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"Wasn't the lake savage enough for him?" asked the boy ruefully, rubbing his knee that he had just bruised against an outstanding rock. "No," said Mr. Devering, "he adores the forest primeval. His wife was like you, and she struck at last and he had to move out to a house near mine. I bought this place from him and let...
"Are there bears here?" asked Dallas in an awed voice; "real, live bears?" "Not many usually, this time of year, but there have been bad bush fires over the mountain, and bears, wolves and foxes have been driven down earlier than usual. We always hear wolves howling about us in October, but you see this is only July." ...
"Killed them, do you mean?" "Yes, and I drove the rest of the flock down to a pasture back of my house. Mr. Talker just told me there's a lamb missing and I thought I'd come up to look for him. His mother was one mangled by the bears, and Lammie was found standing by her carcass. He was taken down to the house, but his...
My young master's face fell. What a tender heart he had, and what was he thinking about as he went nimbly along, his eyes glued to Mr. Devering's back in a way that soon caused him to fall flat on his face. In the city a boy does not need to watch his feet. In the country it is wise to look to your steps. His young min...
"You like motion pictures." "Yes, Captain--John's a regular fan, and when we go home from seeing them he tells me how he used to lay out boys when he was my age. Of course he never touched a small kid--always fellows as big as himself." Mr. Devering looked thoughtful, but said nothing. Young Dallas went on, "But now, I...
His tone was bold, but his eyes were timid. This was a boy who fought battles in his mind and kept his fists in his pockets. "My boy," Mr. Devering called out, "time will settle your doubts. I had a young cousin who wasn't sure whether he'd run a candy store or drive a locomotive when he grew up." "And what did he do?"...
"When you were a boy did you want to be a settler?" asked Dallas. "Never--I wanted to practise medicine." "And did you?" "No, I took my course in my home University of Toronto and got my degree, but I never practised."
Young Dallas, who had a great thirst for information, said coaxingly, "I suppose you got ill and came here for your health." "No, my lad, I wasn't ill, but I knew I would be if I didn't stop breathing dust." "Street dust, Captain?" "Different kinds of dust. I was one of a struggling ant-heap. There was system and order...
"In my city," said the boy thoughtfully, "there was some dust and much loneliness--but it is a very fine place." "Your life was abnormal. The boys in my city were rushing from one place to another. They could not keep their minds on their books, and here was this beautiful calm north country with air like wine and cryi...
Dallas enveloped the big glowing figure of the man with a glance of warm admiration. "You are splendid, Captain." Mr. Devering went on as if he did not hear him. "Some day I will tell you of our great clay belt further north. I am buying farms there for my boys. Then there is Hudson Bay with its iron ore, coal, silver ...
He checked himself suddenly, as if he were about to say too much. "Captain," cried Dallas, "you sound like one of my adventure books. I believe you are younger than I am." How Mr. Devering laughed. He even shouted, he was so much amused. Then he took off his hat and swung it in the air. Oh! he was a very jolly man. The...
Dallas went stepping over damp and mossy stones to stare at a layer of black mud in a hollow. "Tracks," said Mr. Devering. "See if you can tell what they are." "Sheep," said Dallas doubtfully. "Right you are, and what else?"
"Deer?" "Yes, there are lots of them about lately. I saw three of them this morning out back of the barn at my deer-lick." "What's that, Captain?" "A natural deer-lick is a salty spot of ground where deer go to nibble or lick the earth. I made mine, for I have a great fancy for giving pleasure to our elegant and gracef...
"Are there many wild animals there, Captain?" "Heaps of them--they're protected; except wolves. There's a bounty on their heads of twenty-five dollars." "I'd love to visit that Park," said the boy. "You shall--we'll take canoes and go up the Fawn River. There are three portages that will interest you--come on, boy, I s...
Dallas tore after him, very much excited about the danger threatening the lamb. He was talking to me quite boastfully. "I'd like to see a bear lay a paw on any lamb when I was near." I was uneasy. All the horse family hate bears. Even a big cart-horse will turn round when he meets one. I knew that some had lately passe...
