Music of the Wild 



and vulture Mheel, soar, and sail in high heaven, 

 and the kingtisher daslies in merry rattling flight 

 between tlie trees, his reHeetion trailing after him 

 across sunlit pools. The quail leads her chickens 

 from the thicket to drink, and the wild ducks con- 

 verse among the rushes. In it the coon carefully 

 washes the un^\ary frog caught among the reeds, 

 and the inuskrat furro^^•s deejjer ripples than the 

 stones. 



The lambs play on the pebbly banks and drink 

 eagerly, the cattle roll grateful eyes as they quench 

 What the their thirst and stand belly-deep for hours lazily 

 Limberlost ^.^^.j^(_.j,j,i^, their tails to drive away flies. Little 

 children come shouting to ^\•ade in the cool A\'aters, 

 and larger ones solemnly sit on the banks with 

 apjjle-sucker rods, Avrapping twine lines and bent 

 pin hooks, su2:)])orting their families by their indus- 

 try, if the gravity of their faces l)e token of the 

 importance of their work. Sweetliearts linger 

 l)eside the stream and surprise tJiemselves with a 

 ncAv -wonder they just have discovered — their se- 

 cret; but the IJml)erlost knows, and promises never 

 to tell. 



Perhaps that is what it chuckles about -^Ahile 

 slipjiing around stones, over fallen trees, and ^his- 

 pering across beds of black ooze. The Limberlost 

 is a wonderful musician, singing the song of run- 

 ning Mater throughout its course. Singing that 

 low, somber, sweet little song that you must get 



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