VICTOR, THE FOREST BOY 101 



They sat down on a clump of barberry-bushes, which 

 were tangled with wild-clematis vines and roses. 



All was still. An hour passed, and all was still. Noon, 

 and all was still. 



Then there was heard a timid call. 



One. 



Another timid call. 



Two. 



" She is counting her chicks," said Audubon. 



Three. 



So called the timid quail. 



The chicks doubtless answered her. 



But one did not. 



They saw the hat move, but the chick did not come out. 



There was a distressed call, repeated over and over. 

 Then it was repeated louder. Then louder. 



It was so almost human that Victor said: 



" I will let the little quail go." 



He did so. They listened. The mother quail did not 

 call again. 



" It is the parable of the lost sheep," said Audubon. 



They watched a spider cleaning with his feet an old 

 web. Then they saw him weave his new world. "What 

 an instinct was that! "Whence did it come? 



They saw one day a battle of the ants — as though that 

 pictured the useless battles among men. 



One day they captured a venomous serpent, and Audu- 



