[pam eee PGRN. y ae! Beka BOOK pensacola Ft 32523-9100 anafflate of PENSACOLA CHRISTIAN COLLEGE®Speed and Comprehension Readers Adventures in Other Lands Adventures in Nature Adventures in Greatness Adventures in Nature Speed and Comprehension Reader Fourth Edition Staff Credits Editors: Phyllis Rand, Marion Hedquist Designer: Michelle Johnson Contributor: Dawn Mereness Copyright © mmix, memxcix, memxcii, memlxxxii_ Pensacola Christian College All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. 2017 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any ‘means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, or by license from any collective or licensing body, without permission in writing from the publisher. ‘A Beka Book, a Christian textbook ministry affliated with Pensacola Christian College, is designed to meet the need for Christian textbooks and teaching aids. ‘The purpose of this publishing ministry is to help Christian schools reach children and young people for the Lord and train them in the Christian way of life. Acknowledgments Special thanks is given to the National Geographic School Bulletin/National Geo- graphic Image Collection for permission to use the following Old Explorer articles: “Beaver Business,” “The Blossoming Tulip Business.’ “Homing Pigeon Heroes,’ “Mol- lusk Mansions? “Nature's Sandpiles," “The Real Scoop About Ice Cream,’ “Summer Ice Storms? “The Valiant Horse” “The Windmill: Energy's Friend” ‘Also to the authors listed below/the National Geographic Image Collection for per- mission to use the following articles: “Hippos at Home” by Charles H. Sloan, “Huskies in the Rockies” by Bruce Mace, “I Spy on Wild Animals from a Treetop Hotel” by George Crossette, “Lewis and Clark Open the Door to the West” by Charles H. Sloan, “Michigan's Magic Island” by Mrs. Patricia Robbins, “Pilgrims, Indians, & Thanksgiving” by Joseph B. Goodwin, “Riding the Rapids” by Charles B. Cramer, “Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Mrs. Patricia Robbins, “Squid Tricks” by Mrs. Patricia Robbins, “Up and Away in a Hot-Air Balloon” by Richard M. Crum, “Storm Warnings” adapted from Current Health 1, March 1998, pp. 12 & 13. Special permission granted by Weekly Reader, published and copyrighted by Weekly Reader Corporation. All rights reserved. “Trail-Makers” Parts 1 and 2, from The Children’s Hour: Favorite Animal Stories. Copyright 1953 by Spencer Press, Inc. Used by permission of James Atwater and Donald Biehl. Reprinted with permission. “The Oyster Thief” taken ftom The Oyster Thief by Bob Devine, ©1979 Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Moody Publishers. Used by permission, “The Trap-Door Spider” taken from The Trap-Door Spider by Bob Devine, ©1979 Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Moody Publishers. Used by permission, “Who Goes There?” taken from The Soil Factory by Bob Devine, ©1978 Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Moody Publishers. Used by permission, Photo Credits: Cover, title page-Corbis Corporation (CB) (landscape/tulip), Corel Corporation (CC) starfish; inside cover-CB; v-CC; vi-CB; 3-CB; 7-Image100; 9, 11-CB; 13-Eyewire, CC; 15-image copyright ©1998 PhotoDisc, Incs 17, 19-CC; 21-CB; 23-Cistockphoto.com/Michael Smith; 26-CB; 29-Gistockphoto.com/fill Fromer; 32-Dynamic Graphics; 35, 38-CC; 41-CB; 44-Eyewire; 47, 50-CC; 53- Jupiterimages; 56-CB; 59-Jupiterimages; 62-CB; 66-CB, CC; 69-CB; 73-C 81-CB; 89-CB. Cataloging Data ‘Adventures in nature: speed and comprehension reader—4th ed. 156 p.: cok. ill; 23 em, 1, Readers (Elementary) 2. Reading, 1. A Beka Book, Inc, Library of Congress: PEL119.A28 2009 Dewey System: 428.6To Parents and Teachers Adventures in Nature is a speed and comprehension reader. Al- though correlated with the A Beka Book Fifth Grade Reading Cur- riculum, the book is suitable for use in grades 5-7. Beginning in fourth grade, the reading program provides specific opportunities for students to develop comprehension skills. At this level, students are responsible for much more history and science material and outside reading. Their vocabulary work is increased, and they are expected to retain many more facts. Begin now to stress the importance of reading for information at the best possible speed. Because the reading program for the lower elementary grades stresses phonics and reading mastery, students are now ready to work on these other reading skills. To help students develop these skills, allow time for practice, and provide them with a variety of stimulating, well-written reading ma- terials. The ability to comprehend is really the ability to concentrate. Teach your students good habits that will help them to concentrate. Procedure for Using Adventures in Nature The speed/comprehension exercises for grades 4-6 are varied as to content, degree of difficulty, and length. Quizzes are included for each reading exercise. 