26 BEYOND THE PASTURE BARS 



eral bells ringing in confusion, growing louder, 

 clearer, more ringing, clanging, clangorous, until 

 down from the stars overhead falls the round 

 trumpet call of honk honk honk honk, as the flock 

 with measured wing tread, speeds along its star- 

 lit highway from the arctic toward the tropic zone. 



You stand in your tracks, your face turned 

 toward the stars, your breath held, your eyes un- 

 seeing, your ears straining to catch the thrilling 

 message that seems calling from star to star. 



Out of the north it comes, and you hear the cry 

 of the north the howl of winds, the crash of floes, 

 the thunder of splitting icebergs; then on into 

 the south it goes, this thrilling call, and you hear 

 the voice of the south the whisper of winds 

 among the reeds, the lap of waves on the shore, 

 the song of birds, the hum of bees, the breathing 

 of the jessamin and orange blossoms. 



The strange cloud-call comes and goes and 

 leaves you listening to two worlds, the boreal world 

 and the tropic world. The call comes and goes 

 and leaves you with a wild, wild thrill in your 

 heart, and a wild, wilcl desire for something for 

 wings, it seems, so that you too may cross the 

 cloudy highway that swings through the stars 

 around the world. 



