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One day an old turkey hen went out to find a place for her nest. She went a long way and took a long time to find a good place. When she found it, she said,
“They may go to the East, and go to the West,
But they’ll never be able to find my nest.”
She walked all the way home with her head high in the air.
When she reached the barnyard, she heard her friends talking about her. Gray Goose and White Duck and Brown Hen were all there.
Gray Goose said to her, “Where did you make your nest?”
“Guess,” said Mrs. Turkey.
Gray Goose said, “When I make my nest I go near the water. That is the best place. So I will guess that you made your nest near the goose pond.”
White Duck said, “You are right, Gray Goose. The pond is the best place for a nest.”
Brown Hen said, “I do not like the pond. I’ll guess you made it under that big pile of hay.”
But Mrs. Turkey just laughed and said,
“Though you do your very best,
You’ll never guess where I made my nest.”
One day Mother saw the turkey, and she said, “That old turkey has made a nest somewhere.”
“Then I’ll find it,” said Ned.
“Then I’ll find it,” said little Bob.
“She cannot hide her nest from me,” said Billy.
First, Ned went down to the meadow and looked in the grass and the hay.
But though he did his very best,
He could not find the turkey’s nest.
Then Billy went to the pond and saw Gray Goose and White Duck taking a swim.
But though he did his very best,
He could not find the turkey’s nest.
Little Bob looked near home. He looked under the barn and out by the pile of hay.
But though he did his very best,
He could not find the turkey’s nest.
Billy and Ned and little Bob went into the house and told Mother that they could not find the nest.
Then Mother said she would look for the nest. She thought that she would watch the turkey and follow her. So after a while Mother went to the woods and sat under a tree.
By and by Mrs. Turkey came along. She saw Mother, and Mother saw her. Mrs. Turkey walked round and round and then went down the road.
Mother followed her, and this is what she saw:
The turkey went up and down the hill,
And through the fields and by the mill,
And down across the meadow brook;
Many and many a turn she took.
She went to the East and she went to the West,
But she never went near her hidden nest.
Mother followed Mrs. Turkey until she was very tired. Then she said, “I’ll give up.” And she went home saying,
“I have done my very best,
But I cannot find that turkey’s nest.”
At last Father said that he would try to find the turkey’s nest. One morning he started out to find the nest.
He went to all the far places and all the hard places. He hunted in the high places and the low places, and in the places nobody else had thought of. He was gone a long, long time.
When the children saw him coming back, they all ran to meet him. He called out to them,
“I have done my very best,
But I cannot find that turkey’s nest.”
The next morning Mrs. Turkey walked into the barnyard. Twelve little turkeys were with her.
“Look at my children,” she said to GrayGoose and White Duck and Brown Hen. “I hatched them out in my nest down in the corner of the field, by the old fence.”
She looked very happy as she said:
“You see I did my very best,
In the hidden place I made my nest.”
—— Maud Lindsay