1, Remove all quizzes /Quiz Answer Key (pp. 93-156) from each book (or have students remove the quiz each week before be- ginning to read). Collate quizzes, putting together the ones for each story. Quizzes will then be ready for distribution each week. 2. Make cards for the numbers 1-8 to show amount of time that has passed. Each card should have one large number written on it. 3. Pass out Adventures in Nature/appropriate quizzes. Have students place quizzes face down on their desk. Announce the page number. Students find page announced, close their book (keeping their finger at the page), and hold the book above their head. When the class is ready, give the start signal. 4. As students read, time them with a watch or clock that is digi- tal or has a second hand. Hold up card with “1” on it after one minute has passed, “2” after two minutes have passed, etc. (or write the number quietly on the chalkboard). When students have finished reading, they should close their book, set it aside, and begin taking the quiz. No student shouldreopen his book after reading the quiz selection. For the 1st several weeks, allow time for students to read at the rate of approximately 100 words per minute. (For example, allow 8 minutes for a selection of 795 words.) As the year progresses, gradually shorten the time you allow them to read the selec- tion. They should average at least 150 words per minute by the end of the year. . As they begin the quiz, they should check the number on the card you are holding and write that number at the bottom of the quiz. When all students have finished the quiz, have them exchange papers, and grade them in class. Each question has a 10 point value. Subtract the total from 100 to get the grade. Students record their reading time in space provided at bottom of quiz. They then divide number of words read by number of minutes it took them to read to find words per minute. (You may need to talk through the process after first few quizzes.) . Students pass in quizzes/Adventures in Nature. Record grades/words per minute in grade book (Example: 90/200). Follow this procedure for all Speed/Comprehension quiz- zes. Pronunciation Key Symbol + Example Symbol « Example a ate 6 not a dare oi boil a fat 00 food a father 6o book 3 ago (@-g6’) ou out e éven th thin é égg th there € (en) pondér ta pictiire i Ice a unit i it a hirt 3 over wi tip 6 cérd, taught, zh measure sawContents Pilgrims, Indians, and Thanksgiving Hippos at Home The Incredible Ear Nature's Sandpiles . Raindrop Miracles Mollusk Mansions . Fenuwe Up and Away in a Hot-Air Balloon Summer Ice Storms Ants Are Amazing Beaver Business .. The Valiant Horse Michigan’s Magic Island .... 23) The Windmill: Energy's Friend ....26 The Unchanging Bible and Science .... The Blossoming Tulip Busine: Homing Pigeon Heroes .. The Real Scoop about Ice Cream Squid Tricks . Riding the Rapids Red-Nosed Reindeer . Huskies in the Rockies Trail-Makers, Part 1 . Trail-Makers, Part 2 .. A Bridge of Monkeys Storm Warnings Who Goes There? . I Spy on Wild Animals from a Treetop Hotel The Oyster Thief The Trap-Door Spider Lewis and Clark Open the Door to the West Grenfell of LabradorLife is so full of wonders that I've kind of spent my whole life just looking and staring. I’ve found that this is a great way to enjoy yourself. It seems that the more I observe, the more curi- ous I become. God, the Great Designer of the universe, has given us a world filled with more interest- A Message from the Old Observer ing things than we can ever see or read about in a lifetime— interesting things that are waiting for you around every corner and interesting persons that you may meet today. I hope that you enjoy reading about my observations and travels. Then go observe some wonders firsthand!Pilgrims, Indians, and Thanksgiving Note these words: Joseph B. Goodwin Plimoth: original spelling of Plymouth Wampanoag (wiim/po-nd/ag) Massasoit (mis’a-soit’) Three Indians and a pale- faced boy helped make the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving possible. The first Indian, Samoset, walked