Mother West Wind Where Stories

by Thornton W. Burgess

  VIII

  WHERE MR. QUACK GOT HIS WEBBED FEET

  Twice every year, in the early spring and in the late fall, Peter Rabbitwatches the Smiling Pool with a great deal of eagerness. Can you guesswhy? It is because two very good friends of Peter's are in the habit ofstopping there for a few days for rest and refreshment before continuingthe long journey which they are obliged to make. They are Mr. and Mrs.Quack, the Mallard Ducks. Peter is very fond of them, and when the timefor their arrival draws near, Peter watches for them with a great dealof anxiety. You see they have told him something of the terribledangers which they always encounter on these long journeys, and so Peteris always afraid that something terrible may have happened to them, andit is a great relief when he finds them swimming about in the SmilingPool.

  One reason Peter is so fond of Mr. and Mrs. Quack is because they alwayshave a story for him. Sometimes it is a story of adventure, a tale ofterrible danger and narrow escapes. Sometimes it is about their home inthe far Northland, and again it is about the wonderful Southland wherethey spend the winter. But the story that Peter likes best is the oneabout where and how the Quack family got their funny, webbed feet. Mr.Quack doesn't think those feet funny at all, but Peter does. He nevergrows tired of watching Mr. and Mrs. Quack use them, because, you know,they are used so differently from other feet. And always he goes back tothe dear Old Briar-patch with renewed admiration for the wisdom of OldMother Nature.

  Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. and Mrs. Quack. Hecouldn't help but notice them. It happened that Mr. and Mrs. Quack wereout on the bank of the Smiling Pool as Peter came hurrying over in hisusual way, lipperty-lipperty-lip. They heard him coming and not knowingat first who it was they at once started for the water. Peter never willforget the funny way in which they waddled. He never had seen anybodyquite so awkward. But when they reached the water he forgot to laugh. Hesimply stared open-mouthed in astonishment. You see there they were asgraceful as they had been awkward on land. Afterward, when Peter hadbecome acquainted with them and they were the best of friends, heventured to speak of their queer feet.

  "Do you know," said he, "you have the most interesting feet of anybody Iknow of. They are so broad that the first time I saw them I couldn'tbelieve my own eyes. I didn't suppose anybody had such broad feet. Isuppose there is some special reason why they are so broad and why yourlegs are so short. Do you know how Mother Nature happened to give youfeet so different from the feet of other birds, Mr. Quack?"

  Mr. Quack chuckled. "I tell you what it is, Peter," said he, "if you'lltell me why it is you have such long hind legs and such a funny shorttail, I'll tell you why it is that Mrs. Quack and I have such broadfeet, though I must confess that I don't see anything odd about them."

  Peter agreed at once. He told Mr. and Mrs. Quack all about what happenedto his grandfather a thousand times removed, the very first Rabbit, wayback when the world was young, and how ever since then all Rabbits havehad long hind legs and short tails. When he had finished Mr. Quackthoughtfully scratched his handsome green head, looked at his reflectionin the Smiling Pool to make sure that he was looking his very best,looked behind to see that the feathers in the tip of his tail had theproper curl, and then gazed off over the Green Meadows with a far-awaylook in his eyes as if he were looking way back to the time he was totell about. At last, just as Peter Rabbit was beginning to lose patienceMr. Quack began.

  "It must be, Peter," said he, "that mygreat-great-ever-so-great-grandfather lived just about the same time asyour great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, way back in the days whenthe world was young. Perhaps they knew each other. Perhaps they wereacquainted just as you and I are now. Anyway, according to what has beenhanded down in the family, Grandfather Quack was very much such alooking fellow as I am now, except in the matter of his bill and feet.His bill was not broad like mine but more like the bills of other birds,and his feet were like the feet of Mr. Grouse and Bob White. They weremade for scratching, and there was nothing between the toes. You see,Old Mother Nature was experimenting. She made everybody a littledifferent from everybody else and then started them forth in the GreatWorld to shift for themselves and to find out what they really neededthat they hadn't got.

  "Old Mr. Quack, my great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, soondiscovered one thing, and that was that his legs were too short for himto get around very fast. When he walked, everybody laughed at him. Whenhe tried to run, they laughed harder than ever. He didn't mind this sovery much, though he did a little. Nobody likes to be laughed at,especially when it is because of something they cannot help. But what hedid mind was the fact that his neighbors could run about so much fasterthan he that they got all the best of the food, and quite often he wenthungry.

