AMERICAN FORESTRY 



371 



they harm us, Granddaddy," asked the two young loons. 

 "Because they carry things called 'guns.' These look like 

 nothing but a stick of wood. But the things make a 

 frightful noise and a cloud of smoke. If you don't get 

 out of sight quickly, a small round ball will hit you. It 

 hurts too, and sometimes it kills." "Oh, dear," said 

 Millie and Willie, "we'll surely be careful Grandsire." 



TVJOW, one pleasant day in July, Millie and Willie were 

 having a race to Hemlock Point. They were each so very 

 much interested in trying to win that they forgot all about 

 their grandfather's advice. "I'm lots ahead of you," called 

 Willie, "my feet are touching the sand.. Oh, dear, what 

 a queer looking bird. Come here, Millie." And there, 

 not far away was the 

 strangest looking object 

 they had ever seen. It was 

 swimming near and nearer. 



??T OOK," said Willie, "it 

 has yellow down on 

 its head and blue eyes and 

 a funny flat red bill oh, 

 Millie, what a strange bird." 

 "Be quiet," whispered Mil- 

 lie, "you don't want to scare 

 him away. He may be a 

 good play-mate for us." 

 Just then the stranger 

 caught sight of them. He 

 turned around and swam 

 away just as fast as ho 

 could. But Willie s\va~i 

 after him and called "Picas? 

 come back and play with 

 us oh please do." And tha 

 strange creature turacd 

 around and swam back with 

 Willie to where Millie was 



COON they were fric; "c 

 and were racing to r.g 

 Island and back. The ycu-g 

 Loons were the faster 

 swimmers and the better 

 divers, but they couldnt 

 float on their backs the way 

 the stranger could. They 

 had such a jolly time to- 

 gether. After a while, Millie thought of something. "What 

 is your name?" she asked shyly. "Bennie," replied the 

 stranger, "and I live in that tent up there on Clover Hill. 

 All of us Boy Scouts are camping out here for a whole 

 month." "Do you fly 'way up there every night?" asked 

 Willie. "Fly?" said Bennie, "Well, well, do you thing I'm 

 an airplane or a bird? I can't fly." "Oh you poor thing," 

 cried the little Loons, and they looked as if they were 

 really sorry for their new friend. "But, of course, you'll 

 learn to fly sometime," said Willie very politely, "it took 

 Millie and me days and days to learn to fly over Blacktop 

 yonder. 



BUT Bennie only shook his head and two big tears 

 started down his cheeks. "I can't ever learn to fly," he 

 said, "because I haven't anything to use for wings." At 



THE NEST OF A LOON 



this, Millie and Willie both began to cry for they felt 

 so sorry for their friend. Altogether, they were very 

 gloomy and unhappy for a few minutes. But very soon, 

 indeed, Bennie grew tired of feeling sorry for himself. 

 You see, he really was a cheerful little boy and was 

 usually quite ready to make the best of a bad 

 bargain. 



r? 4 NYWAY, I don't care," he said with a grin that 

 -" showed all his white teeth, "I can run faster than 

 any other Scout in the Troop." "O-O-Oh!" wailed the 

 little Loons, and they both cried harder than ever. "What 

 ever is the trouble now?" said Bennie, quite out of 

 patience. "Please stop crying. I don't care, really, be- 

 cause I can't fly." "Boo- 

 hoo-hoo," wept the little 

 ones, "we can't run at all; 

 we can only waddle, oh, 

 boo-hoo-hoo." 



A ND then Bennie felt so 

 sorry for them that he 

 cried some more too. But 

 in a minute he thought of 

 something which made him 

 teel more cheerful. "Why 

 look here," he said, "we 

 can help each other. I've 

 thought of a wonderful 

 plan. Some day we'll take 

 a long trip just the three 

 of us. You two can fly 

 and carry me until you are 

 tired, and then I can run 

 and carry you. Oho! what 

 fun." "Yes, yes," said Mil- 

 lie and Willie, "let's go to 

 Silver Lake and spend the 

 day with Uncle Larry do 

 let's go soon oho! what 

 fun!" and they quite for- 

 got to cry. 



* FTER this these three 

 - t *- had many good times 

 together, but one day Wil- 

 lie happened to think of 

 something. "Bennie," he 

 said, "what kind of a bird 

 are you, anyway?" At this Bennie laughed and laughed 

 and laughed. Finally he stopped laughing enough to 

 say, "I'm not a bird at all, Willie. I'm a human be- 

 ing." "But you can't be," piped up little Millie, "be- 

 cause you don't carry a gun." "Ho-ho-ho," laughed 

 Bennie, "that's because I'm a Boy Scout we don't go 

 around killing things." "Well, well," said Willie, "that's 

 the first mistake I ever knew Grandsire to make. Oh! 

 what a joke on him." "Tee-hee-hee," giggled Millie, "do 

 let's go and tell him right away. You come too, Bennie, 

 so we can show Grandsire how nice some human beings 

 are." 



DO off they swam to find old Grandsire Loon and tell 

 ^ him the joke. 