into Plimoth Planta- tion in March, 1621. He found a weakened but brave band of settlers. Of the 99 who left the Mayflower in December, 1620, half had died on the bleak, stormy coast. The Indian visitor must have stirred white men’s hearts with his greeting. Welcome, Englishmen! Samoset had learned English from sailors who came ashore to dry cod caught on the Grand Banks. He spent the night at Plimoth, then re- turned to the Wampanoag In- dian village with the news that unlike the fishermen, theseforeigners planned to stay. An Indian named Squanto heard. Samoset’s story. Soon, he also paid a call on the Pilgrims. Squanto spoke English well, for he had lived in Lon- don. Captured by sailors bound for Spain, Squanto was taken to Spain and sold there asa slave. Later, he escaped and went to England where a London merchant befriended him, helping him return to New England. Home again near Plimoth, he found his en- tire clan dead from disease. His own family gone, Squanto adopted the Pilgrims. The children loved him. He taught their parents the ways of the land, to plant corn, to fish and trap. Squanto and Samo- set brought the chief of the ‘Wampanoags, Massasoit, to visit Plimoth’s first governor, John Carver. It became clear that both leaders shared the same fear. Both groups were weak with illness. Alone, neither would be able to stand off an attack by enemy tribes. They decided to combine English gunpowder and Indian experience into a stout defense force. The paleface, young Johnny Billington, paved the way for good relations with another tribe, the Nauset, who had attacked a Mayflower landing party. Straying from home, John- ny fell into the Nausets’ hands. They must have liked the lad, for they returned him draped with wampum belts, and the chief made peace. With Indian aid, Plimoth Plantation prospered. When. Massasoit and 90 of his men, women, and children paid a fall visit, William Bradford, the new governor, declared a holiday. Working together, Pilgrims and Indians had survived dan- gerous times. That was reason enough to rejoice, and there was ample food in the store- house for a feast of thanks- giving. 375 wordsHippos at Home When a hippopotamus throws its weight around, peaceful streams turn into rag- ing seas and small boats face disaster. Adult hippos weigh four tons or more, second only to elephants among earth’s largest land creatures. Unlike elephants, however, hippopota- muses prefer water to a life on land. Many unwary travelers have suffered surprise dunk- ings when hippos surfaced nearby, swamping their boats. Unless startled into stam- peding, hippopotamuses spend nearly all the daylight hours in Charles H. Sloan rivers, lakes, and even ponds that seem far too small for the 12-foot length of full grown males. The big mammal got its tongue-twisting name from the Greek words for “river horse.” Its head vaguely resembles a horse's. One explorer marveled that creatures with such a delicate sense of smell could stand the stench of hippo-packed pools hardly larger than puddles. Most at home in water less than ten feet deep, hippos can stroll along on the bottom as easily as if on dry land. Theymay stay submerged for 10 to 12 minutes, then come up just long enough for a great gaping yawn and a deep breath. Hippos also may spend hours closer to the surface. Eyes and nostrils conveniently mounted high on their heads let the animals see and breathe and still keep their bodies be- neath the water. Born underwater, hippo ba- bies swim before they learn to walk. Until old enough to fend for itself, each barrel-bodied youngster cruises aboard its mother’s back. Young and old alike need water to protect their tough but sensitive skin from the searing African sun. Although hippo hides are thick enough to stand the ravages of hunters’ spears and rivals’ teeth, drying opens painful-looking cracks. Sometimes a pinkish, oily fluid oozes from the skin, ap- parently to help keep it moist. A cooling rain may bring hippos ashore to graze in day- light, but they usually wait for the sun to set. Then they leave the water to browse among juicy grasses—sometimes wandering miles in the pro- cess. It takes five or six bush- els of grass to stuff a grownup hippo’s stomach. In today’s Africa, hunt- ers have wiped out the hippo inhabitants of some areas, re- ducing the creatures’ territory to the central and southern regions of the continent. But, happily, Africa is a big place. There still are plenty of spots where a hippo can throw its weight around. 