"The Wild Duck's Nest." Michael McLaverty.

One-minute review: A little boy, a nature lover, lets his curiosity get the better of him and he touches a duck’s green egg in a deserted nest. He feels guilty. He should not have touched the egg. The mother duck might desert it. He passes a rainy day fitfully in school and then, after dinner, finds the wild duck’s nest to see if it is still deserted. He is relieved. The mother is on the egg. But she spots the little intruder. She makes a motion and she flies from the nest. Again the boy feels guilty until he sees that there are now two green eggs. The mother duck has not deserted the nest in spite of the little boy’s intrusion.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961. These summaries do not do justice to the vividness of the stories. RayS.