And the mother quail, with her full-grown family
scurrying to cover in the corner of the fence; the squirrel scolding
to his mate in the tree-tops, or leaping over the rustling leaves, and
all the rest of the forest life, was full of interest when compared
to the life of busy men or chattering sparrows in the bustling mining
town.
Though Mr. Cushman and his wife had raised a large family of boys and
girls, only one, a daughter, remained with them on the farm. The others
had, one by one, taken their flight from the home nest, to build home
nests of their own in different parts of the great world wilderness.
Kate was a hearty, robust, rosy-cheeked country lass of eighteen, the
youngest of the flock; her father's chum, with all his frank, open
ways; and her mother's companion, with all her loving thoughtfulness.
And, best of all, she possessed the charming freshness, innocence and
purity of one who had never come in touch with those who, taught by
the world she had never known, were content to sham her virtues as
they tried to imitate the color of her cheek.
Dick sank to rest that night with a long sigh of relief, after meeting
the mother and daughter and enjoying such a supper as one only finds
on a prosperous farm. And strangely enough, the last picture on his
mind before he fell asleep, was of a little school-house which he had
seen just at sunset, scarcely a quarter of a mile up the valley; and
he drowsily wondered who taught the children there; while a great owl,
perched in an old apple-tree back of the chicken house, echoed his
sleepy thoughts with its "Whoo! Whoo!"
With a whoop and hallo and whistle, the noisy troop of boys and girls
came tumbling out of the doorway of the White Oak School, their dinner
pails and baskets on their arms, homeward bound from the irksome duties
of the day.
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