds suffered dreadfully from hunger,\nand their hearts became hard and cruel. Then the hunting and the killing\nbegan. The Red Men hunted many of the wild kindreds for their flesh and\ntheir fur, and the wild kindreds began to kill and devour each other.\nAnd so it has been since that day.\n\n\"In those times the Wa-poose folk were much larger than they are now,\neven as large as Mo-ween the Bear. But they refused to take part in the\nkilling and flesh eating, and so they suffered more from hunger than\nsome of the wild kindreds. Year by year, on account of the scarcity of\nfood, the Wa-poose folk became smaller until they were as you see them\nnow.\n\n\"In the beginning, as I have said, the Red Men and the wild kindreds\nspoke one language. Even to this day, the Red hunters have kept many of\nthe watchwords of the wild folk, and by means of them are able to\ndeceive and kill them.\n\n\"Now by reason of the great slaughter that was made by the Red Men, the\nwild kindreds gathered themselves together in a great council to discuss\ntheir condition. After much talk they decided to ask help of the Master\nof Life.\n\n\"'There is but one way,' said he, when he had heard their story, 'you\nmust change your speech. Then the Red Men will no longer be able to\ndeceive you so easily and slay so many of you.'\n\n\"The wild folk did as the Master of Life told them to do. They changed\ntheir language, and refused to speak any longer with the Red Men. But\nsome of the Red Men's words they have kept to this day, and that is why\nyou hear us use them.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXIX. THE TALE OF SUN-KA THE WISE DOG\n\n\nOne day Old John the Indian came down the trail to the farmhouse. He was\non his way to town to sell some baskets. As Uncle Mark was going to town\nwith the team, he invited him to ride. Since the town was several miles\naway, the old Indian gladly accepted the invitation, leaving Ke-ha-ga\nhis old hound at the farmhouse.\n\nIn the afternoon little Luke was sitting on the fence when old Ke-ha-ga\ncame over to him. Putting his front paws on top of the fence, he licked\nthe little boy's hand.\n\n\"Hello, Ke-ha-ga,\" said little Luke, \"so you have come out to see me,\nhave you? Can't you tell me a story?\" he added as he gently patted the\nold hound's head.\n\n\"What kind of a story do you want?\" asked the old dog.\n\n\"Oh, most any kind will do,\" said the boy. \"Tell me a story about some\ndog of the olden, days,--the days before the white men came to this\ncountry.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Ke-ha-ga, \"I'll tell you a legend that my grandfather\ntold to me when I was a puppy.\" And he began the following tale.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Many winters ago there was a wise dog whose name was Sun-ka. He lived\nwith an old Indian woman. Now Sun-ka was a good hunter, and often\nbrought home to the lodge rabbits and other small animals which he had\nhunted and caught by himself.\n\n\"But his mistress was a bad, greedy old woman. She took all the game\nwhich he brought, and used it for herself. What she could not eat at\nonce, she dried and put away for another time. To Sun-ka she gave only\nthe bones and other poor scraps, so that most of the time he was half\nstarved.\n\n\"At last there came a season when game was very scarce. The old woman,\nit is true, had plenty of dried meat in her wigwam, but she gave none of\nit to Sun-ka. He almost died of starvation.\n\n\"At last he said to himself, 'Why should that old woman have plenty to\neat, and I scarcely anything at all? Most of the meat which she has\nhidden in her lodge, I caught for her myself. It is as much mine as it\nis hers. Since she will not give me my share of it, I'll just take it\nwithout asking her.'\n\n\"But the old woman was very watchful. When Sun-ka tried to get the meat,\nshe beat him over the head with a club until he ran away yelping with\npain.\n\n\"The next morning one of his dog friends came to visit him. 'Good\nmorning, Sun-ka,' said he, but Sun-ka made no reply. Indeed, his head\nwas so swelled from the blows he had received, that he could hardly open\nhis mouth.\n\n\"'Well, well,' said his friend, after looking him over carefully, 'you\nseem to be in a sad case. What has happened to you?'