86 THE COUNTRY BOY 



his wing. Father helped me doctor him some 

 and finally when we took the splints off his 

 wing, his affection showed more than ever, 

 and to tell the truth he and I grew to be the 

 nearest and dearest friends possible, not be- 

 ing of the same species. He used to follow 

 me all over the place, and once when I was 

 sitting down by him in the barnyard he brought 

 me some straws, evidently wanting me to build 

 a nest. He was a great talker and an alarm- 

 ist ; he would come to me after I had been away 

 downtown and try his best to tell me what had 

 been going on in the barnyard while I had been 



away. 



In fact, he was my real chum. When I 

 came into the barnyard mornings when the 

 frost was on the ground, he would greet me 

 all smiles, as much as a goose could smile, then 

 he would step up on one of my boots, which 

 was quite an effort, and hold his other foot 

 up in his feathers to warm it, and if I started 

 to move he would chatter and cackle that pecu- 

 liar note of the Hutchins geese, as much as to 

 say, "Hold on, don't move, I'll tell you another 

 story." ^Meanwhile he would warm his other 

 foot. 