Not a bird peeped in this thicket. The most of my bird friends are like the boy and hate deep dark woods. They love fields with a few trees scattered here and there, or nice open groves, or best of all the neighbourhood of houses if cats and boys are not allowed to prey on them. Suddenly I heard the boy draw a long bre...
On our right as we went up the hill was an old grey barn and a desolate pasture. Here were many sheep tracks and Mr. Devering went into the lean-to hoping that the lamb might be there. "If Lammie-noo is here," he said, "this is where he would pass his nights." "Is that the lamb's name?" asked Dallas. "Yes, my children ...
"'Ba ba Lammie-noo Cuddle doon tae mammie.'" "Wouldn't bears come after him in this place with no door?" asked the boy with a shudder. "Yes, they would if they were hungry, but Lammie-noo has probably not been here more than a couple of nights, and if the bears have been roaming in some other direction they would not g...
"Poor patient trees," said Mr. Devering, "every year they give us some fruit for preserving. I've a great mind to build up this place again for some young settler." "Oh! please do so, Captain," said young Dallas whose sensitive soul was quivering with the loneliness of his surroundings. "Would you like it?" asked the m...
"Let old Mother Nature put her hand on your head, my boy, and listen to what she says; then you'll learn to love all her children, even the trees--I'll renew this offer later." When we passed the orchard and came to the dreary house I thought, "There's no chance of this young lad ever coming to live here." The building...
Dallas started back, then went bravely forward, only to fall back again and lay a trembling hand on my neck. "Oh! what is that dead thing?" he asked. I looked over his shoulder and saw a porcupine shedding his quills for the last time. The corner of the open door had been gnawed by him or some other creature. I knew wh...
"Ah! there is a view," he said a few minutes later when we stood under the blue sky and surveyed the ranges and ranges of green hills surrounding us on every side with here and there a glimpse of a distant lake. "The everlasting hills--the everlasting hills." Young Dallas stood with the fresh wind blowing some color in...
"So many persons have been lost there. The Indians have a legend about its being bewitched, and about a pre-historic monster much larger than a moose who haunts its forests. I'll tell you about it some day. In the meantime I'm watching Lammie-noo." "You don't mean to say you've found him?" "Yes, down there against the ...
"Possibly, though he doesn't drink much when he gets plenty of green feed. I daresay he's sick and feverish. Would you like to be lost up here away from your friends?" "Good gracious! no, sir. To tell the truth, this place is a thousand times worse than your farm." Mr. Devering was not offended. With a glance of unspea...
"Won't my young ones feast him to-night?" said Mr. Devering. "Won't he get a brimming pail of milk from our good cook!" Dallas' face beamed. He and Mr. Devering were both intent on the lamb, but I with my lower animal instinct was terribly uneasy. The cool north wind brought us a wild gamy smell. Something lurked and c...
I gave the loud shrill alarm snort of a wild pony just as the dark streak took the form of a long lean wolf who sprang with a sideways leap from the shelter of the spruces and caught one of the hind legs of the unsuspecting lamb. Mr. Devering was a pretty clever man. He flashed one swift glance at my trembling form, th...
He was in a pitiable state of fright, and unable to plan for himself, he started to do as his Captain has done, namely run down the hill. However, he didn't go very far. The ugly old house leering at him with its open doorway tempted him, and he whipped in. Of course I whipped in after him, for my place was with my mas...
After he had gasped for a few seconds like a dying fish, he dragged himself to one of the broken windows. Down there on the grass Mr. Devering was bending over the lamb. No wolf was in sight, and my young lad pulled himself together and cried in a relieved voice, "Come on, Babe," then he tore out of the house and down ...
"One nip--hind leg--it isn't bad. I'll take a few stitches. Hold his head and shoulders, will you?" CHAPTER V A COWARD STANDS ALONE Lammie's leg was soon bound up, and Mr. Devering said to Dallas, "Do you know that verse in the Bible--'The sheep follow him for they know his voice, and a stranger will they not follow, b...
