CHAPTEE XII 



* VICTOR, THE FOREST BOY HOW HE STUDIED NATURE 



So they became companions — father and son. 



Victor accompanied his father on long and lonely jour- 

 neys, far from the Kentucky and Ohio Rivers, where white 

 feet had never gone before. He loved his father's calling 

 more and more, and he began to be jealous of his father's 

 reputation when he heard of Wilson's fame. "Was he lone- 

 some in these far-away solitudes, where birds had sung 

 beyond the sound of the human ear? 



No; how could he be? The bird's song to him was a 

 divine voice among the trees wherever he went. Some- 

 thing new and wonderful happened each day. 



Let us follow the forest boy. It is Saturday evening, 

 far away from any human habitation. The sea lies fifty 

 miles away. Rocks covered with pines and great crags of 

 moss rise about the two naturalists. 



" We will rest under the rocks to-night," said Audubon, 

 " and listen to the sounds of the descending wings. The 

 fishing-birds will be coming home from the sea." 



They ate a spare supper out of the food pouch, and 



listened. 



99 



