"Alas," said Bob Lincoln, after a pause, "I dread this journey. Not many
of my friends have escaped so long. I fear I shall never return. But it
cannot be helped, we must go. I think, little boy, we shall start this
morning. So I will say good-bye now."

"Good-bye, Bob Lincoln," said little Luke, "I hope it will not be as you
fear. I shall look for you again next May."

The Bob Lincoln family started on their long southern journey and little
Luke went sadly back to the house. Now that the Bob Lincolns were gone,
the meadow no longer seemed so pleasant to him.




V. LITTLE LUKE MAKES FRIENDS AMONG THE WILD FOLK


While little Luke spent a good deal of his time with the Bob Lincoln
family, he did not neglect his other friends among the wild folk. Almost
every day he had long talks with one or more of them. Thus it came to
pass that he soon became exceeding wise with the wisdom of the wild
kindreds; for his eyes were sharper and his ears keener than those of
any other of the house people.

There was Sam, the hired man, who thought he knew a good deal about the
wild folk. And there was Old Bill, the hunter, who had done little
besides hunting and trapping all his long life; even these did not begin
to know the beasts and birds as little Luke knew them. Before the
Finding of the Magic Flower, he had thought them marvels of woodcraft