The Detroit times., 1916-03-24
sy THORNTON W. sURoEss.

y sVSUNsSN W. SS"c~
When Mrs. Quack told OF her II
children and how she didn't know
where one OF them was Peter Rsb
bit and Jerry Muskrat knew just
how badly she Was feeling and they
turned their heads away and pre-
tended that they didn't see her
tears. In q few minutes she brave
ly went on with her story.
when Jack Frost came and we
knew 1t was time to begin the Ions
journey Mr.. Quack and myself and
our twelve children Joined with
some other duck families and with
Mr.. Quack in the, lead, we started
for our winter home. which really
isn't q home. but Just a place Ia
stay. For a while we had nothing
much to fear. We would ny by day
and at night rest In some quiet lake
or pond or on some river with the
Great Woods all sbout US. or per
haps great marshes. Perhaps you
don't know what marshes are. II
the Green Meadows here had little
streams o: water through them
every which way, and the ground
was all soft and muddy and full OF
water. and the grass grew tall they
would be marshes"
Jerry Muskrats eyes sparkled. II
would like q place Ike that" he
exclaimed.
"You certainly would" replied
Mrs. Quack. I'VE always fnd lots
of your relatives In such places"
Marshes must be something like
swamps.' ventured Peter Rabbit
who had been thinning the u,&tter
over.
"very much the same, only with
grass and rushes In place OF trees
and bushes" replied Mrs. Quack.
There Is plenty to eat there. and
the loveliest hiding places. In some
OF these we stayed days at time.
In fact. we stayed until Jack Frost
came to drive us out. Then as we
few we began to see the homes OF
these terrible twC-legged creatures
called men. and from that time on
we never knew minute OF peace
excepting when we were flying high
In the air or far out over the water.
II we could have just kept flying
all the time or never had to 80
near the shore, we would have been
all right. But we had to eat"
"Of course" said Peter. Every
body has to eat"
"And we had TO rest" said Mrs.
Quack.
Certainly" said Peter. Every
body has to do that"
"And to eat we had 10 60 In close
TO shore where the water was not
at all deep. because II II only in
such places that we can get food"
continued Mrs. Quack. 1T takes a
lot Of strength TO ny Is We ny. and
strength requires plenty Of food.
Mr.. Quack knew all the best feeding
places. for he had made the long
journey several times. so every day
he would lead the way to one of
these. He always chose the widest
and most lonely looking places he
could ind, 40 far ~ possible from
the homes Of men. but even then
ne was never careless. He would
lead us around. back and forth.
over the place he had chosen. and
We would drop down . little nearer
and . little nearer. But With al
our watchfulness We never could
be sure. absolutely sure that all was
safe. Sometimes those terrible two
legged creatures would be hiding
in the very middle Of the widest.
most lonely looking marshes. They
would be covered with grass 20
that we couldn't see them. Then
as we few over them there would
come the BANG, bang. bang OF the
terrible guns. and always some Of
our flock would drop and we would
have to leave them behind, for we
knew that II we wanted to live we
must get beyond reach OF those ter
rible guns. so we would ny our
hardest. II was awful. just amply
awful"
Mrs. QuacL paused and shud'
dered. and Peter Rabbit and Jerry
Muskrst shuddered In sympathy.
Sometimes We would have TO
try three or four feeding places be-
fore we found one where there were
no terrible guns. And when we did
And one We would b. % tired and
frightened that we couldn't enjoy
our food, and We didn't dare ID
sleep without some one on watch
ell the time. II was like that every
day. The farther we GOT the worse
n became. Our dock became small
er and smaller. those who 60
CARED he tsryibis suns would b, "a
Il