395 wordsThe Incredible Ear Note these words: hydraulic pressure (hi-dr6'lik): pressure of a liquid in motion The human ear is a mys- terious structure which sci- entists are just beginning to understand. We have known for a long time about the way sound travels through the ear, but we are just now learning how we hear. The best theo- ries of hearing are only partial explanations. The ear is an en- gineering marvel and its range of sounds is amazing. An engineer would have staccato (sta-kat’6): abrupt virtually an impossible task if he tried to duplicate the ear’s miniaturization. To do it, the engineer would have to cram into a cubic inch of space an automated, sophisti- cated sound system. It would require specialized equipment not found in the best-equipped. sound studio. And still, the engineer with his equipment would not be able to match the ear’s performance.Asa machine, the ear is able to multiply forces applied to it as much as 90 times. The mechanical forces applied by sound waves on the eardrum are multiplied by a lever sys- tem consisting of three small bones. This amplified me- chanical force is changed into hydraulic pressure within the inner ear. There the hydrau- lic pressure is converted into electrical energy which travels as an electrical impulse to the brain. It is in the brain that actual hearing takes place. Loud noises which beat with large forces on the ear- drum can cause damage to our ears and impair hearing. Fortunately, most ordinary loud noises are not multiplied by the lever system. The ear automatically adjusts itself to dampen the effects of such large forces. Unexpected loud noises, however, do sometimes cause damage. The range of the human ear is incredible. The ear can hear sounds so weak that they vibrate the eardrum with a movement that is less than the width of a hydrogen molecule. On the other hand, most strong sounds that hammer viciously on the eardrum do the ear no harm. We can hear both a whisper and the harsh staccato noise of a machine gun. Scientists tell us that a normal person can distinguish more than 400,000 sounds. Some African tribesmen have ears so sensitive that they can hear the slightest murmur across a clearing the size of a football field. The full range and capacity of our ears is not yet known. But God knows the capacity of our ears because He designed them. It was God who de- signed the ear as a delicate but efficient machine. It was God who set in motion the forces of the universe and established the forces of sound waves. 415 wordsNature's Sandpiles Note this word: caroming: colliding and bouncing back Dunes are nature's sand- piles, play-things of the wind. A steady breeze can keep a mountainous dune on the move forever. But, if you go out dune- watching, don’t expect any great excitement. The huge piles of sand move only about 20 feet a year—about two-thirds of an inch a day. Once I spent several hours watching a dune move. I almost needed a magnifying glass. There was only one spot near the center of the mam- moth crescent where I could detect any action at all. Then I discovered an amazing, yet simple, thing—dunes move not as a body but one little grain at a time. Naturally, wind can’t push along an entire dune. It must be done grain by grain, a caroming effect as in marbles. Normally, a sand grain is not lifted into the air by wind. It is bounced. One grain hits another, causing it to ricochet and hit others. Soon the air is filled with hopping, bobbing grains of sand. But even when the wind is strongest, a singlebit of sand in a dune rarely travels more than three or four feet. There are five general types of dunes: beach dunes; wavelike ridges that form in deserts at a right angle to the wind; longitudinal sand dunes that parallel the wind’s direc- tion; U-shaped dunes whose open ends face windward; and barchans, the photographically ideal lunar crescents whose horns point downwind. The Great Sand Dunes in Colorado cover 27 square miles and are steadily march- ing with the wind, smothering grass, trees, and even a small stream. Coastal dunes in Europe and eastern United States have likewise covered nearby farms and woods. A small village on Germany’s Baltic coast was slowly buried during a 30-year span, then quietly uncovered in the next 30 years. But man has recently learned that coastal dunes have a definite purpose in nature’s scheme—protection of shorelines from pound- ing seas. Massachusetts law prohibits any tampering with dunes. On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the world’s most fa- mous dune—Kill Devil Hill— has ceased to be one. While the Wright Brothers were experimenting with their air machine, Kill Devil Hill was marching steadily southward at about 20 feet a year. In 1929, it was permanently rooted by planting grass on its graceful slopes. Not all dunes travel. In Africa’s Sahara, some seem not to have moved in the memory of man. Also, dunes and des- erts do not always go together. Only a ninth of the Sahara’s 3,500,000 square miles wears golden, sharply crested dunes. 