\n\n\"'Oh,' replied Sun-ka, speaking with difficulty, 'I tried to get my\nshare of the meat, which my mistress has in her lodge, and she beat me\nfor it. She beat me till I am stiff and sore, and can scarcely move.'\n\n\"'Well,' said his friend, 'I wouldn't stand it if I were you. The meat\nis just as much yours as it is hers. You caught most of it yourself and\nyou helped her to catch the rest of it, I'll tell you what we'll do;\nwell pay her off for it. I'll go and call our friends; I'll call\nRainmaker, Stillbiter, Strongneck, and Sharptooth.' And so he did.\n\n\"Rainmaker caused it to rain, and it rained all the day through until\ndark, and when it was dark it was very dark. Then Stillbiter crept up\nsoftly to the lodge and bit off all the thongs which fastened the\ncovering to the lodge poles.\n\n\"When this was done, Strongneck crept in and seized the meat and carried\nit away. Then Sharptooth ripped open the bag which held the meat, and\nbefore morning the six dogs ate it all up.\n\n\"When the meat was all gone, Sun-ka ran away and became a wild dog. What\nbecame of the old Indian woman I do not know.\"\n\n\"Served her right,\" said the little boy. \"If she hadn't been so stingy\nwith her meat, she wouldn't have lost it. And Sun-ka would have stayed\nwith her to help catch more.\"\n\n\n\n\nXXX. HOW THE DOG'S TONGUE BECAME LONG\n\n\nIt was hot. Little Luke sat on the doorstep in the shade. Over in the\npasture Old Boze the Hound gave tongue. He was at his favorite sport of\ntrailing rabbits all by himself. He really didn't have any spite against\nthe rabbits, but when he struck a fresh trail, he felt that he just must\nfollow it. And when he had puzzled out a balk or break in the trait, he\ncouldn't for the life of him keep still.\n\nBut it was really too hot for trailing, especially when there was\nnothing in it but fun. The old hound would have stuck to it longer if\nSam the hired man had been around somewhere, hiding behind the bushes\nwith his thundering fire-stick. Old Boze wasn't afraid of the\nfire-stick. He liked to hear it roar, and see the poor rabbits fall\nbefore its deadly breath.\n\nWell, after a while he gave it up and came back to the house. Going\naround to the doorstep, he lay down on the cool porch with his head\nclose to the little boy's shoulder. He was tired, and his dripping\ntongue hung far out from his open mouth. The little boy looked at it.\n\n\"Old Boze,\" said he, \"what a long tongue you have. Why is it that dogs\nhave such long tongues?\"\n\nOld Boze shifted his eves uneasily and looked the other way, but said\nnothing.\n\n\"Come, now,\" said the little boy, \"I am sure there is a story about that\nlong, red tongue of yours.\"\n\n\"To be sure there is,\" said a voice that came from just behind the boy's\near. He looked around and there was Old Klaws the House Cat.\n\n\"What do you know about it?\" asked the little boy.\n\n\"Oh, I know all about it,\" answered the old cat. \"But ask Old Boze,\" he\nwent on with a grin, \"perhaps he'll tell you.\"\n\nOld Boze got up slowly and with dignity. \"I am too tired to tell\nstories,\" said he, \"but I'm not too tired to shake the foolishness out\nof a cat.\"\n\n\"Here now,\" said the little boy, \"no quarreling and fighting. I won't\nhave it. And Klaws shall tell me that story about your long, red tongue,\nif he will.\"\n\n\"To be sure I will,\" said Old Klaws, delighted to be able to tease Old\nBoze safely. Of course there was another time coming when little Luke\nmight not be at hand, but then the old cat trusted to speed and sharp\nclaws to put himself up a tree and out of the reach of the old hound.\n\n\"All right,\" said Old Boze, \"if you're fond of the company of a\nsneaking, mouse-eating, old tabby. I'm not. I'll take myself off. But\nmy memory is good,\" he added, glancing at Old Klaws with a snarl that\nshowed all his sharp, white teeth.\n\n\"Well, now for the story,\" said the little boy, when Old Boze was out of\nsight around the corner.\n\n\"Long, long ago,\" began Old Klaws, \"when all the animal kindreds could\ntalk the man-talk, the dogs were the greatest telltales in the world.\nThey told everything they knew, and sometimes a great deal more. Their\nmasters often flogged them for tattling, but it did little or no good.