LITTLE STORIES FOR BEDTIME.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 62, 14 March 1931, Page 18 (Supplement)

LITTLE STORIES FOR BEDTIME.

MRS QLW'K CONTINUES HER STORY. When Mrs Quack tohl of her twelve children and how she rlirln't. know ] where one of them wm. Peter Rabl.it and ferrv Muskrat knew just how badly she was fcclin K , and they turned their heads away and pretended that thev didn't see her tears. In a few minutes she bravely went on with her story. “ When Jack Frost came ana we knew it was time to Ixegin the long 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 a home, but lust a place to stay. For a while we had nothing much to fear. We would fly by day, and at night rest in some quiet lake or pond or on some river with the Great Woods all about us, or perhaps great marshes. Perhaps y. u don't, know what marshes are. If the Green Meadows here had little streams of water through them every which j way, and the ground was all soft and • muddy and full of water, and the grass 1 grew tall, they would be marshes.” Jerry Muskrat’s eyes sparkled “ I ! would like a place like that!’ he exclaimed. “ You certainly would,” replied Mrs I Quack. ”We always find lots of your j relatives in such places.” “ Marshes must l>e something like swamps.” ventured Peter Rabbit, who had been thinking the matter over. “ Very much the same, only with giass 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 a time. In fact, we stayed until Jack Frost came to drive us out. Then as we flew we began to see the homes of these terrible twolegged creatures called men, and from that time on we never knew a minute of peace excepting when we were flying high in the air or iar out over the ‘ water. If we could have just kept • flying all the time or never had to go j near the shore, we would have been all right. Hut we had to eat.” “ Of course/* said Peter. “ Everyj body has to cat.” ** And we had to rest,” said Mrs I Quack. I “ Certainly.” said Peter. “ Everybody has to do that.” “And to eat we had to go in close 2E !E EE 3E HI E EE ID 2 Hi $ E S EE $ S 2 SB E S

to shore, where the water was not at nil deep, because it is only in such places that we can get food.” continued Mrs Quack. “It takes a lot of strength to flv as we fly, and strength require* plenty of food. Mr Quack knew ail 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 wildest and most lonely-looking places he could find, as far as possible from the homes of men, but even then he was never careless. He would lead us around, back and forth, over the place he had chosen, and ive couid all look with all our might for signs of danger. If we saw’ none we would drop down a little nearer and a little nearer. But with all our watchfulness we never could be sure, absolutely sure that all was safe. Sometime* those terrible two-legged creatures would be hiding in the verv middle of the wildest, most lonely-looking marshes. They would be covered ! with grass so that we couldn't see I them. Then as we flew over them j there would come the bang. bang. 1 >ar«g , of the terrible guns, and always some of our flock would drop, and we would ! have to leave them for we ; knew' that if we wanted to live *e must get beyond the reach of those j terrible guns. So we would fly our i hardest. It was awful, just simply awful! ”

Mrs Quack paused and shuddered, and Peter Rabbit and Jerry Muskrat shuddered in sympathy. “ Sometimes we would have to try three or four feeding places before we found one where there were no terrible gun*'. And when we did find one we would be so tired and frightened that we couldn’t enjoy our food, and we didn’t dare to sleep without some one on watch all the time. It was like that every day. The farther we got the worse it became. Our fiotk l*?came smaller and smaller. The s who escaped the terrible guns would be so frightened that they would forget to follow their leader and would fly in different directions, and later join other flocks. So it was that when at last we reached the place in the Southland for which we had started Mr Quack and I were alone. What became of our twelve children I con t know, I am afraid the terrible gurs got some. I hope some joined other j flocks and escaped, but I don’t know.** > “ I hope they did, too,’* said Peter. : £ £ E £ S SB SE SE s s a IS S S £ s ?: $ s ®