430 wordsRaindrop Miracles It has always seemed to me that the rainbow is one of God's most beautiful and fas- cinating creations, but when someone explained to me what a rainbow really is, I began to see it as nothing short of a miracle. As one would guess, a rain- bow is caused by the effect of sun shining on rain. When the sun peeks out from between the clouds after a shower, the rainbow appears in the sky op- posite the sun. We can usually see three or four distinct colors in the rainbow. However, scientists and careful observers tell me that there are actually six colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Did you know that the sunshine itself is made up of these six colors, each color with its own wave length? You may know that when sunlight enters a prism, the light is bent or refracted and changed into its six colors. The same thing happens when sunlight enters a raindrop. The drop of water acts as a tiny prism. The light is re- fracted and divided into the six colors. After that, the sun raysare reflected and scattered. If there are enough raindrops for prisms, we see a gorgeous rainbow! It is especially interesing to know that as we view a rain- bow we are actually seeing a series of rainbows because of the constant flow of rain. The rainbow is indeed a beautiful moving picture! Raindrops are curved; thus rainbows are curved. You have probably seen what appeared to be a little rainbow when viewing the sun shining in the lawn sprinkler. The same principles apply to form that rainbow as the one you see in the sky. The colors result from the sun shining on the raindrops which in turn act as small prisms. Because the raindrops you see from a waterfall or sprinkler are very small, the rainbow you see appears to be very light. The colors are quite dim and ap- pear to fade into each other. Raindrops must be large for a large and brilliant rain- bow. The larger the raindrops, the more brilliant the rainbow. Why? Because these raindrops act as prisms to cause refrac- tion of the sun’s rays. This is why snowflakes cannot cause rainbows; they are too dense for sunlight to pass through. If you have heard of someone who thought he saw a rainbow when snow was falling, it was only because the snow was mixed with rain. The next time you see a rainbow, think of how God causes little raindrops to make the miracle of the rainbow. 430 wordsMollusk Mansions Note these words: conch (kéngk) whorls (hwérlz): spirals When I was small, a visiting relative brought me a conch shell from Florida. Our whole family admired its smooth-as-glass pink lip, the perfect whorls on the end, and the sound of waves when you held it to your ear. What a surprise when I later met the builder of this wonder! The live conch turned out to be a dark, wet-looking thing that poked beady eyes out of its sunrise-tinted shell. gastropods: type of mollusk operculum (6-par/kii-lam) As I grew older and learned more about nature, I realized the conch was not an excep- tion but a rule. Earth’s shell- building animals create some of the loveliest forms found anywhere. But the creatures called mollusks, who build with such delicacy, often are drab-colored blobs. Mollusks take their name from a Latin word molluscus, meaning “soft.” The mollusk’s simple body lacks a skeleton 1112 to give it shape. So it builds a case, at once its external skele- ton, its house, and its fortress. The building tool of this master mason is its mantle, a muscular fold of flesh that covers the animal's back and sides. Pores in the mantle ooze a calcium-rich liquid that hardens into shell. To “paint” its house with colorful patterns, the mollusk’s body makes pig- ments out of chemicals in its environment. Many mollusks glide in and out of their homes, but the animals remain firmly attached to the shells. They add onto the shell edges as they grow and repair any damage. Mollusk mansions take many forms. Each