\n\n\"In those days there was a great hunter whose name was Man-e-do. He\nwanted a dog to help him hunt, but he did not want a tattletale. So he\ntook a fine, young pup, and tried to bring him up to be a good hunter\nand to keep his tongue. He took good care of him. He often told him how\nfoolish it was to tell everything he knew. The pup would promise not to\ntattle, but he was only a dog, and blood will tell after all.\n\n\"When the pup was big enough, his master took him with him when he went\nhunting for small game. The dog was a good trailer by this time, and\ntogether they killed many rabbits and other small animals.\n\n\"But when they went home, the dog couldn't hold his tongue. He would\nbrag to the other dogs, and tell them what a great hunter he was, and\nhow at such and such a place he had caught the biggest rabbits that ever\nwere seen. Then the other dogs would lead their masters to those places\nand clear them of game. Whenever Man-e-do went to a place a second time,\nhe found no game there.\n\n\"Besides, if they were hunting near the village and made a kill, the dog\nwould pretend to go off after more game. But when he was out of sight of\nhis master, he would run home and tell some of his chums about his kill.\nThen the other dogs and their masters would come out and kill or scare\naway all the game there was in that place. Many times Man-e-do caught\nthe dog tattling, and scolded and beat him for it, but it did no good.\nHe just couldn't keep anything to himself.\n\n\"One time Man-e-do went off on a long hunt. He took three horses and\ntraveled several days before making his camp. He thought he would get so\nfar away that the dog could not go back to the village and tattle.\n\n\"While hunting in the mountains near his camp, he found a valley which\nwas full of game. There he made many kills, and soon had all the meat\nhis three horses could possibly carry.\n\n\"'To-morrow,' said he to his dog, 'we will start for home. When we get\nthere, you must keep your tongue in your mouth. You must not tell where\nwe have been. If the other hunters do not find our valley, we can come\nback at any time and get all the meat we want.'\n\n\"'All right,' said the dog, 'I'll keep the secret.'\n\n\"'See that you do,' added his master; 'for if you don't, I'll make you\nsorry for it.'\n\n\"The next morning they started for home. That night they camped beside a\nbrook. At daybreak Man-e-do arose and made ready to start, but the dog\nwas nowhere to be seen.\n\n\"'Where can he be?' said he to himself. 'Surely he has not gone home to\nthe village.' You see, he thought that at last he had broken the dog of\nhis tattling. Why then should he go on ahead?\n\n\"So he turned about and went back to his camp near the valley. The dog\nwas not there. 'Perhaps,' thought he, 'a bear or a panther has killed\nhim.'\n\n\"So he turned about and went home to his wigwam alone. There he found\nthe dog as well as ever. He had been home a long time, and told all he\nknew about the valley of game and more too. According to his stories, he\nand his master had killed more game than had ever been seen before, and\nthere was plenty more in the valley yet. All the hunters in the village\nwere getting ready to go there to hunt.\n\n\"Man-e-do was very angry. He caught the dog, and gave him the worst\nwhipping any dog ever had. 'I'll stop your tattling,' said he. And he\ncaught the dog by the tongue and pulled it nearly out of his mouth. Then\nhe shoved a round stick back into his mouth and tied his mouth shut over\nit.\n\n\"He left the stick there for a long time. When he took it out, the dog's\nmouth was larger, and his tongue longer than any dog's mouth and tongue\nhad ever been before.\n\n\"Since that time, all dogs have had big mouths and long tongues.\n\n\"But,\" added Old Klaws, \"they don't tattle as much as they did before.\"\n\nWhile Old Klaws had been telling this story, Old Boze had been lying in\nthe shade and resting. After a while, he thought to himself, \"I'll give\nthat old mouser a scare and I'll do it before little Luke can hinder\nme.\"\n\nSo he got up and walked silently around to the corner of the porch. With\none foot raised, he stopped scarcely three feet from Old Klaws, who was\nsitting on the end of the top step.\n\nJust as the old cat finished his story, Old Boze sprang toward him\nwith a loud, \"Bow-wow-wow.