The Magic Speech Flower | Page 4

a tat, tat," he went faster and faster, till the beats ran into one long resounding roll. Then he stopped and screamed, "Kee-yer, kee-yer!" Perhaps he meant, "Well done! good boy! good boy!"
You see he had seen little Luke's battle with the blacksnake and was drumming and screaming for joy. Little Luke stopped under the old apple tree and listened to Ya-rup's drumming and screaming for a while. Then he went on up to the edge of the big woods.
There he found an old trail which he followed a long way till it forked. Right in the fork of the trail, he saw a young bird. Its feathers were not half grown and of course it could not fly. Little Luke knew that it must have fallen out of the nest by accident. So he ran after the frightened little bird and picked it up very carefully. Just then O-loo-la the Wood Thrush flew down into a bush by the side of the trail and began to plead, "Pit'y! pit'y! don't hurt him! Let him go, little boy; please let him go!" he seemed to say.
Little Luke looked around for the nest. Soon he saw it in a tangle of vines that ran over a dogwood bush.
Very carefully he picked his way through the bushes toward the nest. O-loo-la seemed to guess what he meant to do and hopped from bush to bush without saying a word.
When the little boy went to put the young bird back into the nest, he saw why he had fallen out. There were three young birds in it, and they filled it so full that there was scarcely room for another. Little Luke saw that the bird he held was smaller than the others. So he took one of them out and put his bird down into the middle of the nest. Then he put the bigger one back. When this one snuggled down into the nest, it was quite full.
When little Luke went back into the trail, O-loo-la flew to a branch over his head and began to sing very happily. The little boy thought that he, too, was trying to say, "Thank you, little boy, thank you."
Little Luke took the left-hand trail and followed it till he came to a beautiful spring which gushed from under a tall rock. He lay down upon his stomach and took a long drink of the cool, sweet water.
Just beside the spring stood a big beech tree. Near the ground two large roots spread out at a broad angle. Little Luke sat down between the roots and leaned his head against the tree. It was a very comfortable seat. So he sat there and dreamed with his eyes wide open. Just what he was dreaming about he did not know. He only knew that he felt very happy and very quiet.
Mee-ko the Red Squirrel ran out upon a branch just over his head and peeked and peered at him with his bright, inquisitive eyes. As little Luke sat very still, Mee-ko cocked his long tail up over his shoulders and sat and watched him.
Little Luke felt so very comfortable and quiet that he closed his eyes for a moment. At least it seemed only a moment to him. All at once he heard a loud hum. He opened his eyes and there was Ah-mo the Honey Bee just before his face. When Ah-mo saw that little Luke was watching him, he flew down toward the spring and lit upon a beautiful flower.
Little Luke was surprised; he had not seen that flower before. It was a very beautiful flower. He leaned over and looked at it. Its petals were blue as the sky, except near the heart, where they were pink as a baby's fingers; and its heart was as yellow as gold.
Little Luke reached out his hand to pick the strange flower. As soon as Mee-ko saw what he was doing, he fairly screamed. To little Luke it seemed as if he said, "Stop, stop, let it be. Leave it alone. Go away."
Little Luke was used to Mee-ko's scolding. He had heard it many times before, but never before had he thought there was any sense in it. It seemed very queer to him that he could understand the speech of a squirrel.
In his surprise he forgot about the strange flower and sat looking up at Mee-ko. At once Mee-ko became quiet. He ran along the branch and down the tree behind little Luke. Then he leaped to the ground and ran across to another tree. When he thought he was safe, he began to talk and scold again. To the little boy it seemed as if Mee-ko was saying, "Come here, come away, follow me, follow me!"
But little Luke did not care to chase Mee-ko.