Reynolds] A BOY AND A BROOK 21 



there that likes birds and knows them, too? He has the pond 

 for ducks and lots of bird houses stuck up in the trees and on the 

 fence-posts. 



The ducks were wild once and they live in the pond now. The 

 man cut off their longest wing feathers so they couldn't fly away 

 to some other place. The pin-tail and canvas-back ducks weren't 

 very pretty. I know them from father's game book. The blue 

 winged teal and the mallard ducks had a lot of colors on them. 

 Mrs. Mallard duck was swimming around with a lot of fuzzy, 

 homely little ducks. They were only two days old and yet they 

 could swim better than their mother. Sis says that some birds, 

 'specially water birds, can take care of themselves as soon as they 

 hatch out. There was one great snow goose that tried to show us 

 how well he could swim. Then we went to see some new partridge 

 chicks in the chicken-yard. A Bantam hen was taking good care 

 of them. They were smaller than ordinary chickens and looked 

 like yellow velvet with brown strips down their backs. They ran 

 around through the grass and Sis said they didn't crouch down like 

 they do when they are wild and with their wild mother. 



It was hot so Sis didn't want to go any further so she told me 

 that if I wanted to see where the brook ended I could climb down 

 the bank below the house and see what was happening. So I 

 left her at the house and went down. I thought the brook would 

 run into the lake inlet but it falls down the bank and goes down a 

 hole in the ground and not a drop can you see after that. I 

 hustled up to tell Sis and she laughed so I guess she knew all the 

 time. 



We've named the brook Vanishing Brook. I'm tired of writing 

 so much; its awfully hard to write in such hot weather like this 

 but I got so excited I had to let steam off somewhere, so I told you 

 all about it. When / grow up I mean to know just as much as the 

 bird man does about brooks and birds and everything thats alive. 

 Wait and see. 



Your loving son, 



David Wells. 



