XIV 
FOUR NOTABLES 
Grouse, Quail, Woodcock, and the Wood Duck 
THE Saturday before Thanksgiving Tommy Todd came 
trudging up the road toward ‘“‘the General’s,” with an 
extremely contented expression on a face that was usually 
more than cheerful, while he kept turning his head to admire 
something that he carried in his right hand, twisting and 
swinging it as he walked. The something was a beautiful 
male Ruffed Grouse, or Partridge, as it is commonly called, 
in all the bravery of its glossy neck-ruff and tail that when 
spread looks like that of a miniature Wild Turkey. 
Together with the Grouse was a pair of Quail in rich, 
brown autumn coats and snowy throats that excel those 
of the White-throated Sparrow itself. Tommy’s father 
and his elder brother Joe, the Fair Meadows blacksmith, 
had taken two “days off,” and gone a-hunting up to the 
upland brush-country beyond the river woods, and these 
birds, a part of the result, were a gift for Gray Lady and 
Goldilocks. Not only were the birds in fine condition, 
but they were nicely tied together with some sprays of 
trailing ground-pine and a little tuft of pungent winter- 
green with its coral berries. 
Gray Lady took the birds, and as she thanked Tommy 
for them, glanced toward Goldilocks, who sat in the 
library window watching for the children to come. When 
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