The Magic Speech Flower | Page 9

Luke.
"Well," said Bob Lincoln, "you must know that I was hatched in this
very meadow. There were five of us and I am the only one that is left.
"When we young ones had learned to fly pretty well, we started south.
After a few days we reached a land where there were broad marshes
covered with reeds. There we stopped for a while. But the men of that
country hunted us with their fire-sticks. They called us reed birds arid
liked us to eat. They shot many of our friends, but for a few days our
family all escaped. But one morning we heard a sound like thunder and
our mother fell to the ground and we saw her no more.
"This frightened us and we flew on to the southward for many days. Of
course wherever we found a good place, we stopped to rest and eat. But
we did not stop for long until we came to a land where there were great

fields of rice. There we found great flocks of our kindred, who had
grown fat by feeding upon the rice.
"But here again were men with their fire-sticks and they killed two of
my brothers. All the time we stayed there, we lived in fear. So after
some days we left the rice land and went on toward the south. We
crossed the great, salt sea and at last found the winter home of our
kindred.
"In the spring we came back again to this meadow. And here I found
Mrs. Bob Lincoln. I courted her with my sweetest songs, and after a
short time we were married and set up house-keeping.
"That autumn I led a family of my own on the long journey to our
southern home. Three times have I made the journey to and from this
meadow, and each time some of my family have fallen a prey to our
many enemies. But the men with their fire-sticks are the worst of all.
Why are they so cruel to us?"
"Alas," said Bob Lincoln, after a pause, "I dread this journey. Not many
of my friends have escaped so long. I fear I shall never return. But it
cannot be helped, we must go. I think, little boy, we shall start this
morning. So I will say good-bye now."
"Good-bye, Bob Lincoln," said little Luke, "I hope it will not be as you
fear. I shall look for you again next May."
The Bob Lincoln family started on their long southern journey and little
Luke went sadly back to the house. Now that the Bob Lincolns were
gone, the meadow no longer seemed so pleasant to him.

V. LITTLE LUKE MAKES FRIENDS AMONG THE WILD FOLK
While little Luke spent a good deal of his time with the Bob Lincoln
family, he did not neglect his other friends among the wild folk. Almost
every day he had long talks with one or more of them. Thus it came to
pass that he soon became exceeding wise with the wisdom of the wild

kindreds; for his eyes were sharper and his ears keener than those of
any other of the house people.
There was Sam, the hired man, who thought he knew a good deal about
the wild folk. And there was Old Bill, the hunter, who had done little
besides hunting and trapping all his long life; even these did not begin
to know the beasts and birds as little Luke knew them. Before the
Finding of the Magic Flower, he had thought them marvels of
woodcraft and fieldcraft. Now they seemed to him almost blind and
deaf.
As he went about with them, he found that for all their boasting (and
they often boasted) they really knew little about the wild folk. Many
times they would pass Wa-poose the Rabbit sitting unseen on his form
within a few feet of them. Mother Mit-chee the Ruffled Partridge made
her nest in plain sight on the ground beside the old trail and they passed
by a hundred times and never saw her. And so it was with many others
of the wild folk. Often they went quietly about their business before the
very eyes of the house people who did not see them.
During that summer little Luke spent much time with Old John the lone
Indian, who lived at the foot of Black Mountain. For Old John, seeing
the little boy's love of woodcraft and his wonderful keenness of ear and
eye, and understanding, came to love him more than he had loved
anyone or anything for many years.
He would make some excuse to come to the farmhouse. Then, when his
pretended business was finished, he would sit with the little boy on an
old bench on the lawn