Good evening and welcome to Dreamtime Stories with Jackie.
I'm so glad you're here for another exciting chapter in the life and adventures of Bob White.
In chapter 18,
We found a hunter who was hunting in Farmer Brown's farm.
And found the Bob White family.
He got one of the Bob White children.
So.
.
.
We're going to go and read chapter 19.
But before we do,
Make sure you're all snuggled down the way you like to hear your bedtime story.
Chapter 19,
Frightened,
Wounded,
And Alone.
Oh,
Cruel is the thoughtless deed that wounds another without need.
Squatting under the brown dead leaves which had blown into the doorway of the old house made long ago in the wheat field of Farmer Jones,
By Johnny Chuck,
Was that poor little Bob White.
Tears filled his eyes,
Tears of fright and pain.
He tried to wink them back and to think what he should do next,
But he was too bewildered to think.
To be bewildered is to be so upset that you cannot understand what has happened or what is happening.
It was just so with this little Bob White.
With his brothers and sisters,
He had been happily picking up his breakfast that beautiful October morning.
Without the least warning,
A great big dog had threatened to catch him.
And he had taken to his swift,
Strong,
Little wings.
As he did so,
He had seen a great two-legged creature pointing a stick at him.
But he was not afraid.
All summer long he had seen two-legged creatures like this one.
And they had not harmed him.
Indeed,
He had come to look on them as his friends.
For had not Farmer Brown's boy watched him and his brothers and sisters,
Day after day,
And not once offered even to frighten them?
So he had no fear of this one.
Then from the end of that stick pointed at him had leaped fire and smoke,
And there had been a terrible noise.
Something had struck him,
Something that stung and burned.
And hurt his tender flesh,
And one of his swift,
Strong little wings had become useless,
So he fell heavily to the ground.
Then he had run swiftly until he found this hiding place.
And with his little heart beating in terror,
Had squatted close under the friendly brown leaves while that great dog and the two-legged creature had looked for him.
Now they had given up and gone away.
At least he could not hear them anymore.
What did it all mean?
Why had this dreadful thing happened to him?
What had he done that the two-legged creature should try and harm him with that terrible fire stick?
Outside the day was as beautiful as ever,
But all the joy of it was gone.
Instead,
It was filled with terror.
What should he do now?
What could he do?
Where were his father and mother and brothers and sisters?
Were such dreadful things happening to them as had happened to him?
Would he ever see them again?
Presently,
He heard a far away whistle,
A sad,
Anxious whistle.
It was the whistle of his father,
Bob White.
He was calling his family together.
Then he heard all the answering whistles,
And he knew that the others were safe and would soon join Bob White.
But he did not dare answer himself.
He crawled to the doorway and peeped out.
He could see that great dog and the cruel two-legged creature with that terrible fire stick far away on the other side of the field.
He tried to leap into the air and fly as he had been used to doing.
But he only flopped helplessly back to the ground.
One wing was useless,
And it dragged on the ground,
And it hurt so much.
He closed his eyes and lay still for a few minutes.
Then a new thought filled him with another terrible fear.
If Reddy Fox or Old Man Coyote should happen along,
How could he escape without the use of his wings?
Oh,
If only he were not alone.
If only he could reach his father and mother,
Maybe they could help him.
He struggled to his feet and began to walk toward that distant whistle.
It was slow work walking.
He was weak and faint,
And that drooping wing dragged through the stiff stubble.
It hurt,
Oh,
So it seemed as if he could not stand it.
Often he squatted down and panted with weariness and pain and fright.
Then he would go on again.
He was terribly thirsty.
But there was no water to drink.
So at last he crawled under a fence and then suddenly Right in front of him was one of those two-legged creatures.
Right then and there,
Little Bob White gave up all hope.
Oh my goodness,
We'll have to hurry up and see what happens in the next chapter.
I bet it's gonna be okay.
So snuggle down.
And have a good night's sleep.
This is Jackie sending you so many hugs.
Good night now.
