Rascal

Sterling recounts how Rascal is grateful to the locals who give him food, forming friendships with them. Rascal’s excellent hearing allows him to hear the approach of one such friend’s carriage from far off, rushing to meet him. Rascal also enjoys music.

One day, Sterling asks his father if there are nightingales in the U.S., and his father tells him no, but that there are whippoorwills. Sterling thinks he’s never heard a whippoorwill, shocking his father, who has fond childhood memories of them. He recalls how when he was a boy, the eminent naturalist Thure Kumlien would play his flute at night to stir up the whippoorwills, creating a haunting orchestra. Sterling is saddened to have been born too late to see this.

Sterling’s father decides to take the day off work and take Sterling out to find his first whippoorwill. They pack a picnic and drive out to the country, admiring the natural scenery along the way. They stop at a cliff overlooking a lake, where both of them spent countless hours of their youths. Sterling knows his memories differ from his father’s, since in his father’s day, the lake was still forested and American Indians were still present in the area, including one with whom he fell in love as a boy.

Unsupervised, Rascal takes his chance to explore the craggy cliffside, wending his way down a steep path towards a hidden cave. Sterling goes after him, which his father permits. Rascal doesn’t heed Sterling’s commands to return, and Sterling must make the treacherous scramble into the cave, where legend holds that an American Indian chieftain once took refuge. He finds Rascal and rescues him from a steep ledge, then goes back up to his father.

Sterling’s father is a tranquil and highly educated man with a store of knowledge about the outdoors, which he shares with his son as they walk. They reach the lake and bring Rascal with them on a swim. Sterling periodically carries Rascal when he gets tired. Rascal tries to attack a group of baby ducks, but their mother dramatically repels him with a beak to the face, wounding Rascal’s pride. On the beach, however, he finds and devours turtle eggs for the first time, a raccoon delicacy that evidently delights him.

With hours to kill before the whippoorwills come out, Sterling’s father takes him around the farmland, some of which he owns, to survey the crops, which are looking strong. His father is a reckless speculator, but his tactics sometimes pay off. They hadn’t for most of Sterling’s mother’s life, and her constant worry probably sent her to an early grave. Today, however, Sterling is simply delighted to watch the crops and animals flourishing.

They pass by the house where Sterling’s father was born without stopping, eager to get to Kumlien’s ranch. They travel over roads their ancestors once took to come to this region. Sterling’s father instructs him in distinguishing birds and then gives Sterling a delicious taste of the mint Kumlien once planted on the property.

As night falls and the landscape breaks into a peaceful chorus of animal noises, Sterling hears his first whippoorwill; it makes him both happy and strangely melancholy. Rascal listens intently as well. When the sounds stop, the group scrambles back to the car.