Whose heart is true and brave and strong,
Who ne'er gives up to grim despair,
Will find some day that skies are blue
And all the world is bright and fair.
If you don't believe it, just ask Mr. and Mrs. Quack. They know.
Certainly the world never looked darker for any one than it did for
them when the terrible gun of a hunter broke Mr. Quack's wing on the
Big River and ended all their dreams of a home in the far Northland.
Then, through the help of Jerry Muskrat, they found the lonely pond of
Paddy the Beaver deep in the Green Forest, and there, because their
secret had been well kept, presently they found peace and hope and then
happiness. You see, the heart of Mrs. Quack was true and brave and
strong. She was the kind to make the best of things, and she at once
decided that if they couldn't have their home where they wanted it,
they would have it where they could have it. She was determined that
they should have a home anyway, and Paddy the Beaver's little pond was
not such a bad place after all.
So she wasted no time. She examined every inch of the shore of that
little pond. At last, a little back from the water, she found a place
to suit her, a place so well hidden by bushes that only the sharpest
eyes ever would find it. And a little later it would be still harder
to find, as she well knew, for all about clumps of tall ferns were
springing up, and when they had fully unfolded, not even the keen eyes
of Sammy Jay looking down from a near-by tree would be able to discover
her secret. There she made a nest on the ground, a nest of dried
grass and leaves, and lined it with the softest and most beautiful of
linings, down plucked from her own breast. In it she laid ten eggs.
Then came long weeks of patient sitting on them, watching the wonder of
growing things about her, the bursting into bloom of shy wood flowers,
the unfolding of leaves on bush and tree, the springing up in a night
of queer mushrooms, which people call toadstools, and all the time
dreaming beautiful Duck dreams of the babies which would one day hatch
from those precious eggs. She never left them save to get a little food
and just enough exercise to keep her well and strong, and when she did
leave them, she always carefully pulled soft down over them to keep
them warm while she was away.
Mr. Quack knew all about that nest, though he had taken no part in
building it and had no share in the care of those eggs. He was very
willing that she should do all the work and thought it quite sufficient
that he should be on guard to give warning if danger should appear. So
he spent the long beautiful days lazily swimming about in the little
pond, gossiping with Paddy the Beaver, and taking the best of care of
himself. The broken wing healed and grew strong again, for it had not
been so badly broken, after all. If he missed the company of others of
his kind which he would have had during these long days of waiting had
they been able to reach their usual nesting-place in the far Northland,
he never mentioned it.
Unknown to them, Farmer Brown's boy discovered where they were. Later
he came often to the pond and was content to sit quietly on the shore
and watch Mr. Quack, so that Mr. Quack grew quite used to him and did
not fear him at all. In fact, after the first few times, he made no
attempt to hide. You see he discovered that Farmer Brown's boy was a
friend. Always after he had left, there was something good to eat near
where he had been sitting, for Farmer Brown's boy brought corn and oats
and sometimes a handful of wheat.
He knew, and Mr. Quack knew that he knew, that somewhere near was
a nest, but he did not try to find it much as he longed to, for he
knew that would frighten and worry Mrs. Quack. So the dear, precious
secret of Mr. and Mrs. Quack was kept, for not even Paddy the Beaver
knew just where that nest was, and in due time, early one morning,
Mrs. Quack proudly led forth for their first swim ten downy, funny
ducklings. Oh, those were happy days indeed for Mr. and Mrs. Quack in
the pond of Paddy the Beaver, and in their joy they quite forgot for
a time the terrible journey which had brought them there. But finally
the Ducklings grew up, and when Jack Frost came in the fall, the whole
family started on the long journey to the sunny Southland. I hope they
got there safely, don't you?
[Illustration: Those were happy days indeed for Mr. and Mrs. Quack in
the pond of Paddy the Beaver.]
Among those whom Mr. and Mrs. Quack came to know very well while they
lived in the pond of Paddy the Beaver was that funny fellow who wears
rings on his tail--Bobby Coon. In the next book I will tell you of some
of Bobby's adventures.