Mrs. Quack nodded her head rapidly. "What of it?" she demanded.
"Nothing much, only if I were you I would go down there after dark,"replied Sammy.
Mrs. Quack looked up at Sammy sharply. "Why should I go down there?"she asked.
"If I tell you, will you wait until I get quite through?" askedSammy in his turn.
Mrs. Quack promised that she would.
"Well, then," replied Sammy, "this afternoon I found a strangerhiding in there, a stranger with a beautiful green head and neckand a white collar."
"Mr. Quack! Oh, it was Mr. Quack!" cried Mrs. Quack joyfully andlifted her wings as if she would start for the swamp at once.
"Stop!" cried Sammy sharply. "You said you would wait until I amthrough. It won't do for you to go there until after dark, becausethere is a hunter hiding very near Mr. Quack's hiding-place.Wait until it is dark and he has gone home. Then take my advice,and when you have found Mr. Quack, bring him right up here to theSmiling Pool. He can't fly, but he can swim up the Laughing Brook,and this is the safest place for both of you. Now good night andgood luck."
XIX
JERRY MUSKRAT'S GREAT IDEA
A friendly friend is a friend indeed When he proves a friendin the time of need.
Mr. and Mrs. Quack had been so much taken up with each other andwith their troubles that they had quite forgotten they were notalone in the Smiling Pool, which they had reached by swimming upthe Laughing Brook. So it happened that when Mrs. Quack suggestedthat if Mr. Quack's wing got strong they might be able to finda lonesome pond not too far away where they could make their homefor the summer, they were a little startled to hear a voice say:"I know where there is one, and you will not have to fly at all toget to it." Both jumped a little. You see their nerves had beenvery much upset for a long time, and the least unexpected thingmade them jump. Then both laughed.
"Hello, Jerry Muskrat! We'd forgotten all about you," said Mrs.Quack. "What was that you said?"
Jerry good-naturedly repeated what he had said. Mrs. Quack's facebrightened. "Do you really mean it?" she asked eagerly. "Do youreally mean that you know of a pond where we could live and not belikely to be seen by these two-legged creatures called men?"
"That's what I said," replied Jerry briefly.
"Oh, Jerry, you're not joking, are you? Tell me you're not joking,"begged Mrs. Quack.
"Of course I'm not joking," returned Jerry just a little bitindignantly, "I am not the kind of a fellow to joke people who arein such trouble as you and Mr. Quack seem to be in. The idea cameto me while you were talking. I couldn't help overhearing what youwere saying, and the minute you mentioned a lonesome pond, the ideacame to me, and I think it's a perfectly splendid idea. I know ofjust the lonesomest kind of a lonesome pond, and you won't have tofly a stroke to get to it. If you are smart enough not to be caughtby Reddy Fox or Hooty the Owl or Billy Mink or any of those peoplewho hunt for a living, there isn't any reason I know of why youshouldn't spend the summer there in peace and comfort."
Mrs. Quack's eyes fairly shone with hope and eagerness. "Oh, Jerry,tell us where it is, and we'll start for it right away!" she cried.
Jerry's eyes twinkled. "Of course, the owner of that pond mightnot like to have neighbors. I hadn't thought of that," said he."Perhaps he ought to be asked first."
Mrs. Quack's face fell. "Who is the owner?" she asked.
"My cousin, Paddy the Beaver. He made it," replied Jerry proudly.
Mrs. Quack's face lighted up again at once. "I'm sure he won'tobject," said she. "We know a great many of the Beaver family. Infact, they are very good neighbors of ours in our home in the farNorthland. I didn't suppose there was a Beaver pond anywhere aroundhere. Tell me where it is, Jerry, and I'll go right up there andcall on your cousin."
"All you've got to do is to follow the Laughing Brook way backinto the Green Forest, and you'll come to Paddy's pond," said he."He made that pond himself two years ago. He came down from the GreatWoods and built a dam across the Laughing Brook way back there inthe Green Forest and gave us a great scare here in the Smiling Poolby cutting off the water for a few days. He has got a very nicepond there now. Honker the Goose and his flock spent a night in iton their way south last fall."
Mrs. Quack waited to hear no more. She shot up into the air anddisappeared over the tops of the trees in the Green Forest.
