THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED
It was very mysterious. Yes, Sir, it was very mysterious. Mr. Quack
thought so. Mrs. Quack thought so. There, out in the Big River, in the
midst of the Black Shadows, was something which looked like the branch
of a tree. But instead of moving down the river, as the branch of a tree
would if it were floating, this was coming straight across the river as
if it were swimming. But how could the branch of a tree swim? That was
too much for Mr. Quack. It was too much for Mrs. Quack.
So they sat perfectly still among the brown stalks of the wild rice
along the edge of the Big River, and not for a second did they take
their eyes from that strange thing moving towards them. They were ready
to spring into the air and trust to their swift wings the instant they
should detect danger. But they did not want to fly unless they had to.
Besides, they were curious. They were very curious indeed. They wanted
to find out what that mysterious thing moving through the water towards
them was.
So Mr. and Mrs. Quack watched that thing that looked like a swimming
branch draw nearer and nearer, and the nearer it drew the more they
were puzzled, and the more curious they felt. If it had been the pond of
Paddy the Beaver instead of the Big River, they would have thought it
was Paddy swimming with a branch for his winter food pile. But Paddy the
Beaver was way back in his own pond, deep in the Green Forest, and they
knew it. So this thing became more and more of a mystery. The nearer it
came, the more nervous and anxious they grew, and at the same time the
greater became their curiosity.
At last Mr. Quack felt that not even to gratify his curiosity would it
be safe to wait longer. He prepared to spring into the air, knowing that
Mrs. Quack would follow him. It was just then that a funny little sound
reached him. It was half snort, half cough, as if some one had sniffed
some water up his nose. There was something familiar about that sound.
Mr. Quack decided to wait a few minutes longer.
"I'll wait," thought Mr. Quack, "until that thing, whatever it is, comes
out of those Black Shadows into the moonlight. Somehow I have a feeling
that we are in no danger."
So Mr. and Mrs. Quack waited and watched. In a few minutes the thing
that looked like the branch of a tree came out of the Black Shadows into
the moonlight, and then the mystery was solved. It was a mystery no
longer. They saw that they had mistaken the antlers of Lightfoot the
Deer for the branch of a tree. Lightfoot was swimming across the Big
River on his way back to his home in the Green Forest. At once Mr. and
Mrs. Quack swam out to meet him and to tell him how glad they were that
he was alive and safe.