BOB THE VAGABOND 



By starlight? What, Bob, who had frohcked and 

 chuckled through the bright June days, and dozed o' 

 nights so quietly that never a passing owl could see a 

 motion to tempt a chase? 



Yes, when he joined the Band of Bobolink Vagabonds, 

 the gates of the night, which had been closed to him by 

 Sleep, were somehow thrown open, and Bob was free to 

 journey, not only where he would, but when he would — 

 neither darkness nor daylight having power to stop him 

 then. ^ 



Is it strange that his wings quivered with the joy of 

 voyaging as surely as the sails of a boat tighten in the 

 tugging winds? 



What would you give to see this miracle — a bobolink 

 flying through the night? For it has been seen; there 

 being men who go and watch, when their calendars tell 

 them 't is time for birds to take their southward flight. 

 Their eyes are too feeble to see such sights unaided; so 

 they look through a telescope toward the full round 

 moon, and then they can see the birds that pass between 

 them and the light. Like a procession they go — the 

 bobolinks and other migrants, too; for the night sky is 

 filled with travelers when birds fly south. 



But though we could not see them, we should know 

 when they are on their way because of their voices. 

 What would 3'ou give to hear this miracle — a bobolink 



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