For hunting makes strong friendship, says Simmo;
and that is true. Therefore does Hukweem go through the world, looking
for his master and calling him to come back. Over the tree-tops, when
he flies low looking for new waters; high in air, out of sight, on his
southern migrations; and on every lake where he is only a voice, the
sad night voice of the vast solitary unknown wilderness--everywhere
you hear him seeking. Even on the seacoast in winter, where he knows
Clote Scarpe cannot be--for Clote Scarpe hates the sea--Hukweem
forgets himself, and cries occasionally out of pure loneliness.
When I asked what Hukweem says when he cries--for all cries of the
wilderness have their interpretation--Simmo answered: "Wy, he say two
ting. First he say, _Where are you? O where are you_? Dass what you
call-um his laugh, like he crazy. Denn, wen nobody answer, he say, _O
I so sorry, so sorry_! _Ooooo-eee_! like woman lost in woods. An'
dass his tother cry."
[Illustration: Hukweem]
This comes nearer to explaining the wild unearthliness of Hukweem's
call than anything else I know.
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