"What do you think of my idea?" asked Jerry, as he and Mr. Quackwatched her out of sight.
"I think it is great, just simply great," replied Mr. Quack.
XX
HAPPY DAYS FOR MR. AND MRS. QUACK
Whose heart is true and brave and strong, Who ne'er gives upto grim despair, Will find some day that skies are blue Andall the world is bright and fair.
If you don't believe it, just ask Mr. and Mrs. Quack. They know.Certainly the world never looked darker for any one than it didfor them when the terrible gun of a hunter broke Mr. Quack's wingon the Big River and ended all their dreams of a home in the farNorthland. Then, through the help of Jerry Muskrat, they foundthe lonely pond of Paddy the Beaver deep in the Green Forest, andthere, because their secret had been well kept, presently theyfound peace and hope and then happiness. You see, the heart of Mrs.Quack was true and brave and strong. She was the kind to make thebest of things, and she at once decided that if they couldn't havetheir home where they wanted it, they would have it where they couldhave it. She was determined that they should have a home anyway,and Paddy the Beaver's little pond was not such a bad place afterall.
So she wasted no time. She examined every inch of the shore of thatlittle pond. At last, a little back from the water, she found aplace to suit her, a place so well hidden by bushes that only thesharpest eyes ever would find it. And a little later it would bestill harder to find, as she well knew, for all about clumps oftall ferns were springing up, and when they had fully unfolded, noteven the keen eyes of Sammy Jay looking down from a near-by treewould be able to discover her secret. There she made a nest on theground, a nest of dried grass and leaves, and lined it with thesoftest and most beautiful of linings, down plucked from her ownbreast. In it she laid ten eggs. Then came long weeks of patientsitting on them, watching the wonder of growing things about her,the bursting into bloom of shy wood flowers, the unfolding of leaveson bush and tree, the springing up in a night of queer mushrooms,which people call toadstools, and all the time dreaming beautifulDuck dreams of the babies which would one day hatch from thoseprecious eggs. She never left them save to get a little food andjust enough exercise to keep her well and strong, and when she didleave them, she always carefully pulled soft down over them to keepthem warm while she was away.
Mr. Quack knew all about that nest, though he had taken no partin building it and had no share in the care of those eggs. He wasvery willing that she should do all the work and thought it quitesufficient that he should be on guard to give warning if dangershould appear. So he spent the long beautiful days lazily swimmingabout in the little pond, gossiping with Paddy the Beaver, andtaking the best of care of himself. The broken wing healed and grewstrong again, for it had not been so badly broken, after all. Ifhe missed the company of others of his kind which he would havehad during these long days of waiting had they been able to reachtheir usual nesting-place in the far Northland, he never mentionedit.
Unknown to them, Farmer Brown's boy discovered where they were.Later he came often to the pond and was content to sit quietlyon the shore and watch Mr. Quack, so that Mr. Quack grew quiteused to him and did not fear him at all. In fact, after the firstfew times, he made no attempt to hide. You see he discovered thatFarmer Brown's boy was a friend. Always after he had left, therewas something good to eat near where he had been sitting, for FarmerBrown's boy brought corn and oats and sometimes a handful of wheat.
He knew, and Mr. Quack knew that he knew, that somewhere near wasa nest, but he did not try to find it much as he longed to, for heknew that would frighten and worry Mrs. Quack. So the dear, precioussecret of Mr. and
Mrs. Quack was kept, for not even Paddy the Beaverknew just where that nest was, and in due time, early one morning,Mrs. Quack proudly led forth for their first swim ten downy, funnyducklings.
[Illustration with caption: Those were happy days indeed for Mr.and Mrs. Quack in the pond of Paddy the Beaver.]
Oh, those were happy days indeed for Mr. and Mrs. Quack in the pondof Paddy the Beaver, and in their joy they quite forgot for a timethe terrible journey which had brought them there. But finally theDucklings grew up, and when Jack Frost came in the fall, the wholefamily started on the long journey to the sunny Southland. I hopethey got there safely, don't you?
Among those whom Mr. and Mrs. Quack came to know very well whilethey lived in the pond of Paddy the Beaver was that funny fellowwho wears rings on his tail--Bobby Coon. In the next book I willtell you of some of Bobby's adventures.
THE END
The Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack Page 5