\" The old cat bounded as if he were made of\nIndia-rubber of the best quality. Such a cat-jump the little boy had\nnever seen before. The first leap carried Old Klaws far out on the\ngarden walk, and in the twinkling of an eye he was among the topmost\nbranches of the old pear tree. When he felt himself safe, he turned\nround and began to spit and snarl and say bad words at Old Boze, who was\nlooking at him with his long tongue hanging out of his mouth, and his\nface all wrinkled up into a broad grin.\n\nLittle Luke had jumped almost as lively as Old Klaws, but when he saw\nwho it was and took in the old cat's language, and the old dog's funny\nlooking face, he lay down on the porch and laughed till the tears came.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXXXI. THE STORY OF THE FAITHFUL DOG\n\n\n\"Dear Old Boze,\" said the little boy, after the fun was over, \"can't you\ntell me a story of the old days?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" replied the old hound, \"I can. And since Old Klaws has told you\nabout one dog, I'll tell you about another.\"\n\n\"Once upon a time,\" went on the old hound, \"there was an Indian hunter\nwho had a dog that he loved very dearly. And the dog on his part loved\nhis master more than his own life.\n\n\"For many years, master and dog hunted together. When night came they\nate of the same food, and shared the same bed. Many and many a time,\neach saved the life of the other. At last both began to grow old.\n\n\"One morning in winter a stranger entered their lodge. 'I am the\nMan-i-tou of Death,' said he to the hunter. 'The Master of Life has sent\nme to summon you to the Happy Hunting Ground. Make ready at once, for\nwhen the sun rises for the third time, you must set forth.'\n\n\"'It is well,' replied the hunter, 'the summons shall be obeyed.'\n\n\"At once he began to make ready. He danced the death dance and sang the\ndeath song. His wife and his two sons mourned and wept, and the dog\njoined in the death chant.\n\n\"On the third morning, the hunter was ready to depart on the long\njourney from which he could never return.\n\n\"'Alas, my husband,' said his wife, 'I cannot live without you. I will\ngo with you. Where you are, there will I be also.' And so also said his\ntwo sons.\n\n\"The hunter tried to comfort them, and to persuade them to remain until\nthey too should be summoned by the Master of Life. But they refused to\nbe comforted, and at last they all set forth.\n\n\"Meanwhile the dog had said nothing. But when they started, he was close\nat the heels of his master.\n\n\"Day after day they traveled toward the south-west. Alter a time, they\nentered a desert land, where water was scarce and there was no game.\nSoon they began to be hungry as well as weary.\n\n\"The younger boy's strength and courage gave out, and he turned and\nfollowed the trail back to the wigwam.\n\n\"A little farther, and the older son said, 'Alas, my father, I am\nfamished, and my strength has gone from me. I will return and seek my\nyounger brother. When I have found him and we have rested and eaten, we\nwill come and overtake you.' So he turned back, and that was the last\nthat was seen of him.\n\n\"Seeing that her children had turned back, the wife said, 'Be of good\ncourage. I am still with you, I am strong and we shall yet enter the\ngate of the Happy Hunting Grounds together.'\n\n\"The dog said nothing, but though he was hungry, footsore, and weary,\nhe still followed close at his master's heels.\n\n\"Now the trail entered a region of desolate mountains. The way became\nrough and rocky. Their moccasins were worn from their feet, and there\nwas no food to be found.\n\n\"'At last the wife cried, 'Oh, my husband, I am faint and weary. I can\ngo no further. Let us rest here.' And she sat down beside the trail.\n\n\"'Nay,' said the hunter, 'I may not stop. The Master of Life must be\nobeyed. The summons was not to you, but to me. Rest here beside the\ntrail, and when your strength has returned, go back to the wigwam and\ndwell with our two sons until the Death Man-i-tou comes for you.'\n\n\"Then he went on, up the steep trail. He had not noticed the dog, who,\nfootsore and famished, now limped painfully at his heels, and when he\ncamped for the night, came silently and lay down at his feet.\n\n\"The next morning, they arose and continued their journey. After many\ndays, they saw far before them a narrow gap between two tall snow-capped\nmountains. Through this the trail went, and at the further end they\nfound the gateway to the Happy Hunting Ground. Beside the gateway stood\nthe lodge of the keeper of the gate.