The Magic Speech Flower | Page 7

floating to earth a whole
flock of big, white snowflakes. The people of the Summer Land were
amazed.
"As the great flakes came wavering lazily down through the air, they
looked at them and thought that they must be some new kind of winged
creatures. 'What a lot of them,' thought they, 'there must be to make that
great cloud which hides the sun!'
"In a short time the sun shone out from behind the gray cloud. In the
twinkling of an eye all the snowflakes were gone. 'Strange, strange!'
thought the people of the Summer Land. 'What has become of all those
white-winged creatures?'
"The next winter so many snowflakes fell that they hid the brown earth
for many weeks. This happened again and again, and the people of the
Summer Land began to understand what winter was. The snow became
so deep for months at a time that they found it hard to get food.
"After a while life became so hard for them that they felt that
something must be done. So they summoned a Great Council to
consider the matter. After much talk they decided to send a messenger
to the Master of Life, who lived far away among the western mountains,
to beg him to come and help them. For their messenger they chose the
swallow, the swiftest of all the birds.
"The swallow flew for many days, until at last he reached the lodge of
the Master of Life, and told his story.
"'Go back,' said the Master when he had heard it, 'and after four moons
I will come to visit you. Summon all the people of the Summer Land to
a Great Council and I will tell them what they must do.'
"At the time appointed, the Master of Life came. When all the people
of the Summer Land had assembled, he spoke to them and said, 'I have
heard of your troubles and have thought of a plan to help you.

"'Henceforth, so long as the world shall last, there shall be summer and
winter in this land. Half the year shall be summer and half the year
shall be winter.
"'While summer reigns, this is a pleasant land, and you may live here
and find plenty of food. Before winter comes, you must leave this land
and journey far away to the south, to another country where summer
always reigns. But when the snow melts and winter returns to his home
in the distant north, summer shall come again to this land, and so it
shall be every year.
"'When summer comes back, you may return with it and dwell in your
own home until it is time for the return of winter.'
"When the people of the Summer Land heard this, some were glad,
some were sorry, and some were angry.
"'What!' said the angry ones, 'shall we leave our pleasant homes on
account of winter? No, indeed; we will stay.' And so they did.
"When summer was over and the cold winds began to blow, the Bob
Lincoln family, obeying the command of the Master of Life, set out for
the Southland. On and on they traveled for many days.
"At last they came to the end of the land, and before them was the great,
salt sea. But far on to the southward, they could dimly see islands rising
out of the salt water.
"So they flew bravely on across the great, salt sea, till they reached the
islands; and beyond these islands they saw others. On and on they flew
from island to island until they reached another great land like the
home they had left behind them. In it there were vast meadows and
forests, mountains and rivers. In that land it is always summer and food
is plenty all the year round. There in the pleasant meadows, the Bob
Lincolns stopped and there they lived happily for half a year.
"When it was time for summer to revisit the Summer Land, the Bob
Lincolns returned also and this they did every year.

"In those days all the Bob Lincolns wore black and white clothes like
mine. But, as you see, this black and white dress is very
con-spic'-u-ous.
"Now it happened that in their journeyings to and fro, the Bob Lincolns
met many enemies, and these enemies wrought sad havoc in their ranks.
When they were flying in the air, the hawks and the eagles would
swoop upon them and kill them. If they sat upon the ground, the
weazels and the minks, the wildcats and other four-footed prowlers,
would pounce upon them and devour them. Even the Red Men, with
their feathered arrows, would shoot them. So many of them were killed
that they began to fear that soon none of their family would be