Julia Augusta Schwartz

“ Elk, with ears twitching at every strange sound, wander down from upland meadows. In the woods rabbits hop away under the bushes. Little shrews dart from leaf to leaf among the shadows. In wilder spots pointed noses sniff and bright eyes twinkle from the dens of wolves and foxes. Bears shuffle softly through the underbrush, and panthers steal out on tiptoe to their hunting.
In the trees squirrels scamper from branch to branch. Now and then a mother opossum trots by with her pocket full of young ones. Bats fly this way and that in hungry pursuit of insects dancing in the twilight air. ”

“ Berta was going to cry. Hark! A robin’s twilight call rose melodiously from the heart of a shadowy spruce. In the thrill of it Robbie felt the sting of sudden tears. She turned to Bea.
“Now I know how Berta feels when she listens to music. I’m beginning to understand. But I think a robin is different from a brass band.”
“Is it now? You astonish me.” Bea squeezed her understandingly, nevertheless. “I know. Being with Lila has taught me a lot. She is like a windharp—every touch finds a response. Berta’s a violin, I guess. It takes skill to play on her. ”

“ The baby manatee did not seem to care for all these beautiful sights. Very likely he could not see well above water, and he did not enjoy the dry, warm feeling of the air. His sense of smell must have been too dull to notice the fragrance of the lilies or the spicy scent from the swamp. Creatures living under water do not use their noses much.
But the little manatee could hear the least soft plop of a leaf falling in the river. The sudden splash of a frog’s jump made him squirm and twist in terror. ”

“ Then they could go out and hunt the elk and the deer, whose small hoofs cut through the crust at every bound.
The young wolves felt hungry all the time. Sometimes, when a blinding storm shut them into their den among the rocks, they went without eating day after day. The fine snow sifted down upon their glossy winter coats as they lay close together, snuggling their cold noses into one another’s fur. Many a night they dreamed of eating, and snapped and swallowed greedily in their short, uneasy sleep. ”

“ So Bea considered a reckless disregard for books and persons also a quality of genius. Berta felt a slow blush creeping up to her brow at the candid memory of her tendency to bump into things and brush against people when in a dreamy mood—and to pass on without even a beg pardon.
“You’re evidently new to the business, my cautious and calculating young friend,” she whispered, “you should have ignored the resultant calamity. Ah—why, child!” she stared in surprise, “your collar is pinned crooked and your turnover is flying loose at one end, and your hair is coming down. You look scandalous.” ”

“ This book tells the stories of some of the baby mammals of the wilderness,—how they grow and learn day by day to take care of themselves. In hollow trees or down under water among the lily leaves, in the cool sea or on the rugged mountains, on the grassy plains or among the waving tree-tops, in the dark caves and burrows or hidden in the tangles underfoot,—all the world is alive with young creatures. ”

“ Then rising abruptly she jerked a chair in front of her desk, slapped down a fresh pad of paper, jabbed her pen into the inkwell, shook it fiercely over the blotter—and suddenly brushing the pages hither and thither she flung out her arms upon them and buried her face from the light.
A few minutes later Laura entered noiselessly and stopped short at sight of the crouching form with shoulders that rose and fell over a long quivering sob. Laura took one step toward her, next two away; finally setting her teeth resolutely she glided softly across the room and patted the bent, dark head. ”

“ If they heard it again they ran to the den as fast as they could scamper. More than once while they lay blinking comfortably in the sunlight they saw the old father fox spring up with his ears pricked forward and his eyes gleaming. With his tail erect, his fore-feet planted in front, and his hind-feet on the spring, he listened to the sound that had startled him. Perhaps it was the bark of a dog or the scream of a blue jay over a newcomer in the woods. It was always safer for grown foxes to run from an enemy than to try to fight, for they were swift-footed creatures. ”

“ Did Gertrude ever tell you about our playing at politics when we were sophomores? Possibly you have heard politics defined as present history, and history as past politics. On that understanding, this tale is a history. It is the history of a great reform. When I sit down to reflect, a luxury for which I seldom have time even in vacation, it really seems to me that I have been reforming all my life. Lila has reformed a good deal since she entered college, and Berta has been almost as bad as I. Robbie Belle is the best one among us, but she does not realize it. ”

“ Now the trees toss their branches in the wind; now the rain sprinkles down from gray clouds, or snow drifts silently over the prairie.
In the spring all the wilderness is green with growing leaves and flowers and grasses. The world is alive with animals. In the water sea creatures are feeding in their places, or floating and swimming here and there. On land there are worms and insects, creeping reptiles and flying birds.
From inland ponds beavers scramble ashore in the dusk to nibble fresh twigs for supper. ”

“ Bea’s brush dropped an impatient splash of yellow in the heart of the flower. Then she glanced up with a penitent smile.
“You’re so awfully loyal yourself, Lila,” she said. “You try to measure everybody up to that standard. I shan’t forget that day in hygiene when you declined to answer the question that floored me. It was like that poem about the girl who wouldn’t spell a word that the boy had missed, because she hated to go above him. And at the tennis tournament you wouldn’t leave till I had finished 26 the match, though you shivered and shook in the frosty October air. ”