"Yes, Captain, Margie has read it to me." "Well, we're going to start now, so you please stand back a bit. Lammie is eyeing you as if he thought you were another wolf--but why are you hanging your young head?" "I'm a coward," said the boy brokenly. "In what way?"
"I ran into the house when I saw the wolf." "Were you afraid?" "I was, sir." "That the wolf would attack you?"
"Yes." "Suppose he had attacked me, would you have come out to help me?" "I don't know, sir, but I hope so." "You're not sure."
"No, sir." "And we're pals," said Mr. Devering. "I could have staked my worldly all on your standing by me--one can never tell." He looked thoughtfully down at the grass, and the poor lamb standing on three legs stared patiently up at him. Mr. Devering had forgotten him for the minute. The boy's wound was of more impor...
"What kind of wolves have you read about?" he asked presently. "Fierce wild wolves like the Russian ones who pursued the sledge, and the servant threw himself out to save his master." Mr. Devering said nothing. He just stared and Dallas began to howl just like a human wolf, "Oh! I feel yellow--I should have stood by yo...
Mr. Devering came and stood over him. The boy was just raging now, and snapping out words. "I didn't think I'd run. I thought I'd make a stand. I didn't know I was a quitter." "Did you ever see a wild animal before outside a Zoo?" Mr. Devering bawled at him, for the boy was making so much noise that an ordinary voice w...
Of course I stayed by our angry young lad, and presently getting over his temper, he lifted his swollen face. He was alone with me, and the wolf might still be lurking in the spruces. So he thought, and didn't he jump up and go stumbling over the grass, slipping, falling, getting up again, dashing the tears from his ey...
Certain tones in the man's hearty voice reminded me of the boy's sweet notes, and wasn't there a queer suggestion of each other when I stood near them? We Shetland ponies as I have said before are very close to human beings for our ancestors were literally brought up with the children in the crofters' huts, and my moth...
"Captain," cried Dallas anxiously as he ran after him, "I'm here." Mr. Devering stopped singing. "All right," he called, "I'm glad to hear you." "You can't see me," said the boy, very anxious to make conversation, "but I'm here all the same." "Good for you, Sub, we'll have a fine appetite for our supper."
"You don't dine in the evening then," said Dallas agreeably. "No, sir--country hours--dine at twelve p.m. No afternoon tea except on occasions. Supper at six." "I like those hours for the country," said Dallas. As he spoke a last sob broke his voice. "Captain," he called out, "will you tell your kids that I ran from th...
"Certainly not," said Mr. Devering in tones of surprise. "Aren't we pals?" Dallas winced terribly at this. "I'm going to tell them myself," he said; "I've got to rub it in or maybe I'll do it again. My father hates cowards. He'd kill me if he thought I'd grow up to be a white-heart." "I'd scarcely go as far as that," s...
"Not at all--he'd have run like a deer if he'd scented us. The wind was off the lake." "But I didn't know that," cried the boy. Mr. Devering said nothing. He just stalked on with the lamb. Young Dallas' shoulders drooped sadly. "If he had been a wild, wild wolf," he said at last, "he might have attacked you, and there ...
Mr. Devering stopped in his tracks, slid the lamb to a bed of moss, and said: "Let's rest a bit." I knew he had paused to have a chat with the boy and ease his aching young heart. He was certainly a man who remembered that he had been a boy himself, and that the sorrows of youth are as painful as they are brief. When t...
"Because the Duffs and the Deverings have never bred a coward." "The Duffs and the Deverings," repeated the boy slowly. "My father is a Duff, but was my mother a Devering?" The big man bit his lip. "There! I have let that family cat out of the bag. That splendid man your Dad did not wish you to know till later, but I w...
"Yes it was, my boy. She was adopted in early life by our aunt Mrs. Beverly Ronald, who gave her her own name." "And what relation are you to me?" asked Dallas springing to his feet. "I am your uncle." "My mother's brother."
