Two Little Savages | Page 5

as high as ninety cents. But there was a dread fatality about
that last dime. No one seemed to have any more odd jobs; his
commercial luck deserted him. He was burnt up with craving for that
book. None of his people took interest enough in him to advance the
cash even at the ruinous interest (two or three times cent per cent) that
he was willing to bind himself for. Six weeks passed before he
achieved that last dime, and he never felt conscience-clear about it
afterward.
He and Alner had to cut the kitchen wood. Each had his daily allotment,
as well as other chores. Yan's was always done faithfully, but the other
evaded his work in every way. He was a notorious little fop. The
paternal poverty did not permit his toilet extravagance to soar above
one paper collar per week, but in his pocket he carried a piece of ink
eraser with which he was careful to keep the paper collar up to standard.
Yan cared nothing about dress--indeed, was inclined to be slovenly. So
the eldest brother, meaning to turn Alner's weakness to account, offered
a prize of a twenty-five-cent necktie of the winner's own choice to the
one who did his chores best for a month. For the first week Alner and
Yan kept even, then Alner wearied, in spite of the dazzling prize. The

pace was too hot. Yan kept on his usual way and was duly awarded the
twenty-five cents to be spent on a necktie. But in the store a bright
thought came tempting him. Fifteen cents was as much as any one
should spend on a necktie--that's sure; the other ten would get the book.
And thus the last dime was added to the pile. Then, bursting with joy
and with the pride of a capitalist, he went to the book-shop and asked
for the coveted volume.
He was tense with long-pent feeling. He expected to have the
bookseller say that the price had gone up to one thousand dollars, and
that all were sold. But he did not. He turned silently, drew the book out
of a pile of them, hesitated and said, "Green or red cover?"
"Green," said Yan, not yet believing. The book-man looked inside, then
laid it down, saying in a cold, business tone, "Ninety cents."
"Ninety cents," gasped Yan. Oh! if only he had known the ways of
booksellers or the workings of cash discounts. For six weeks had he
been barred this happy land--had suffered starvation; he had
misappropriated funds, he had fractured his conscience and all to raise
that ten cents--that unnecessary dime.
He read that book reverentially all the way home. It did not give him
what he wanted, but that doubtless was his own fault. He pored over it,
studied it, loved it, never doubting that now he had the key to all the
wonders and mysteries of Nature. It was five years before he fully
found out that the text was the most worthless trash ever foisted on a
torpid public. Nevertheless, the book held some useful things; first, a
list of the bird names; second, some thirty vile travesties of Audubon
and Wilson's bird portraits.
These were the birds thus maligned:
Duck Hawk Rose-breasted Grosbeak Sparrow Hawk Bobolink
White-headed Eagle Meadow Lark Great Horned Owl Bluejay Snowy
Owl Ruffed Grouse Red-headed Woodpecker Great Blue Heron
Golden-winged Woodpecker Bittern Barn-swallow Wilson's Snipe
Whip-poor-will Long-biller Curlew Night Hawk Purple Gallinule

Belted Kingfisher Canada Goose Kingbird Wood Duck Woodthrush
Hooded Merganser Catbird Double-crested Cormorant White-bellied
Nuthatch Arctic Tern Brown Creeper Great Northern Diver Bohemian
Chatterer Stormy Petrel Great Northern Shrike Arctic Puffin Shore
Lark Black Guillemot
[Illustration: "He already knew the Downy Woodpecker"]
But badly as they were presented, the pictures were yet information,
and were entered in his memory as lasting accessions to his store of
truth about the Wild Things.
Of course, he already knew some few birds whose names are familiar
to every schoolboy: the Robin, Bluebird, Kingbird, Wild Canary,
Woodpecker, Barn-swallow, Wren, Chickadee, Wild Pigeon,
Humming-bird, Pewee, so that his list was steadily increased.

V
The Collarless Stranger
Oh, sympathy! the noblest gift of God to man. The greatest bond there
is twixt man and man. The strongest link in any friendship chain. The
single lasting hold in kinship's claim. The only incorrosive strand in
marriage bonds. The blazing torch where genius lights her lamp. The
ten times noble base of noblest love. More deep than love--more strong
than hate--the biggest thing in all the universe--the law of laws. Grant
but this greatest gift of God to man--this single link concatenating grant,
and all the rest are worthless or comprised.
Each year the ancient springtime madness came more strongly on Yan.
Each year he was less inclined to resist