“And did you find young partridges where she came from?” pursued Perk, with round eyes, and partly open mouth, as though he had begun to experience a forerunner of the strange fascination that a knowledge of all these wonderful things has for the lover of the Open.
“Lots of times,” Wee Willie promptly replied; “but I give you my word for it, I was never guilty of trying to knock over a single one of the frightened brood when they scattered like crazy little things. Later on, I even refused to bother ’em in the least; though when the season opened I would take my gun, and hunt as well as the next one.”
“Gee! I wish I could sight something like that,” Perk was saying. “Do you think there are partridges around this place, Wee Willie?”
“I’ve heard ’em drumming more’n a few times, Perk; and Elmer here said he’d flushed several when roaming around.”
“But would any mother bird be apt to have her brood so late in the summer, do you expect?” continued the other persistently; for when an idea did find lodgment in Perk’s brain it stuck most stubbornly.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, for they say this was a late season, on account of so much rain early in the summer, that drowned out lots of nests. We might be lucky enough to run across one of these self-sacrificing old mother birds while up here at Log Cabin Bend.”
“Huh! hope I’m along if it does happen,” grunted Perk. “I never dreamed that you could learn such queer and interesting things just by keeping your eyes and ears open when in the woods. After this I’m going to investigate for myself. Seems like I’d just begun to scrape the scales off my eyes; for, say, I must have been blind never to have paid any attention to these things before.”
Elmer was delighted to hear Perk say this. He had himself tried more than a few times to get the other interested in those very things, but without success. Just what it was that had finally turned the trick he could not say. Perhaps the hour had struck for Perk to wake up; then again the sight of Amos beaming with joy over the success of his night effort may have set the match to Perk’s slumbering ambition. No matter what the cause, Elmer was vastly pleased at the result.
The boys were not idle by any means as the day passed on. They found numerous things to occupy their time and attention. Some of these tended to improve the conditions; little conveniences were arranged as conceived, which were calculated to lighten the burden of getting meals; or else render their sleeping accommodations more comfortable.
So the afternoon began to wane.