"Her only brother." "And I thought I had no relatives." The boy was in an ecstasy. He stood with eyes fixed on his new relative, his face going from red to white like a girl's. Then in a trice he had his arms round the neck of this good uncle, and was hugging him warmly. "I love you!... I love you!" he cried.
"And I love you, my boy," said the man simply. "I feel weak like that lamb," said Dallas, and his arms slipped down from the man's shoulders and he re-seated himself on the log close to his side. "I want something strong to hold on to." Mr. Devering threw an impatient glance in the direction of Boston, and I knew that ...
"Well, you'll never be without one now," remarked Mr. Devering, then he said again quite patiently, "Wolfe, the Conqueror of Quebec." "The Conqueror of Quebec," repeated young Dallas like a parrot. "This story is little known, but it is true," said Mr. Devering. "Now pull yourself together, boy,--imagine a dinner table...
My young master was still in his beautiful dream cloud about this nice man being his uncle, but he came out of it long enough to say quite calmly, and with no bitterness now, "Wolfe was like me--he boasted." "Don't you wish to know why he acted so strangely?" "Yes, Uncle." "He was timid and nervous, and very often he a...
"You're trying to smooth things over for me," said Dallas sweetly, "but you do it because I'm your nephew. You can't fool me.... Please tell me another story about Wolfe. He is one of my heroes." Mr. Devering was shaking with inward laughter. However he subdued it, for boys don't like to be laughed at, and went on: "Th...
"And then," cried Dallas suddenly waking up, "Wolfe was the brave officer leading the attack on the enemy, wrapping his handkerchief around his wounded wrist and faithful to his motto, 'While a man is able to do his duty and to stand and hold his arms it is infamous to retire'---- What is infamous, my Uncle?" "Odious, ...
Mr. Devering just roared with laughter. "You can't forget that, Sub. Well remember too that you're at the period of beating the dining-table. Come on, I want to get home," and shouldering Lammie he began to tramp along the trail whistling, "When I was young, I went astray, Went astray, went astray." CHAPTER VI THE BELO...
When we got near the house, we heard the supper horn sounding cheerily in our direction. Mr. Devering strode along more quickly than ever in the lovely late afternoon sunshine, and when we reached the snake fence he leaned over and put Lammie-noo on his own hoofs. Then he and Dallas just howled with laughter. Wasn't th...
In a few seconds we too were at the woodshed door. Lammie-noo had gone through to the kitchen and stood by the big stove bleating pitifully and occasionally butting the good Bingi who was as patient as a lamb himself. I had often seen Japanese servants before, but this one was particularly clean and intelligent, and I ...
Mr. Devering soon made Lammie-noo come back to the woodshed and closed the door on him. Lammie immediately ran round to another door on the other side of the house. Bingi smiled amiably and said, "Let him remain, I beg. His portion is about complete. He will then follow me. He is strangely fastidious about the warmness...
Young Dallas' eyes grew big as he watched the hungry lamb sucking greedily at the milk and bobbing his funny tail with each mouthful. When the young animal drew back at last with a satisfied air, some hens who had been waiting politely came forward, and leaning far over dipped their beaks in the pan to drink up Lammie-...
To my delight, no one had said, "Go to your stable," so I made a discreet circle of the house, which was pretty well spread out over the ground instead of being built away up in the air. I glanced in the different windows to see which ones belonged to the lad I was beginning to love so much. I counted four boys and two...
"Hello Babe," he said, "I wish you were a valet or John or Margie," and his eyes went to his big wardrobe trunk standing open against the wall. "I haven't time to unpack now. I'll just give my hands and face a lick and a promise," and he went up to a wash basin and turned on the water. "Gee!" he exclaimed, "hot and col...
The dining place was not in the house but out on one of the wide verandas. A long table was set with plates for nine people, and wishing to see what went on at it I crept quietly around to the back of a clump of lilacs while my young master was being shown round the garden. "Well, if here isn't another beggar for crumb...
