(Adapted)
Once a poor Crane was caught in a net, and could not get out. She
fluttered and flapped her wings, but it was of no use, she was held
fast.
“Oh!” she cried, “what will become of me if I cannot break this net?
The hunter will come and kill me, or else I shall die of hunger, and
if I die who will care for my poor little young ones in the nest? They
must perish also if I do not come back to feed them.”
Now Trusty (the same Trusty who saved the baby’s life) was in the next
field and heard the poor Crane’s cries. He jumped over the fence, and
seizing the net in his teeth quickly tore it in pieces. “There!” he
said. “Now fly back to your young ones, ma’am, and good luck to you
all!”
The Crane thanked him a thousand times. “I wish all dogs were like
you!” she said. “And I wish I could do something to help you, as you
have helped me.”
“Who knows?” said Trusty. “Some day I may need help in my turn, and
then you may remember me. My old mother used to say to me:
“To do a kind deed wherever we can,
Is good for bird and beast and man.”
[Illustration]
Then Trusty went back to mind his master’s sheep, and Mrs. Crane flew
to her nest and fed and tended her crane babies.
Some time after this she was flying homeward and stopped at a clear
pool to drink. As she did so she heard a sad, moaning sound, and
looking about, whom should she see but good Trusty, lying on the
ground, almost at the point of death. She flew to him. “Oh, my good,
kind friend,” she cried, “what has happened to you?”
“A bone has stuck in my throat,” said the Dog, “and I am choking to
death.”
“Now, thank Heaven for my long bill!” said Mrs. Crane. “Open your
mouth, good friend, and let me see what I can do.”
Trusty opened his mouth wide; the Crane darted in her long, slender
bill, and with a few good tugs loosened the bone and finally got it out.
“Oh! you kind, friendly bird!” cried the Dog, as he sprang to his feet
and capered joyfully about. “How shall I ever reward you for saving my
life?”
“Did you not save mine first?” said Mrs. Crane. “Shake paws and claws,
friend Trusty! I have only learned your mother’s lesson, which you
taught me, that
“To do a kind deed wherever we can,
Is good for bird and beast and man.”