THE FEATHER MAN 251 



first started him on systematic work. I don't 

 know whether he ever told you or not, but he be- 

 gan life as a very poor boy, in the Eocky Moun- 

 tains and had tried to make collections of birds' 

 eggs several times, but had never been able." 



*'Why not?" asked Shan. 



"Because, my boy," the Feather Man answered, 

 "his father was a prospector, one of those men 

 who go through the mountains afoot, their scanty 

 provisions on the back of a burro, hunting for 

 pockets of gold, or cradling gold dust in the sands 

 of some unnamed creek. Baker used to travel 

 with his father. Several times he started a little 

 collection of birds ' eggs, when the prospector set- 

 tled down for a few months in some favorable loca- 

 tion, but the wandering spirit was in his father's 

 blood and he would soon pull up stakes and go off 

 again, ' ' 



The Feather Man smiled. 



"It's a little difficult," he said, "to rope a batch 

 of blown birds ' eggs on a burro 's back with a dia- 

 mond hitch ! 



"So you see, Shan," he continued, "when he 

 found you, a few weeks ago, doing the same thing 

 that he had tried to do when he was a boy, it 

 touched a soft spot. That was why he gave you 



