Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1909-1915, 1911-05-19
(By#iDl:,.. I. at,ge.)

and and We were In distress. sur party !,
4 had been caugh III q storm, On Devils
lake, North Dakota, and ne lad been,
compel to beach our steel launch s, 81,
] the shore of a somewhat sheltered sbay:
Some q our party had their life Spre.
servers Ig ~ On ecting to swim Tor their
Hives any minute. s8j
little II *tDicky, being a duck, did M nots
U; need life preserYers, but.fhis trouble
was even more serious than our own,
Ssi because X h very little duck,
Il scared tWenty tour ours Old, and lie l
had lost his mot her. when Ne found Il
4 hin him he b, was padd ding with Ills little
feet as fast as he could trying to- 81 swim
across The bay against wind ana! Wyh iilteI
4 caps. Peep, peep. peep, peep, he
called with 3 higsh baby voice al shIe&
struggled out tto sea, but. the result
- the same; no sooner II, did
he reach the crest 81 the incoming
breaker than wind and wave u caught ilt
MIN with full force. and, vet and tired,
i and az z covered with fecks Of seething
IL foam, he was cast back On d the beach i;
from which he had started. .S
.S Joe, or ! ear-old hoy, picked him
up, and we all shed that We could
take u him back to hts mothe ii on the !
! leeWar t' side of the bay, but the bay
\ was too shal low for our launch and We We
had d no small boat with which to search
4 for Il. his other, SO Joe put Dick iii
the ne hollow palms Of his hands and toon
3 him along.
#s5 lD)icky did not try. very hard to get
I I Z aWSay$When We caught him !; III fact Tie
was $50 tired out il that his little legs
/ could neither run nor paddle very fast,
/ nor: a did q he seem to care whether we
I took him along or not. s.
After five Or ten minutes joe open
ed his hand Oh look here "A he ex.
claimed, smy little duck is asleep. n:
here sat the little Wild creature.
the; tip of his bill tucked under stub.
sbysWintg with his eyes closed. as happy
u and content IN the boy hands as
\ baby in Its mot er's arms "
BIB A little later we went to explore the
I shore for half "A mile. AS It was rather
Venient to carry the little duck
along with us, we wrapped him up in
a blue handk erchie and put him down
on. the warm and sheltered side of a
K boulder. He opened his eyes dreamily
and uttered q few peeps, = but seemed
quite willing to- continue his nap and
enjoy q warm and dry place. .ss5s5.
3s.E When half an hour later we eturn-
ed to look for him he was gone. We
II did not expect to see him again and
went down to the lake Ito make ssure
! that our launch was not .ponnd ling AS
walked along the sandy beach Joe
) called to me, saying:
box out, there IS the little sdnck;;:
don't step on him, 4
$s55 And there he was, cal ling with his
dnes baby voice and 1ooking like a dis.
& consulate child that has lost his moth.
$erE and appeals to strangers for help.
He did not try to get into the lake this
time. hut came towards, and WhenEJo
q bent down to pick him up he made no
real effort to BET away although he
\ did seem q little Safrai {s.5S3#
As Joe found Il rather aWkWard sto
carry the little duck ii hts hand he
ss but him In his coat pocket, which
(, Dicky accepted at once HI place OF his
mothers shell terlng VIM and warm,
H ing breast We found several patches
i: of wild straWbe rries, and while we
were picking Sberrie Dicky was given
IFS liberty, which he proved ~ pick
siing small, whitish flies and other IN
h seets on the vines and grasses. IS
4 showed no longer any fear of ~, and allle
& when We moved Sc ON our patch to AZ,
u other he allowed Shims ~ TO pc piclkSet st
4 Il us is is joe and carried along, resting
cont entedly IL Joess pocket Az + sw We
looked 10Y fresh straW berry patches
81 walked about after other thiings q q
interest.
awards evening We went e. II farm \ 81
house for supper Joe would not 1l part part
with SDickey. and while we were eating
4 al occasional softt peep came from s,l
i Joes peck hen bedtime came \ w vs.
4 made camping place III d; the farmers
Il barn and Joe hung coat on nail tH.ll'
some time VII We were still i talk as
Ing w We heard now. and then ain rli
cfirp from Dicks But pon WA allS fell
Il asleep, after tae hard ana ti \ a'lai