Part 6 (2/2)

One morning, Bobby saw Father and Hobson in the tool-shed and went to see what they were doing. He found them busy about the mowing-machine--oiling it, tightening the screws and sharpening the knives.

”Oh, Father, you aren't going to cut the gra.s.s now, are you?” said Bobby.

”Yes,” said Father, ”the clover is ready.”

”I wish it could be left all Summer,” said Bobby.

”But we must cut it,” said Farmer Hill, ”to make hay for the horses and cows to eat next Winter.”

When the mower was ready, they hitched Prince and Daisy to it, and Father climbed to the seat and drove to the hayfield.

As the mower went around the field, it cut a wide swath of clover and left it lying flat on the ground.

A humming sound the mower made, a pleasant sound to a person some distance away, a very loud sound to one near by.

In one of the nests in the field, there was a mother bird and three young birds. The little mother bird, there in the quiet clover field, had never heard such a loud sound before.

”What can it be that makes that big noise?” the frightened mother bird thought as the mower pa.s.sed close by.

Then the sound grew fainter as the mower went to the other side of the field. The little mother bird settled down happily in her nest.

But it was not long before the sound came back again, closer and louder than before.

”What shall I do?” thought the mother bird. ”What shall I do?”

She might have flown away herself. But there were the three young birds not yet old enough to fly.

So she sat still while the terrible noise kept coming nearer.

All this time, Bobby was playing here and there with Rover. Suddenly, Bobby thought of something. He ran toward the mowing-machine, waving his hands and shouting.

”Stop, Father, stop!” he said.

The mower made such a loud noise that Father could not hear what Bobby was saying, but he could see his arms waving.

”Whoa, Prince! Whoa, Daisy!” he said, and the horses stopped.

”What is the matter, Bobby?” he asked.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”'Stop, Father, stop!' he said”]

”The bird's-nest! There's a nest right ahead,” shouted Bobby.

”A bird's-nest, is there?” said Father. ”Well, we won't harm the nest.

Go and stand near it, Bobby, and I'll turn out for it.”

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