THE OUT DOOR WORLD

OUT-OF-DOORS

Sometimes, when in the house I stay,

Another house comes in my mind.

Its walls are hills far, far away;

The high-up roof with sky is lined;

The grass is carpet on the floors

Of this big house of out-of-doors.

For curtains there are leafy trees;

For lights there are the moon and sun;

One cannot ever lose the keys,

For it is home to everyone.

The front door' s always open wide

To this big house of all-outside.

—Anna Bird Stewart

Nature Can Tell Us Secrets

The world of the Out-of-Doors is full of secrets. There are so many of the secrets, and they are so interesting, that thousands of men and women and boys and girls are busy studying them All around us are birds, animals, trees, and flowers. The facts about how they live and grow are as interesting as anything could be.

Do you know that Theodore Roosevelt, one of our great Presidents, spent hours and hours studying birds? A business man who lives near New York City became so interested in insects that he began to collect them He now has over one thousand different kinds carefully kept in glass-covered boxes.

Come then with me, your Book Comrade, and I will help you find some of Nature' s secrets. Let us go softly through the woods and fields. Here we shall find a half-grown Bunnyboy who has met with an adventure that has frightened him badly. We shall follow a mother bear and her four cubs as they hunt for food and get ready for their long winter' s sleep. We shall watch a brave and wise mother partridge save her baby chicks from a hungry fox. I will show you many other interesting things, but the best thing that I can teach you is to keep your eyes and ears open when you go outdoors. Nature will tell you some of her secrets if you look and if you listen.