species has a favorite building style. Some construct simple cap-shaped shells. Others make curved tubes that resemble elephant tusks. Some, like knights of old, cover themselves with eight curved plates of shell armor. Bivalves, such as clams and oysters, live within a hinged pair of look-alike trapdoors. Gastropods like the conch spend their lives going in circles. They start with a tiny twist of shell and keep growing, building, and spiral- ing round and round. Some add a trapdoor entrance called an operculum for extra secu- rity. Taken all together, the mollusks number about 70,000 living species. Through ages, men have gathered the empty shell houses to make jewelry, use as money, or just admire. The purple dye that colored Roman emperors’ robes came from a gastropod. Serious collectors called conchologists may pay thou- sands of dollars for a single rare specimen. But to me the value of a shell cannot be mea- sured in dollars. Tt must be measured in the eyes of a child when he first learns that even a lowly snail or sea worm can build a palace fit for a king. 435 wordsUp and Away in a Hot-Air Balloon * “A huge nylon bag, filled with hot air, pulls me skyward. “Tm soaring 3,000 feet above the ground. Suddenly I hear someone call, ‘Please, mis- ter, won't you get me down?’ “Somehow the balloon’s ground line has wrapped around a boy’s hand, and I have unwittingly lifted him up with me! “Xs quickly as I can, I descend, talking to the boy qui- etly, telling him to watch me, not the ground. Finally, two Richard M. Crum miles from our takeoff point, 11-year-old Danny Nowell hits the earth—a little hard, and terribly frightened, but miraculously unscathed.” Thus William Berry, a Cali- fornia businessman, recalls his most harrowing ascent in the sport of hot-air ballooning. Mr. Berry's unwilling pas- senger was not the first boy to tangle with a balloon. In 1843, a French youngster was snagged by the anchor of a runaway hot-air balloon. 1314 Since man’s first conquest of the air, boys have found it hard to stay away from bal- loons. In fact, the dawn of flight in the United States involves a 13-year-old lad. Young Edward Warren watched excitedly that day in 1784. Peter Carnes, the first American to make and launch a balloon, was publicly demon- strating his air globe in Balti- more, Maryland. So thrilled by the magic of flight was Edward that he volunteered to go up. The hot-air bag, secured by a tether, carried the boy aloft, and Edward became the first person in the United States to ascend in a balloon. The adventure took place less than a year after a hot-air balloon lifted two Frenchmen above Paris rooftops on history's first manned aerial voyage. Their craft was designed by Joseph and Jacques Etienne Mont- golfier, the Wright brothers of ballooning. Balloonists apply the simple fact that hot air rises. Today, bottled-gas burners mounted above the gondola— where the pilot rides—heat the air in the bag. Increase the flame, the balloon rises. De- crease it, the balloon descends. Without helm or rudder, a balloonist can travel only where wind currents take him. Since 1960, the rediscovery of hot-air ballooning as a sport has triggered the growth of ballooning clubs in the United States. “It’s the quiet that appeals to me most in bal- looning,” says Mr. Berry. “The quiet, and the sense of free- dom, and the challenge.” Bringing a balloon back to earth safely requires wide- open spaces, one reason the sport centers in the western United States. Where a balloonist lands depends greatly on the whim of the wind. “I've landed in water and among trees,” says Mr. Berry. “And once I landed right next to a lion pit ina Z00.” 450 wordsSummer Ice Storms Hail hurts. The rock- hard pellets of ice hurtle from the sky with brutal force. The only way to escape them is to hold your arms over your head and race for cover. Curling up in a ditch offers fair protection against lightning when there is no other shelter, but you're in for a bruising beating if the thunderstorm holds hail. Hail hurts in another way. I once saw valuable crops shredded as if by giant claws in a hailstorm only a few min- utes long. Annual crop losses in North Carolina alone aver- age above a million dollars. Especially cruel storms have so damaged fields that farm- ers had to fold up and move to city jobs. Because the hail season hits its peak just as the wheat crop reaches maturity, Kan- sas suffers more hail damage than any other state. The crop-damage total is ten times