\n\n\"Before the lodge the hunter stopped and lifted up his voice, and cried,\n'The Master of Life called. Here am I.'\n\n\"Hearing his cry, the keeper of the gate came from his lodge.\n\n\"'You are welcome,' said he to the hunter, 'but where are those who set\nout upon the long trail with you?'\n\n\"'They are not here,' returned the hunter, 'the way was long and\ntoilsome, and their feet grew weary,'\n\n\"'Who is that,' again asked the keeper of the gate, 'who stands beside\nyou, and looks upon you with eyes of love?'\n\n\"'That is he,' said the hunter, 'who loved me best of all.'\n\n\"'His great love and his faithfulness have made him worthy,' said the\nkeeper of the gate. 'He shall enter with you,' and he opened the gate.\n\n\"With a bark of joy the dog sprang forward and entered the Happy Hunting\nGround beside the master whom he had loved more than his own life.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTHE HORACE MANN READERS\n\n\nBy Walter L. Hervey, Ph.D., Member of Board of Examiners, New York City;\nformerly President of Teachers College; and Melvin Hix, B.S., Principal\nof Public School No. 9, Long Island City, New York City.\n\nA new series of basal readers shaped by these controlling ideas:\npersonal interest on the part of children in the doings of children\nof their own age; personal hunger for stories having continuity,\ndevelopment and variety; and the development of a personal power of\nsatisfying the literary appetite. The stories, dialogues, poems, and\nother selections, are almost entirely of new material.\n\nThis material is _varied_; and was selected because of its\n_intrinsic interest_--action, appeal to self-activity. The lessons\nare not mere collections of words and sentences, but have _continuity\nof thought_. The pictures, _being adapted to the text_, are\ndistinct aids in teaching children to read. The _helps to teachers_\nare varied, time-saving, practical. The _method_ is simple,\neffective, original.\n\nEach book is fully illustrated with black and white pictures and several\ncolored illustrations.\n\n  ============================================      ====\n  Primer                                            $.30\n  First Reader                                       .32\n  Second Reader                                      .40\n  Third Reader                                       .48\n  Fourth Reader                                      .55\n  Fifth Reader (Preparing)\n  Sixth Reader (Preparing)\n  Manual for Teachers (Daily Lesson Plans)          $.75\n  Phonogram Cards--Primer Set, 26 cards              .25\n  Word Cards--Primer Set, 130 cards                 1.25\n  Phonogram Cards--First Reader Set, 115 Cards      1.00\n  ============================================      ====\n\n_Daily Lesson Plans_ is the teacher's manual for the first year's\nwork with _The Horace Mann Readers_. Every step of each day's\nlesson is planned and explained. The directions given are intended to be\nso definite, so complete and so practical, that comparatively\ninexperienced teachers may be able to follow them with excellent\nresults; while in the hands of the experienced teacher it is hoped that\nit will be of much accommodation in following the progress of the work.\n\n_The manual for the remainder of the series is in preparation_.\n\nLONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO., PUBLISHERS\n\nFOURTH AVENUE AND THIRTIETH ST., NEW YORK\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nFEATURES OF THE HORACE MANN READERS\n\n\n_The Horace Mann Readers_ are highly organized--words being\ndeveloped into independent yet mutually related parts; different stories\nbeing related to other stories; the vocabulary of one lesson being\nrelated to the vocabulary of the lessons preceding and the lessons\nfollowing; a system of phonics complete in itself and yet organically\nrelated to the reading matter.\n\nThe principle of self-activity is carefully developed,\n\nThe action rhymes given impress the children and give variety to the\nreading lesson. But since reading isn't all poetry, all other phases of\nsound methods of teaching are employed. Especial attention is called to\nthe system of phonics developed. It is rational and wonderfully\neffective.