  "One day he happened to be sitting on the bank of the Smiling Pool,thinking the matter over and wondering what he had best do, when Mr.Fox stole up behind him and startled him so that he lost his balance andtumbled down the bank into the water. This frightened him more thanever, and he flapped about and squawked and squawked and flapped untilMr. Fox nearly split his sides laughing at him. And when he was quiteout of breath, Mr. Quack discovered that he was making all this fuss fornothing. He didn't sink, but floated on the water, and what was more thewater didn't get under his feathers at all. When he tried to walk, ofcourse he couldn't, and he had a funny feeling because his feet didn'ttouch anything and felt so very useless. But he kept moving them backand forth, and pretty soon he discovered that he moved ahead. Of coursehe moved very slowly, because his feet were not made for use in thewater, but he moved, and that was enough. He knew then that he could getback to land. Then he tried his wings and he found that he could riseinto the air from the water quite as easily as from the land. Right thenand there all fear of the water left him. In fact, he liked it.

  "Little by little, Grandfather Quack began to understand that he hadmade a great discovery. He had discovered the safest place in all theGreat World for him. Out on the water he was safe from Mr. Fox and Mr.Wolf and all the other four-footed hunters. So he took to spending mostof his time on the water or near it. When he wanted a nap, he would hideamong the rushes that grew in the water. 'If only I didn't have to leavethe water for food!' sighed Grandfather Quack. 'If only I could findfood here, I would never leave the water.'

  "At the time he was squatting at the very edge of the Smiling Pool.Presently he noticed a funny water bug crawling on the bottom where thewater was only an inch or two deep. 'I wonder if that fellow is good toeat,' thought he, and almost without thinking he plunged his head underwater and caught the bug. It was good. Grandfather Quack at once startedto look for more, and while doing this he discovered that there were agreat many seeds from the rushes scattered about in the mud at thebottom of the Smiling Pool, and that these also were good to eat. Thenquite by accident he got hold of a tender root in the mud and found thatthis was especially good.

  "This was enough for Grandfather Quack. He had found that he could getplenty to eat without leaving the Smiling Pool. Moreover, he didn't haveto share it with anybody, because there was no one else who thought oflooking for food there. He knew when he was well off. So GrandfatherQuack grew fat and was happy. The only things that bothered him were theslowness with which he had to pick up seeds, one at a time, and theslowness with which he could paddle about, for you couldn't really callit swimming. But in spite of these things he was happy and made the bestof his lot.

  "One day he tugged and tugged at a root with his head under water. Whenat last he had to bring his head up for a breath, whom should hediscover but Old Mother Nature watching him from the opposite bank.'Come over here, Mr. Quack, and tell me all about it,' she commanded.

  "Grandfather Quack started across the Smiling Pool, but because his feetwere not made for swimming, it took him a long time to get there. OldMother Nature smiled as she watched him. 'You look better on the waterthan you do on land,' said she. 'In fact, I believe that is just whereyou belong. Now tell me how you happened to take to the water.'

>   "Grandfather Quack told her the whole story and how Old Mother Naturedid laugh when he described how frightened he was when he fell in thattime. Suddenly she reached out and caught him by the bill. 'I don'tthink much of that bill for poking about in the mud,' said she. 'Howwill this do?' She let go, and Grandfather Quack found he had a broadbill just suited for getting food out of the mud. Then Old Mother Naturebade him hold forth first one foot and then the other. Between the toesshe stretched a tough skin clear to the toe nails. 'Now let me see youswim,' said she.

  "Grandfather Quack tried. He kicked one foot and then the other, and tohis great joy he shot along swiftly. When he drew his feet back foranother kick his toes closed together, and so his feet came through thewater easily. But when he kicked back they were wide spread, and theskin between them pushed against the water, and drove him ahead. It waswonderful! It was splendid! He hurried over to Old Mother Nature, andwith tears of joy in his eyes he thanked her. And from that day to thismembers of my family have had the same broad bills and webbed feet, andhave lived on the water," concluded Mr. Quack.

  Peter noticed those feet the first time he met Mr. andMrs. Quack. _Page 111._]