greater than the state's average tornado loss. Hail forms when ice builds around a nucleus—a bit of dust or a snow-like speck of moisture. It forms in clouds one or two miles above the earth, usually in the leading 15edge of storms where winds blow hardest. Layer upon layer of ice forms when the nucleus collides with super- cooled water—water that remains liquid below the freez- ing point. Each collision adds anew layer of ice. At last the hailstone—for that is what it has become—gets too heavy for the high-altitude winds to support it, and it plummets to earth. Of course, there is not just one stone in a hailstorm, but many. A suburb of Denver, Colo- rado, reeled under a storm that left a layer of hailstones four to six inches deep. Wind and a raging downpour on the heels of an 1890 Iowa hail- storm piled icy drifts six feet deep. Hailstones range from pea- size upward through egg- and baseball-size. The largest on record was a monster a pound. and a half heavy anu 1/ inches around. The giant fell on Pot- ter, Nebraska, in 1928. Though there are spots where hail rarely falls, no place is entirely safe. Even the faraway Fiji Islands in the South Pacific record an occasional hailstorm. In the United States, hailstorms are few and far between in much of Florida, but fairly frequent around Denver, Colorado, and in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Damage from hail to crops, cars, and buildings reaches millions of dollars every year. In its own way, the icy terror of a hailstorm is as awful as a tornado. Still, there is something exciting about a hailstorm. I always discover a fresh feel- ing of wonder when nature drops ice on my doorstep at the height of a warm-weather storm. 455 wordsAnts Are Amazing Ants are to be found every- where: in jungles and deserts, in the heart of Manhattan and London and Paris, on the slopes of the Rockies and Himalayas and Andes. Thirty-five hundred species are known to science. Ants tend gardens. They have pets; they harvest grain; they store up food. Ants keep “cows” which they milk, put out to pasture, and sometimes even protect with sheds. Ants have outsmarted me on more than one occasion. In particular, there was a week- end last summer when an ant adapted from “Amazing Habits of Ants” by O. A. Battista scientist was a guest at our cottage. I boasted to my natu- ralist friend that I could store food in an open container for a whole week and keep it safely out of the reach of house ants. Sunday night the experi- ment got under way. I put a large wooden tub on the kitchen floor of our cottage. After filling it to about the three- quarter's mark with water, I placed a high wooden stand in the middle of it. On top of the stool, I put a saucer containing the bait: three or four pieces of rich chocolate candy. 17Then I painted a wide band of very slow-drying glue around the outside of the wooden tub. With that, I stood back and admired my ant trap, fully confident that the bait would be untouched upon my return to the cottage the fol- lowing weekend. When my friend and I en- tered the cottage just six days later, ants were swarming over the bait! Here's how they put me to shame. Single files of ants had marched head-on into the band of glue around the outside of the wooden tub. A handful of them had embed- ded themselves in the glue end to end, and made roadways of their bodies. The tempting bait on top of the stool must have taxed their little minds to the limit. Ants hate water, but they had been courageous enough to build a highway across the stretch of water to a leg of the stool. They had assembled tiny shreds of grass and slivers of wood no longer than a 32nd of an inch, and had glued them together with saliva until their bridge extended from shore to island. Once they reached the leg of the wooden stool, traffic was almost all one way toward the chocolate bait. But there were some show-off fellows around, too; they were doing things which ants have been known to do very rarely. We noticed that a half-dozen or so were walking across the ceiling, and when they came directly over the bait they let themselves fall squarely into the middle of their merry brethren. It is little wonder that I have been on the trail of ants ever since, trying to trip them up or at least learn some of the special tactics that they use. 467 wordsBeaver Business Chiseltooth is my kind of critter. Even though beavers are rodents, relatives of the rat, in my book they are forest gentlefolk. They mind