\n\nThe Theory of Multiple Sense Appeal is carefully applied. Every avenue\nof approach has been taken--the eye, the hand, the ear--all are used to\nmake the appeal broader and more interesting. No sound psychological\nprecept has been omitted.\n\n_The Horace Mann Readers_ have successfully combined all the\napproved methods of teaching reading.\n\nThe material is new and varied. The books contain clear and vivid\nimages, whole situations and self activity, which appeals to the child.\nThey also afford the teacher every possible suggestion and convenience\nin respect to method.\n\n_Daily Lesson Plans_, the teacher's manual for these readers, gives\nminute directions for each day's lesson.\n\nLONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO., PUBLISHERS\n\nFOURTH AVENUE AND THIRTIETH ST., NEW YORK\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nAPPRECIATIVE LETTERS ABOUT THE HORACE MANN READERS\n\n\n\"I like particularly the long story element. I never did like 'hash' in\na reading book. I like also the narratives relative to our own great\nmen, Lincoln, Webster, etc. I like also the idea of developing related\nwords from the same root, as you do in the last few pages. This will\ntend to enable the child to increase his vocabulary independently of\nteacher.\"--E.M. SHERRY, _County Supt., Rolla, N.D._\n\n\"These readers deal with nature and subjects very near the hearts of\nchildren. They are delighted with them. The dramatic form also helps\nwith the expression. The illustrations are fine for language as well as\nreading.\"--Miss CARRIE J. RICHARDSON, _Sheppard School, Philadelphia,\nPa._\n\n\"An excellent set of books. They are mechanically well made. The\nmaterial is well selected and very well arranged and graded. They will\ncertainly meet the approval of any who give them a careful\nexamination.\"--A.R. CHAPMAN, _State Normal School, Terre Haute,\nInd._\n\n\"I liked the Second Reader so much that I at once ordered copies for use\nin the Second Reader Class. What I especially like is the fact that the\nlittle stories and poems are exactly adapted to the literary development\nof the children in the class. They recite the poems and tell the\nstories, and altogether we are having a very good time.\"--Miss WINIFRED\nG. JONES, _The Greenwich Academy, Greenwich, Conn._\n\n\"It is a pleasure to recommend the _Horace Mann Readers._ The books\nare full of interest, in keeping with the best results for teachers and\npupils. We enjoy them in our school, Troy's largest Grammar\nSchool.\"--Miss ANNIE A. GREEN, _Grammar School No. 14, Troy, N.Y._\n\n\"The Primer is a favorite with teacher and pupils. The literary merit of\nthe stories used is high. The vocabulary is such as will open many books\nto the child, and the frequent repetition of words I consider\nexcellent.\"--Miss ALICE M. JOHNSTON, _Calhoun School, Minneapolis,\nMinn._\n\nLONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO., PUBLISHERS\n\nFOURTH AVENUE AND THIRTIETH ST., NEW YORK\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nPHONOGRAM CARDS FOR USE WITH THE HORACE MANN READERS\n\n\nDesigned for Rapid Phonic Drills and for Rapid Word Building\n\n_The object of these drills is to train pupils so that the sight of\nthe phonogram will cause an immediate, correct, and automatic vocal\nresponse; while the word building will develop skill in uniting or\n\"blending\" readily and correctly the different phonic elements of which\nwords are composed._\n\n=THE PRIMER SET=\n\n26 CARDS IN A STOUT MANILA ENVELOPE ... 25 CENTS\n\n=THE FIRST READER SET=\n\n115 CARDS IN PASTEBOARD CASE ... $1.00\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n\nWORD-CARDS FOR USE WITH THE HORACE MANN PRIMER\n\n\nDesigned for Rapid Word-Drill or Flash Reading, and for Rapid Sentence\nDrills\n\n_The object of these word-drills is to secure instantaneous automatic\nword recognition with rapidity and promptness as the foundations of\nsuccess; while the sentence drills, if properly conducted, will train\npupils to grasp instantly the total meaning of groups of related\nwords._\n\n130 CARDS IN PASTEBOARD CASE ... $1.25\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLONGMANS, GREEN, & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS\n\nFOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK","title":"The magic speech flower; or, Little Luke and his animal friends","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":29982}