Fact1: pet raccoon lives with him in city, Fact2: Sam finds perfect mountain stream and pond location to build home in old dead tree, Fact3: librarian and Turner supplies him with books on local library falconry, Fact4: Bando is wandering folk singer traveling world in search of folk songs and traditions, Fact5: bright demeanor returns as Sam playing in winter snow
Output: The story revolves around twelveyearold Sam Gribley Teddy Eccles, a devotee of Thoreau as many were back in the 1960s. He decides to leave Toronto to spend time alone in the Canadian woods to see if he can make it as a selfsufficient spirit after his parents promised summer trip doesnt pan out. He also wants to work on an algae experiment while he is there. Sams immediate companion is Gus, his pet raccoon, which lives with him in the city. He gathers supplies at a local store, hops on a bus, and heads down the 401 with Gus to what he calls the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec. In actuality he ends up in the picturesque town of Knowlton, Quebec, southeast of Montreal, in the Notre Dame Mountains Range of the northern Appalachian Mountains chain along the eastern coast of North America from northern Georgia. Here he finds the perfect mountain stream and pond location to build a home in an old dead tree. He begins his longplanned algae experiments and proves his ability as a solitary young Thoreau living off the land and communing fully with nature. Sam wants badly not to have to feel needful of the urban and modern world, however, the sight of a falcon overhead inspires his curiosity about falconry. He journeys back to Knowlton and to the local library, where the librarian and birdenthusiast Miss Turner Tudi Wiggins supplies him with books on falconry. He steals a chick from a local falcons nest. It, whom he names Frightful, becomes his new best friend and food supplier, after he teaches it to hunt. One day, returning to his tree home, he finds an older man there. Bando Theodore Bikel is a wandering folk singer traveling the world in search of folk songs and traditions. They share survival ideas, lore with one another, and enlighten each others worlds. They enjoy each others pancake recipes. Sam makes acorn pancakes and Bando makes great syrup. Sam and Bando bond over the summer, but as Septembers cold air approaches, Bando tells Sam that he has to leave before winter comes on. They climb the nearby mountain together and Bando says his goodbyes. Sam is lonely. Frightful is killed by an insensitive hunter. Sam is devastated, but still manages to survive as winter sets in. His bright demeanor returns as he witnesses the local fauna playing in the winter snow. He also has the warmth of his tree home in place after building a makeshift chimney out of clay from his pond. Sam and Gus sleep by the fire as a terrible blizzard sweeps in. Soon their tree home is blanketed in snow, and without air they will suffocate in the smokefilled chamber. Panicstricken, Sam begins to dig his way through the snowedin doorway to the outside air. Luckily, Bando and Miss Turner have decided to pay him a Christmas visit. They help dig him and Gus out. The four have a Christmas celebration and sing Good King Wenceslas over Bandos guitar playing. Bando shows Sam newspaper reports of his parents concern over their missing son. He decides that he should go home, knowing that he accomplished even more than he set out for. The four head off around the side of the mountain.