The Magic Speech Flower | Page 6

was heard coming down the trail. The
gray mist rose again before little Luke's eyes and he heard someone say,
"Wake up, little boy, it is almost noon. Your Aunt Martha will have
dinner on the table before you can get back to the farmhouse."
Little Luke looked up and there was Old John the Indian, who lived in
a lonely cabin on the other side of the mountain, and sometimes came
to the farmhouse to sell game he had killed or baskets that he had
woven.
Little Luke sprang up and rubbed his eyes. Not one of the wild folk was
to be seen. But he held in his hand a broken and crumpled flower. He
put the flower into his pocket and went along down the trail toward the
farmhouse with Old John.
[Illustration]

II. LITTLE LUKE AND THE BOB LINCOLNS
That night little Luke dreamed of the Magic Flower. The next morning,
as soon as he had finished his breakfast, he ran down through the
garden and into the meadow. He was eager to see his wild friends again
and to try his new gifts, "Perhaps," he thought, "it was only a dream
after all."
As soon as Bob Lincoln saw him, he came flying across the meadow to
meet him, his black and white uniform gleaming in the bright sunlight.
"Good morning, little boy, good morning," he trilled, and his voice
sounded like the tinkling of a silver bell.
"Good morning, Bob Lincoln," said the little boy, delighted that he
really could understand Bob Lincoln's language. "How is Mrs. Bob
Lincoln this morning?"
"Come and see, come and see," trilled Bob Lincoln, in his sweetest and
friendliest voice.
Little Luke walked over to the nest. When she heard him coming, Mrs.
Bob Lincoln was scared and flew up from the nest.
But as soon as she saw who it was, she fluttered down upon the top of a
tall weed and said, "Oh, it's you, is it, little boy? I heard someone
coming and I was frightened, but I am not afraid of you." And so she
sat swinging and teetering on the tall weed.
The little boy looked at the nest and admired the pretty eggs. "Oh,
they're coming on finely," said Mrs. Bob Lincoln. "In a day or two I
will show you five of the handsomest baby Bob Lincolns you will ever
see. I heard them peeping inside of the shells this morning."
The little boy looked at the father and mother birds. "Bob Lincoln,"
said he, "I wish you would tell me why you and Mrs. Bob Lincoln are
so unlike. Your coat is white and black; her dress is black and brown
and yellow. You do not look as if you belonged to the same family."

"Well," said Bob Lincoln, "that is a long story."
"Oh, please tell it," said little Luke; "I want so much to hear it."
"Well," said Bob Lincoln, "we have both had our breakfast and I have
sung my morning song. So if Mrs. Bob will excuse me [Mrs. Bob
gracefully bowed her permission] I will take the time. You go over
there and sit down under the old apple tree and I will come and find a
comfortable twig and tell you all about it."
When little Luke had seated himself cozily with his back against the
trunk of the old apple tree, Bob Lincoln began his story.

III. THE STORY OF THE SUMMER LAND
"Long, long ago when the world was new," said he, "the first Bob
Lincoln family lived in a beautiful country in the distant north. In that
country it was always summer. None of those who dwelt in that land
knew what winter was.
"Ke-honk-a the Gray Goose, who spent half the year in northern
Greenland, had mentioned it, but the people of the Summer Land did
not understand him. They had never felt winds or seen ice or snow.
"But there came a time when Ke-honk-a said, as he flew over, 'Winter
is coming, winter is coming.' But nobody understood and nobody cared.
Why should they care about winter when they did not know what it
was?
"Soon after this the people of the Summer Land noticed a change in the
weather. One half of the year was cooler than the other half. The first
time this happened they did not mind it at all. Indeed, they rather liked
it. It was pleasant to have a change.
"The next year it was cooler and the next still cooler. And so it went on
for some years, each winter getting colder than that which had gone
before.

"One day a dull, gray cloud came up out of the north and hid the face of
the sun. Out of its gray bosom there came