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This story by Sarah Orne Jewett was adapted into Special English by Dona de Sanctis.
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- The forest was full of shadows as a little girl hurried through it one summer evening in June.
- It was already eight o'clock and Sylvie wondered if her grandmother would be angry with her for being so late.
- Every evening Sylvie left her grandmother's house at five-thirty to bring their cow home.
- The old animal spent her days out in the open country eating sweet grass.
- It was Sylvie's job to bring her home to be milked.
- When the cow heard Sylvie's voice calling her, she would hide among the bushes.
- This evening it had taken Sylvie longer than usual to find her cow.
- The child hurried the cow through the dark forest, following a narrow path that led to her grandmother's home.
- The cow stopped at a small stream to drink.
- As Sylvie waited, she put her bare feet in the cold, fresh water of the stream.
- She had never before been alone in the forest as late as this.
- The air was soft and sweet.
- Sylvie felt as if she were a part of the gray shadows and the silver leaves that moved in the evening breeze.
- She began thinking how it was only a year ago that she came to her grandmother's farm.
- Before that, she had lived with her mother and father in a dirty, crowded factory town.
- One day, Sylvie's grandmother had visited them and had chosen Sylvie from all her brothers and sisters to be the one to help her on her farm in Vermont.
- The cow finished drinking, and as the nine-year-old child hurried through the forest to the home she loved, she thought again about the noisy town where her parents still lived.
- Suddenly the air was cut by a sharp whistle not far away.
- Sylvie knew it wasn't a friendly bird's whistle.
- It was the determined whistle of a person.
- She forgot the cow and hid in some bushes.
- But she was too late.
- "Hello, little girl," a young man called out cheerfully.
- "How far is it to the main road?"
- Sylvie was trembling as she whispered "two miles."
- She came out of the bushes and looked up into the face of a tall young man carrying a gun.
- The stranger began walking with Sylvie as she followed her cow through the forest.
- "I've been hunting for birds," he explained, "but I've lost my way.
- Do you think I can spend the night at your house?"
- Sylvie didn't answer.
- She was glad they were almost home.
- She could see her grandmother standing near the door of the farm house.
- When they reached her, the stranger put down his gun and explained his problem to Sylvie's smiling grandmother.
- "Of course you can stay with us," she said.
- "We don't have much, but you're welcome to share what we have.
- Now Sylvie, get a plate for the gentleman!"
- After eating, they all sat outside.
- The young man explained he was a scientist, who collected birds.
- "Do you put them in a cage?" Sylvie asked.
- "No," he answered slowly,
- "I shoot them and stuff them with special chemicals to preserve them.
- I have over one hundred different kinds of birds from all over the United States in my study at home."
- "Sylvie knows a lot about birds, too," her grandmother said proudly.
- "She knows the forest so well, the wild animals come and eat bread right out of her hands."
- "So Sylvie knows all about birds.
- Maybe she can help me then," the young man said.
- "I saw a white heron not far from here two days ago.
- I've been looking for it ever since.
- It's a very rare bird, the little white heron.
- Have you seen it, too?" He asked Sylvie.
- But Sylvie was silent.
- "You would know it if you saw it," he added.
- "It's a tall, strange bird with soft white feathers and long thin legs.
- It probably has its nest at the top of a tall tree."
- Sylvie's heart began to beat fast.
- She knew that strange white bird!
- She had seen it on the other side of the forest.
- The young man was staring at Sylvie.
- "I would give ten dollars to the person who showed me where the white heron is."
- That night Sylvie's dreams were full of all the wonderful things she and her grandmother could buy for ten dollars.
- Sylvie spent the next day in the forest with the young man.
- He told her a lot about the birds they saw.
- Sylvie would have had a much better time if the young man had left his gun at home.
- She could not understand why he killed the birds he seemed to like so much.
- She felt her heart tremble every time he shot an unsuspecting bird as it was singing in the trees.
- But Sylvie watched the young man with eyes full of admiration.
- She had never seen anyone so handsome and charming.
- A strange excitement filled her heart, a new feeling the little girl did not recognize…love.
- At last evening came.
- They drove the cow home together.
- Long after the moon came out and the young man had fallen asleep Sylvie was still awake.
- She had a plan that would get the ten dollars for her grandmother and make the young man happy.
- When it was almost time for the sun to rise, she quietly left her house and hurried through the forest.
- She finally reached a huge pine tree, so tall it could be seen for many miles around.
- Her plan was to climb to the top of the pine tree.
- She could see the whole forest from there.
- She was sure she would be able to see where the white heron had hidden its nest.
- Syvlie's bare feet and tiny fingers grabbed the tree's rough trunk.
- Sharp dry branches scratched at her like cat's claws.
- The pine tree's sticky sap made her fingers feel stiff and clumsy as she climbed higher and higher.
- The pine tree seemed to grow taller, the higher that Sylvie climbed.
- The sky began to brighten in the east.
- Sylvie's face was like a pale star when, at last, she reached the tree's highest branch.
- The golden sun's rays hit the green forest.
- Two hawks flew together in slow-moving circles far below Sylvie.
- Sylvie felt as if she could go flying among the clouds, too.
- To the west she could see other farms and forests.
- Suddenly Sylvie's dark gray eyes caught a flash of white that grew larger and larger.
- A bird with broad white wings and a long slender neck flew past Sylvie and landed on a pine branch below her.
- The white heron smoothed its feathers and called to its mate, sitting on their nest in a nearby tree.
- Then it lifted its wings and flew away.
- Sylvie gave a long sigh.
- She knew the wild bird's secret now.
- Slowly she began her dangerous trip down the ancient pine tree.
- She did not dare to look down and tried to forget that her fingers hurt and her feet were bleeding.
- All she wanted to think about was what the stranger would say to her when she told him where to find the heron's nest.
- As Sylvie climbed slowly down the pine tree, the stranger was waking up back at the farm.
- He was smiling because he was sure from the way the shy little girl had looked at him that she had seen the white heron.
- About an hour later Sylvie appeared.
- Both her grandmother and the young man stood up as she came into the kitchen.
- The splendid moment to speak about her secret had come.
- But Sylvie was silent.
- Her grandmother was angry with her.
- Where had she been.
- The young man's kind eyes looked deeply into Sylvie's own dark gray ones.
- He could give Sylvie and her grandmother ten dollars.
- He had promised to do this, and they needed the money.
- Besides, Sylvie wanted to make him happy.
- But Sylvie was silent.
- She remembered how the white heron came flying through the golden air and how they watched the sun rise together from the top of the world.
- Sylvie could not speak.
- She could not tell the heron's secret and give its life away.
- The young man went away disappointed later that day.
- Sylvie was sad.
- She wanted to be his friend.
- He never returned.
- But many nights Sylvie heard the sound of his whistle as she came home with her grandmother's cow.
- Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been?
- Who can know?