Jeanie Oliver Davidson Smith

“ Edwy had been called “The Little Trapper.” He had read every book he could find about animals. After reading some of them, he would be the “warrior bold”; would long to be old enough to shoot and slay and pursue big game through the forest spaces, but bless his heart, he hadn’t the least idea that there was any tragedy in it. He had made box-traps with his own hands, but in such a way, however, that it would hardly frighten the little creatures to be caught, for he would only keep the little prisoners an hour, or a minute perhaps, feed them, and let them go free. ”

“ After the boys and their parents had said good-bye to their camp, and the whistle of their train could be heard far over the hills, she began to take a new course with Zephyr. The little lonesome creature would go often down to the bank, and seem to watch for the coming of a boat and a welcoming [28] warwhoop, but would always come back disappointed. It was at such times that Aida and her mother would have a loving word for Zephyr, and it evidently was at a loss to know what such unusual attention meant. ”

“ Aida had sent gifts that she knew they would like, their Uncle had brought them some gifts from Paris, and this special friend of theirs had her own plan, that made her smile to herself, when she thought how Edwy loved things that he could pet and fondle and call his own. The other presents had all been sent early to their city home, and messages of thanks had been sent back, but the question had been flashed back to the senders:
[36] “Why didn’t you come yourselves? Christmas day is never Christmas day, unless you are here!” ”

“ While Aida and her mother were happy in the garden and thinking “Big thoughts,” Edwy’s pretty name for all he could not quite comprehend, Aida, looking up, saw a shadow pass over her mother’s face.
“If Edwy were here, dearest, he would ask his friend, why? And he would wait for you to answer his loving question, but I think I know.”
“How do any of us know, when our boys come to be grown men, what may they not have to do to hold such liberty sacred? Can we be sure that their beautiful lives might [32] not have to pay the toll of enrollment for their sacred trust—for their country?” ”

“ When you are older....”
How Edwy hated the words, “when you are older!” It always meant that you couldn’t have something when you wanted it. But as he was a well-bred child, he always kept quiet in company. He had sometimes confided to Willard, his brother, but that didn’t help much.
“Could I have a kitten then? I do want some kind of a thing that isn’t either dumb or dead.” A certain chum of Edwy’s—not the usual kind of a chum—but one in his own and Willard’s estimation well worthy of the name, had noticed the fact that the child [8] had so bravely banished the frown of disappointment. ”

“ Edwy’s mother felt that she must not let him keep on hoping for the impossible. They could not take a dog to a city home while they were building the camp on the lake. It was equally out of the question either, to carry him back and forth on the cars, or to leave him at home with servants while all the family were away. ”

“ Some weeks previous to this, while the campers still thought they had the whole summer before them, a little white kitten with gold spots, had come, seemingly from nowhere, and had sought admission—not to Edwy’s camp—but to his Uncle’s, across the lake.
His Uncle’s wife was the dearest, the most teasable aunt in the world. She was known sometimes as “Aida,” from a pet name one of them had given her. ”

“ Oh, I can hear it now, even after all these months, as the remembrance of it comes [26] through the still evening air. ‘He shall feed his flock ... feed his flock ... like a shepherd. He shall carry the lambs in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.’ Then you told me the story about His life, after I came back to bed, and I fell asleep, saying it over and over. ”

“ Willard and I are going to row the boat over the lake, and bring her back to your house, Aida, for that is her real home.”
On reaching the other shore, Aida and Mo-ma were glad to welcome the boys with their pet, for they had all feared she was lost. She had found her way to the other house, along a wood road, they thought, all the way. If she had gone along the borders of the lake, it would have been much nearer, but it was swampy that way, so she must have taken the high road and had made [17] friends with the tame rabbits, not hurting any of them. ”

“ People may think you awful, and send you off to bed, but [25] half the time you don’t know what’s the matter. Why, that was only last Christmas? Do you remember that night, Mo-ma?”
“Perfectly.”
“We were at home in the city,” he continued. “You had come up to my room and sat by me. I was all covered up with the quilt, so you wouldn’t see my red eyes. All at once we heard some one singing. It was only Mamma and Aida. Mamma was playing the air on the dear violin, Aida accompanying her on the piano and singing, and she always gives one a chance to hear the words.”
“Yes, Edwy, I remember. ”