The Trumpet of the Swan: Chapters 7–11

He decided that since he was unable to use his voice, he should learn to read and write, “if I’m defective in one respect," he said to himself, I should try and develop myself along other lines. I will learn to read and write. Then I will hang a small slate around my neck and carry a chalk pencil. In that way I will be able to communicate with anybody who can read.”

Louis walked up timidly, then reached down and untied Sam’s shoelace.

“Well,” said Mr. Beaver, “I think it’s against the law to hold one of these wild birds in captivity. But I’ll phone the game warden and see what he says, if he says yes, you can keep him.”

“Sam is quite right,” she said. “I never looked at the problem that way before. I always supposed that man could walk twelve miles in four hours, but Sam may be right: that man may not feel so spunky after the first hour. He may drag his feet. He may slow up.”

How good it is to see your countenance again!

“Very true,” said the cob. “But I must prolong my welcoming remarks a bit longer, for my curiosity is aroused by that odd little object Louis is wearing around his neck and by the strange symbols he has placed upon it by rubbing that white thing up and down and leaving those strange white tracings.”

The females begin to notice the males, too, but they pretend they are not noticing anything at all. They act very coy.

He swam in circles around her and pumped his neck up and down and made a great show of diving and staying down to prove he could hold his breath longer than any other bird. But the little female paid no attention to Louis’s antics.

Once, in desperation, Louis swam up to Serena, his beloved, and made a bow.

“Why, this is terrible news,” said the cob, “news of the most serious import. I know what it is like to be in love. Well do I remember how painful love can be, how exciting, and, in the event of unsuccess, how disappointing and doleful the days and nights...."

“Why, this is terrible news,” said the cob, “news of the most serious import. I know what it is like to be in love. Well do I remember how painful love can be, how exciting, and, in the event of unsuccess, how disappointing and doleful the days and nights...."

"...Louis is a Trumpeter Swan, noblest of all the waterfowl. He is gay, cheerful, strong, powerful, lusty, good, brave, handsome, reliable, trustworthy, a great flier, a tremendous swimmer, fearless, patient, loyal, true, ambitious, desirous—”

“Very well, I will try Billings. I shall look for a trumpet in Billings. And now, without further ado, I go. There is no time to lose. Springtime doesn’t last forever. Love is fleeting. Every minute counts. I’m leaving this instant for Billings, Montana, a great city teeming with life and with objects made by man. Good-bye, my love! I shall return!”

“Very well, I will try Billings. I shall look for a trumpet in Billings. And now, without further ado, I go. There is no time to lose. Springtime doesn’t last forever. Love is fleeting. Every minute counts. I’m leaving this instant for Billings, Montana, a great city teeming with life and with objects made by man. Good-bye, my love! I shall return!”

“Very well, I will try Billings. I shall look for a trumpet in Billings. And now, without further ado, I go. There is no time to lose. Springtime doesn’t last forever. Love is fleeting. Every minute counts. I’m leaving this instant for Billings, Montana, a great city teeming with life and with objects made by man. Good-bye, my love! I shall return!”

“Now is my time to act!” he said to himself. “Now is my moment for risking everything on one bold move, however shocking it may be to my sensibilities, however offensive it may be to the laws that govern the lives of men. Here I go! May good luck go with me!"

The cob felt a twinge of pain as a jagged piece of broken glass cut into his shoulder, but he grabbed the trumpet in his beak, turned sharply in the air, flew back through the hole in the window, and began climbing fast over the roofs of Billings.

At the moment the glass broke, one of the clerks was showing a bass drum to a customer, and the clerk was so startled at seeing a big white bird come flying through the window, he hit the drum a tremendous wallop.

He was headed home, toward the southwest, high above the roofs and spires of Billings.

“Louis,” he said, “I have been on a journey to the haunts of men. I visited a great city teeming with life and commerce. Whilst there, I picked up a gift for you, which I now bestow upon you with my love and my blessing. Here, Louis, is a trumpet...."

“Louis,” he said, “I have been on a journey to the haunts of men. I visited a great city teeming with life and commerce. Whilst there, I picked up a gift for you, which I now bestow upon you with my love and my blessing. Here, Louis, is a trumpet...."

“Louis,” he said, “I have been on a journey to the haunts of men. I visited a great city teeming with life and commerce. Whilst there, I picked up a gift for you, which I now bestow upon you with my love and my blessing. Here, Louis, is a trumpet...."

Master this trumpet, and you will be able to play love songs for them, filling them with ardor and surprise and longing.

I procured it at some personal sacrifice to myself and my pride, but we won’t go into that now.

"...The long and short of it is, I had no money; I took the trumpet without paying for it. This was deplorable. But the important thing is that you learn to play the instrument.”

But then he discovered that, by holding his tongue in a certain way, he could get the trumpet to emit a small gasping sound.

When he reached the ranch where Sam lived, he circled once, then glided down and walked into the barn. He found Sam grooming his pony.

The camp wants somebody that can blow a horn. The idea is, you blow a lot of loud fast notes in the early morning to wake the boys up. That’s called reveille.

Louis was musically inclined and was eager to become a really good trumpeter.

The camp consisted of a big log cabin where everybody ate, seven tents where the boys and the counselors slept, a dock out front, and a privy out back.

“Take it easy, will you?” Sam implored.

“You don’t have to like birds, if that’s the way you feel about it, just go ahead not-liking birds. Everyone is entitled to his likes and dislikes and to his prejudices. Come to think of it, I don’t care for pistachio ice cream. I don’t know why I don’t like it, but I don’t. Do not forget, however, that Louis is one of your counselors. Whether you like him or not, he must be treated with respect.”

The light was fading. The boys straggled off to their tents in the darkness.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills,
From the sky;
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

The last note seemed to linger on the still waters of the lake.