"What do you mean by chancers?" "Ones who happen along like that Plymouth Rock hen there sneaking down from the hen-houses. She knows she's not allowed here--but to come back to you. Of course you won't hurt any of us?" "Hurt you, my dear chipmunk," I replied. "I believe in the rights of all creatures--even deer mice. ...
"Couldn't I?" I remarked sarcastically. "How would you do it?" he asked. "Quickly, my friend. You ought to see the fancy play of my hoofs." "You think you're very smart," he said, and he hobbled slowly away to the veranda where he could be nearer the table.
I looked after him wondering what was the matter with his paws, and reflecting that although I don't dislike chipmunks, I find them very disrespectful. Such a darling little junco called to me with his sharp kissing note. He was in the lilacs over me and he had been watching the chipmunk. "Chew, chew, Pony," he went on...
"What's wrong with that chipmunk's feet?" I asked the junco. "He was a performing squirrel in a show. They used to make him dance by turning on a gas flame under his cage." "Why didn't he cling to the bars?" I asked. "They were charged with electricity. Though I am only a country bird I have heard how cruelly animals a...
"How did the chipmunk get here?" I inquired. "Mr. Devering was at the show and rescued him. He had the showman fined heavily--but, Pony, here comes the human mother-bird." Such a fine matronly young woman with a grave sweet face was coming out of the house. Her hands were full of wild roses that she put in a bowl of wa...
"Good gracious!" I said to the junco, "what is that furry brown creature curled up and clinging to the skirt of her gown?" "That is Black-Paws, the raccoon. He is a great pet of this house-mother's mother, a wee old lady who comes here in summer. When Grammie is not here, he follows her daughter about and slides along ...
"Go away, Black-Paws," the lady was saying, "You tire me. Here take this piece of cake," and she went to a side table. To my great amusement, the stout-bodied little creature with the funny black patches on his face held up his fore paws, took the cake, and when her back was turned began to wash it in one of the glasse...
"Yes, yes, and a good one too." "But she looks so young, junco." "Northland air is good for human beings and good for animals. Look at her skin--just like a cherry. I could bite it--chew, chew. Oh! where is my mate, my mate? She's late, she's late. Supper's ready, chew, chew." "Here I be, dearie, dearie," and we heard ...
"Oh! my dearie dearie," he said, and putting their heads close together, they sat talking in low bird notes in such a comfortable way that it made me feel quite lonely. I turned my head away, and saw two little gliding creatures slipping under the veranda steps. "Hello!" I said; "do I see snakes?" "Yes," said some one ...
"Aren't those snakes cute?" she said. "I love to see them, darting their heads out and in. They're the children's pets and are waiting for worms---- Pony-Boy, don't call attention to me. Being grey I don't show up much. I'm the biggest girl's pet, and she is the only one that knows I'm here. By and by she'll sneak me a...
"Biddy," I said, "I'll keep my eye on them, but I must watch my young master who is coming to the table." "I saw him walking about the garden," she said, "with the big master. Pony, I like your boy." Mr. Devering was guiding Dallas to the table. "My wife," he said to the boy. Then he said to her, "Bretta, may I commend...
"And what do you think of your new aunt?" asked Mr. Devering jokingly. "She seems very young," said the boy slowly. "Margie is old." Such a look of compassion came over the lady's face. "I am very glad to be your aunt," she said softly. Dallas, with a gentle gesture, took the hand that was hanging by her side and raise...
She blushed with pleasure at this grown-up caress, and taking a rose from the bowl she fastened it in the lapel of the boy's coat. "Pretty, pretty," I heard the juncos say. "Very kind," observed Biddy, and then the whole family of boys and girls came trooping to the veranda. "Family," said Mrs. Devering, "come here and...
I could see that their names made no impression on my young master. He was staring at their faces. These were his cousins, his real cousins, though they did not know it, and in spite of the cool wind blowing, a line of perspiration sprang to his upper lip. Would they like him, oh! would they like him? They all looked v...
