14 BEYOND THE PASTURE BARS 



Surely somebody besides the flicker was crazy, 

 or was going crazy! 



Just then old Yarup, the flicker, swung over my 

 head and -galloped on across the fields toward a 

 large haybarn that had lately been built in a 

 near-by field. I was going over to the barn also, 

 but was still some distance away, when Yarup 

 landed on the ridge-pole, threw up his head yell- 

 ing "icick-wick-wick," then fell to on that ridge- 

 pole with his bill as if he intended to split the roof 

 into kindling wood. 



"Woop!" he seemed to say, leaping straight up 

 into the air at the sound of the hollow boom from 

 within the empty barn. "Woop! hear the bang!" 

 and, clean out of his wits, he came down on the 

 ridge-pole yelling "Kei-yer! Kei-yer!" at all the 

 countryside for a mile around, then started again 

 to splitting kindling as if the world had to be set 

 on fire. 



No, it was not to set the world on fire, but to 

 wake the world up, that he was pounding. As if 

 the whole spring world was not wide awake al- 

 ready! It was not kindling wood, but noise that 

 that crazy flicker was making rattling, banging, 

 wanging noise! And he was making it just for 

 the fun of making it, yelling to hear himself yell, 



