Crossing the Great Plains 49 



had been in Indiana. The black, scolding 

 magpie, first cousin to the whiskey jack, 

 was much in evidence, and ducks were 

 frequently seen along the creeks by the 

 cottonwoods. 



One evening they surprised an old duck 

 and her brood, ten tiny little corks, bob- 

 bing about upon the water. They were 

 as buoyant as bubbles, but the Andersons 

 did not have long to watch them, for the 

 old duck soon led them away into the 

 reeds. 



Other birds there were whose names the 

 boys did not know. These were pecking 

 away upon the wild plums, or eating weed- 

 seeds, but all seemed quite sociable, and 

 not a bit wild. 



At first Bennie had been almost terrified 

 at the vast stretches of brown, sear plains, so 

 silent and so lifeless that it seemed as 

 though there was not a living thing upon 

 them. Sometimes the Andersons would 