It was a charming sight to see this happy, clean, and well-bred family sitting at this long table with no walls between them and the lovely lake that was shining and beautiful as the sides of the big silver soup tureen from which Mrs. Devering was ladling a delicious dark liquid that smelt like beans. I thought the Dev...
I looked back at the table. Everybody had finished their soup and to my surprise the eldest girl, who had heavy black hair and a straight nose like her mother's, got up and piling all the empty soup plates on a tea-waggon rolled them along the veranda toward the kitchen. On the way Bingi crossed her with a big roast of...
"Worm hash," I repeated; "I never heard of such a thing." "He never loses a young robin from crop trouble," said Biddy, "though they sometimes bathe themselves to death, being great water-lovers. He makes his hash of worms, bread, oatmeal and a few drops of milk. If he can't get worms he takes raw meat, but when his ro...
I paid little attention to Biddy, for I was eyeing Mr. Devering and grieving over something he had just said, "This is lamb, my boy. We are as bad as the wolf." The nice man was biting his lip now. He remembered how terribly my young master had felt about his cowardice, but who can recall the spoken word? Dallas was in...
Mr. Devering struggled with the joint for a few seconds, then he said shortly, "Up Deer Trail." "What were you up there for, Dad? Is that where you went with Dallas? I wish you'd taken us. We love that trail." More questions and more remarks were showered upon the poor man, but he went on carving silently. My young mas...
Mr. Devering rolled his eyes at him, but said nothing, while the children just shrieked, "Not Lammie-noo. He isn't alive, is he? Dad, you said he must be dead." "Sit down, sit down, children," said Mrs. Devering in a quiet voice. "Not another word, please, from anybody till every boy and girl is seated." The children w...
Struck by the name, I asked, "What is that?" "It's the place where hens walk in after tid-bits in somebody's hand and never walk out again. Nothing hurts them. They just stop eating and go to another poultry yard." I thought this over a minute. Probably the Deverings had some very merciful way of killing their stock; t...
Another rain of questions fell on his devoted head. "Where had he found Lammie-noo? Was he hungry? Why had he left the sheep?" "There you have me," said Mr. Devering with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "Why do human lambs and sheep and goats and kids do the queer things they do? He's home anyway--Mother, what have you...
I saw the children's faces falling, falling while these fiery words just flew from between my young master's thin beautiful lips. What fairy tale was this, and what kind of a boy was this pale city lad? "At last," cried Dallas, "the wolf ran away like a whipped cur." Oh! how I wanted to help my young master, and thrust...
He hadn't been lying as some children lie. He was a dreamer, and he really thought that what he was relating had taken place. He was trying to glorify this wonderful new relative of his--this dear, strong uncle. However, the children didn't understand this, and while the older ones were politely silent, the smallest bo...
Wasn't my young master grateful! He sprang up and went like a shot to my log cabin, I trotting after him. I imagined the grown people trying to keep the children from laughing at this queer way of taking a pony to a stable, then I forgot them all in my interest in my dear young master. CHAPTER VII PRIZE PIGS AND THEIR ...
He was sobbing his young soul out on a heap of straw. "Oh! Pony, Pony, what a fool I am--my head was going round and round. What did I say?--What an awful day. I wish I were dead." I had heard boys say this before, so I rubbed his shoulder consolingly with my soft lips. He was my own little master even if he did lie, b...
Knowing that I was supposed to be tied up, I kept at a discreet distance from him, and skulked behind shrubs until I reached my old hiding-place under the lilacs. Dinner was over now, and the pets were having their good time. The four fat young robins stood demurely round a plate of food on the lawn stuffing themselves...
The raccoon was under Mrs. Devering's chair and occasionally stuck out his black paws for tid-bits that she handed to him. Mr. Devering had moved to his wife's end of the table, and was drinking coffee with her. She motioned to Dallas to come beside her, and there was a plate of shortcake for him. "Will you have some m...