“ Bright eyes glitter and small paws patter, little noses sniff the air and sharp ears twitch. There is a rustling of leaves above and a crackling of twigs below, a splashing in the swamp and a silent bending of the grasses. In the sunshine or the rain, in the daytime or at night, life is busy everywhere on this beautiful old earth.
All the mammals are alike in having hair on some part of their bodies, in having teeth at some time in their lives, and in feeding the young with milk. ”

“ When tired of standing around the tree, the class fluttered across the campus to the broad stone steps in front of the recitation hall.
Bea clung to Robbie’s arm again and reached for Lila in their flight. “I’m ’most sure we look like nymphs flying through the glades, with our draperies blowing in the lines of swift motion. I love to run when I feel like it. Robbie Belle, shall we ever dare to run when we get home?” ”

“ At last they heard the soft thump-thump-thump of her furry paws as she came leaping over the grass from the bushes where she had been dozing. How joyfully the babies wriggled at sight of her! As soon as she had lifted the blanket and crept underneath they snuggled close to her. They were hungry for the warm milk which she had always ready for them to drink.
As the days passed the little bunnies began to grow too big for the nest. Their hind-legs felt stronger and stronger for jumping. Indeed, the bravest bunny had a naughty way of kicking his brothers and sisters. ”

“ As she entered, Bea looked up brightly from the cardboard which she was cutting into squares.
“Here you are!” she exclaimed in cheery greeting, though her eyes had shadowed instantly at sight of the unhappy drooping of every line. “Sue Merriam has been in to show me how to make you up for the play next month. It takes quite an artistic touch to darken the brows and touch up the lashes. Catch these corks and put them away. They’re messing up my dinner-cards.”
Lila’s shoulders quivered as if pricked by a spur even while she mechanically caught the bits of black and fumbled them in her fingers. ”

“ Berta tucked a pensive skip in between steps as they moved through the gloomy corridor past rain-beaten windows. “It wasn’t like Gertrude to burst out like that just because Sara came late to our domestic evening, but it did spoil the fudges and the game and everything.”
“And not to give her a chance to explain!” fumed Bea’s temper always ready to flame over any injustice. ”

“ On land, the biggest baby was too fat and clumsy to move as fast as the other two. They danced about on their hind-legs, and pretended to step on his tail or pull his fur. It was beautiful fur, so fine and thick and soft that water could not soak through to the skin. The babies did not have a coat of coarse outer hair like the old beavers. When tired of play they sat up and scratched their heads and shoulders with the claws on their hairy fore-paws. Then, after combing their sides with their hind-feet, they curled down in the grass for a nap. ”

“ Robbie Belle continued to stare at her thoughtfully. “If you truly want to, Berta, we might save up and go to the opera some other day. I’m willing.”
“Willing! Dear child! Willing! Behold how she immolates herself upon the altar of friendship! She is willing to go to grand opera and sit listening to sweet sounds from dawn to dark——”
“Oh, Berta!” interrupting in alarm, “not from dawn to dark really? How about——”
“Luncheon?” the other caught up the sentence tragically. “Ah, no, but calm thyself, dear one. Be serene—as usual. There is an intermission for luncheon. We could go to a restaurant. ”

“ Scattered over the gravel there were rounded hills, with tiny red creatures hurrying in and out of their holes, and around and to and fro. The little bears looked at the ants and then watched their mother as she sat down beside a hill and licked up a mouthful. After a minute down they sat, and scraped their pointed tongues over the ant-hills.
The ants tasted as sour as vinegar, and made the young ones wrinkle their noses just at first, because they were used to drinking sweet milk. [Pg 114] More than once a fierce little ant gave a nipping bite to the red tongues that squirmed over the gravel. ”

“ When they saw Robbie Belle’s face they simply stared. They listened in silence to the few rapid words that stung and burned and smarted. They watched her depart, her head still held at its angle of 58 wrathful justice. Then they looked at one another.
They could not see how, when once safely in the haven of her room, she broke down utterly and lay trembling and sobbing in Miss Cutter’s astonished arms. Now at last she had surely committed an unpardonable offense against the only girls for whom she cared in the whole collegeful—especially Berta. Now Berta would be certain she was queer. ”

“ An inquisitive senior going out to investigate 91 spied only the deserted stairs, and heard nothing but four scampering feet on the corridor overhead. Saint Valentine, with a voice that dropped lower and lower into a muffled murmur, read her own name fifteen times in succession, and blushed rose-pink, from gray beard to powdered hair, while the other seniors laughed and laughed.
Two minutes after the valentines had been counted and the result announced Bea was waltzing about Berta’s room, with that unwilling captive in her arms.
“Ho! Who says your senior is more popular than my senior now?” ”

“ Countless years have passed since that day, long, long ago, when the first tiny living creature began to grow in the new world of rocks and water. All this time things have been moving and changing. The earth keeps whizzing around the sun, while the sun itself rushes blazing through space. ”