BOB THE VAGABOND 



middle of summer; and the hot, muggy winds blow from 

 the north; and the cool, refreshing breezes come from the 

 south; and some of the wood is so heavy that it will not 

 float in water; and the people make tea with dried holly 

 leaves! But to the Band of ^'agabond Bobolinks it was 

 not topsy-turvy, for it was home; and they found the 

 Paraguay prairies as well suited to the comforts of their 

 January summer as the meadows of the Xorth had been 

 for their summer of June. 



Bob was satisfied. He had flown four thousand miles 

 fiom a meadow and had found a prairie! And if, in all 

 that wonderful journey, he had not paid over much at- 

 tention to anything along the way except swamps and 

 marshes, do not scorn him for that. Remember always 

 that Boh found his prairie and that Feter found his shore. 



It is somewhere written, ''Seek and ye shall find." 

 'Tis so with the children of birds — they find what 

 Nature has given them to seek. And is it so with the 

 children of men? Never think that Nature has been 

 less kind to boys and girls than to birds. Unto Bob 

 was given the fields to seek, and he had no other choice. 

 'Unto Peter the shores, and that was all. But unto us 

 is given a chance to choose what we will seek. If it is 

 as far away as the prairies of Paraguay, shall we let a 

 dauntless little vagabond put our faith to shame? If it 

 is as near as our next-door meadow, shall we not find a 



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