The eldest girl was trundling the tea-waggon back and forth to the kitchen, occasionally speaking impatiently to the chipmunk, who would get in her way. "Chippie Sore-Feet," she said, "your pouches are packed. Get out of this or I shall step on you." Chippie chattered angrily, but went away. "You little miser," she cal...
He gave her an angry glance, and went to unload his booty in some safe hiding place. When the table was all cleared, the black-haired girl who had been eyeing Dallas with much curiosity and a kind of serious interest, came to her father and said, "Mother thinks our guest would like to be shown round the place." "With a...
Poor lad! he did not want to go--he would rather have stayed with his uncle and aunt, but he did not want to hurt the girl's feelings. I followed the two as they went along the veranda, and listened to the girl who was saying, "Let's call on Lammie-noo first. I had to finish my work, so I haven't seen him." The lamb wa...
The black-haired girl touched his bandaged leg with gentle fingers, but said nothing. She was much quieter than the others, though she could yell, too, at times, as I soon found out. The younger children were calling the wolf all manner of names, when suddenly the biggest boy of all turned on his heel and said, "Ah! hu...
"Yes, his mother was a pet before him, and this was her bed-place. I'm sorry the bears got her," and the girl looked very sad. "What's that black stuff hanging under his chin?" asked Dallas. "It looks like beads." "I must shave him again," said the girl soberly. "It's clotted milk on his wool. He sticks his head down i...
Having finished with the lamb, the children gathered round me. My head, neck, throat, withers, chest, shoulders, knees, legs, feet, body and tail all came under discussion. They knew, the clever young ones, that a pony's points like a child's points should harmonise. Even the baby lifted one of my forefeet and peered a...
"We're all named from Canadian history," she said. "I'm Jeanne Mance." "I never heard of her," said Dallas. "Of course not, being an American," said the eldest boy so patronisingly that I saw my young master wince. I foresaw that this boy, who was a big, sturdy fellow with a round bull-like head, would probably get on ...
"And she died in the odor of sanctity," broke in the bull-headed boy, "but this one is nicknamed Cassowary and will probably be hanged." "Why Cassowary?" asked Dallas. "Don't you know about the great big Cassowary in Timbuctoo," said the lad, "who ate up the missionary and his hymn-book too?" "Never heard of him," said...
Poor little master--he felt very humble that beautiful July evening. Jeanne laid her hand on the big boy's shoulder--"This is Tecumseh Hallowell Devering, and he is fourteen years old--by the way, how old are you, Dallas?" "Thirteen." "Just my age," she said.
"I know who Tecumseh was," said Dallas; "he was an Indian brave who fought against us Americans and you British made him a brigadier-general." "That's so," said the big boy, his rather small eyes flashing, "and my nickname is Big Chief." Dallas shrugged his shoulders. He didn't like Big Chief. The younger children were...
Big Chief scuffed his way behind the circle of children and Jeanne, or Cassowary, as they called her, drew Merry-Eyes to the front. "This is Marguerite Bourgeoys Devering, and she is eleven and a half and is named for a young French girl who came to New France, built schools, cared for the sick and was called Sister Bo...
"Look at that," said Cassowary, "see her fists, she's just like a boy. Sleeping Dog, come here." A fine up-standing boy with dark hair was trying to slip out of sight, but his elder sister dragged him forward. "Samuel de Champlain," she said, "also nicknamed Champ. He's eleven and a half, too, 'cause he's Dovey's twin....
"'Cause it's hard to rouse him," said Cassowary. "His eyes look sleepy, but they have a trick of lighting up and when they do, look out." "So he's a fighter, too," said Dallas politely. "Rather, but luckily for us he usually takes it out with the gloves. He's the only one in the family that Dad can get to box with any ...
"James Wolfe," said Cassowary, "ten years old and known as Sojer. 'Tention, Sojer. Hands out of pockets. Mother's going to sew them up. Eyes front." Dallas blushed. The name called back his wolf adventure, then he roared with laughter, for the freckled-faced fat pudgy little boy known as Sojer was doing a goose-step to...