human
Dear me! Where have you been?
gpt
I was off in the woods, answered the boy.
human
And I was lost, but Ruddy showed me the way home.
gpt
Lost! Oh, Rick! You mustn't go to the woods alone and get lost!
human
I wasn't alone, he answered.
gpt
Ruddy was with me. I can't get lost with him. He always will know the way back, I guess. But I didn't see Chot.
human
No, he came, after you had gone, to say he couldn't meet you in the woods, said Mrs. Dalton.
gpt
I thought you would come right back when you didn't find him. You stayed so long that I was getting afraid. I was just going to send your father after you.
human
I was afraid myself, spoke Rick.
gpt
But Ruddy is a good dog. He didn't know what I meant first, when I told him to go home, after I couldn't tell where the path was. But, after a while, he knew what I said and he led me straight.
human
What you got?
gpt
It's a crow. Ruddy found it and I picked it up before he could bite it. Its wing is broken but maybe we can fix it. I'm going to teach it to talk.
human
Crows don't talk--only parrots,
gpt
Yes, they do--don't crows talk?
human
Yes, I have heard them say a few words, and also whistle, said Mr. Dalton.
gpt
Not all of them talk as well as do parrots, but you can understand some of the things crows say.
human
You have to slit their tongues to make 'em talk, went on Rick.
gpt
Chot Benson told me so. He doesn't know I got this crow, but I'll tell him after supper. Maybe he knows how to cut their tongues.
human
No, you mustn't cut the crow's tongue, said Mr. Dalton.
gpt
It is a cruel superstition to say that slitting a crow's tongue makes it talk. Not all crows can say words, but those that do, will say them just as well with a whole tongue as with one cut down the middle. Leave your crow's tongue alone, Rick, if you are going to keep him.
human
Oh, I'm going to keep him! declared the boy.
gpt
I'm going to have him for a pet same as I have Ruddy. But I'm glad I don't have to slit his tongue. Do you think you can fix his broken wing, Daddy?
human
Well, perhaps we can put it in splints so the bones will grow together, answered his father.
gpt
But I'm afraid the crow will never fly again. It may be able to flutter about, and it surely can walk, for its legs are all right, said Mr. Dalton, as he took the black bird from Rick.
human
But its flying days are over.
gpt
Then it won't fly away from me, said the boy.
human
I'll make a nest for it in the woodshed, and then I'll teach it to talk.
gpt
That may take you a long time, said his father,
human
And now it's time for supper, exclaimed Rick's mother.
gpt
It has been waiting long enough, and it's almost dark.
human
Ruddy wants his supper, too,
gpt
Tie him up and I'll feed him after I feed you,