El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-15
THE FATHERLESS
(By F. st. SIarrs.)

A VERY great calamity had fallen
- upon the two wild duck fami-
- l. lies at one fell swoOp, 'twixt q
wing beat and the next They had
settled in a pond to feed at break of
dawn. when all the still fields were
shrouded in mist and the trees stuck
up out of it like poIlards out of a
flood. 1t was very cold, and a thin
crust. of ice. was beginning to form
round the shallow edges. Then had
come a thunder all in one place. a Jet
of flame; their respective two fathers
and their two mothers had wheeled
head over heels as if a cyclone had
struck them; a man had appeared VITA
gun, crashing through the reeds, and
well, here they were WinginS their
way about the high, clear sky. gather
the 10 utterly at a loss what to do
without a leader.
That was their trouble. you see
don't think it was the loss of their
parents as parents which made them
quack all together-just like tame
ducks. by the way-so forlornly; it
was the fact that they had now nc
leader, and every flock of wild ducks
lutely obey. This is one of the strict
est laws of their life Now the leader
ship of a flock of wild ducks, or wild
geese. or even wild swans for that
matter. falls by right upon the most
powerful, and therefore, the fastest
flying, male among them, or If there be
none such. upon the oldest and most
powerful female One fire green head
ed drake there was, of the larger fam
lily of the two, who, as they flew fran
tically from the scene of the slaugh-
of the flock and held IL. He was the
oldest of his family-that is to say, the
first Matched. So he had begun life
with few hours start OF his brothers
and sisters, which start he had never
lost
One after another the other young
brakes of the flock challenged him.
drew up to him, and flew level with
him for a bit. but one after another
they fell back. being unable to keep
the pace at which he flew.
Thus the flock resolved itself into
two long lines converging on the
young drake ahead, in the form of a
letter V: the strongest flyer at the
head, the next two strongest just 6e-
hind on either side, the next two be-
hind them still, but just a little to
one side so as to be able to see ahead,
and so on down to the weakest ard
slowest flyer of all at the tail of the
longer arm of the v And so the Line
young drake won the leadership Of the
flock by fair and open contest-by, in
fact. right of wing
The still. shining waters cleaned
right ahead. The leader had left all
his friends behind. such was his speed.
and was spinning ahead alone. Then
suddenly it seemed as if he had been
smitten with heart failure in mid cir
Down went his head and up went his
short tail with the curly feathers on
it, and he fell headlong. He hit the
water with a splash like the report
of a pistol. and went under. The rest
of the flock dropped around him like
cannon balls.
1t was a nice place. that lake, and
quiet. and they stayed there the night.
for there was corn along the banks
al one end. all spread abroad-they
did not pause to think how il came
there-enough for all to eat.
But they got rather a jar the next
morning, when there came quietly to
the end of the lake a mana game
keeper he was-who whistled in a pc
culiar way. and scattered fresh corn
on the bank. The other ducks went to
him as tame as chickens-for all that
they were truly wild-but our ducks