their own busi- ness, too, which is whittling trees into hourglass shapes and making logs that look like sharpened pencils. The cut- ting tools are big buckteeth that grow constantly. Beavers must gnaw just to wear down their incisors. I’ve never seen an eager beaver. The wood-eaters I’ve observed seemed a little lazy; but they are persistent. These engineers keep plugging away. Their dams have an underwater base of mud and stones. Projecting logs, poles, and branches are anchored in the bottom of the stream. Some of their dams are 1,000 feet long. Where many beavers work, a kind of woodsy Neth- erlands appears, complete with dikes and canals. Soon, ponds and lakes brim behind dams of mud, boughs, and stones. Fish flourish here. Migrating birds alight. Wild creatures congregate. The way I see it, beavers do more for the environment than most of us. Untamed nature can be pretty rough sometimes. 1920 To help smooth things over, these furry conservationists cut down erosion and raise water tables by slowing runoff. The first time I encoun- tered a beaver, I was canoeing on the Connecticut River in New Hampshire. So was the beaver. Actually, the beaver’s canoe-paddle tail is used more for building than rowing. Fussy little fellow, this Yan- kee beaver. Slapped his tail on the water as if to tell me to move on. I did, but returned at twilight. Isat on a rock. The bea- ver patrolled. Then, becom- ing used to my presence, he paused for a snack, stripping twigs and bark from a branch. The nearby lodge, a big mound of mud and branches, lay half in the water and half on the bank. Back in 1808, the story goes, a trapper and explorer named John Colter was chased by Blackfoot Indians out in Yellowstone country. Think- ing fast, he dived into a stream and supposedly swam into a submerged beaver tunnel. It led to a dry, warm lodge where he hid until the Indians went away. Colter was lucky. The home folks were out. Though beavers would rather swim than fight, it wouldn’t be too healthy to corner a bigtooth family in their dark den. There beavers snooze away the wintertime, waiting out the cold. For food they simply munch twigs from the lodge’s ceiling and walls. Explorers found North America alive with beavers. Needless to say the trappers made a killing. The breed thinned out fast, but today beavers are making a come- back with man’s help. Some have been parachuted into remote areas as part of conser- vation schemes. I’ve even seen a beaver lodge on national parkland near Washington, D.C., just a fifteen-minute drive from the White House. 470 wordsThe Valiant Horse When the dust from the Battle of the Little Bighorn had cleared, cavalrymen found the sole survivor. He stood, head bowed, above the bodies of the dead soldiers. He was pierced with arrows and bul- lets. Blood oozed from many wounds. He was an Army horse named Comanche. Custer’s disastrous last stand marked Comanche’s last battle. The veteran war horse spent his remaining 15 years in retirement. Comanche was one of a noble parade of horses that have helped fight men’s battles from ancient through modern times. Alexander the Great had a favorite steed named Bucephalus [by50-séfa-los]. Still a boy, Alexander tamed the fiery stallion, and Bucephalus would tolerate no other rider. Alexander treated his horse with affection and under- standing. In the horse’s later years, Alexander usually used another mount for preliminary maneuvering, saving Bucepha- lus’ strength for crucial combat. When the steed died during a battle in the Punjab region of what is now Pakistan, Alexander founded a town in honor of his beloved charger. Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Trav- eller is one of the best-known military mounts. When both rider and mount had retired, Lee proudly recounted how his 21“Confederate gray horse” had never once faltered. Horses served the Union cause, too. Confederate troops were harassing Gen. Philip Sheridan's troops while the general was some 20 miles away, at Winchester, Virginia. To inspire his men and help save the day, Sheridan needed fast transportation—which his coal-black steed provided. The horse hero, formerly called Rienzi after the Mississippi town where he was presented to Sheridan, was rechristened Winchester. His trip was cel- ebrated in “Sheridan’s Ride” by Thomas Buchanan Read: ... And when their statues are placed on high... Be it said in letters both bold and bright: ‘Here is the steed that saved the day By carrying Sheridan into the fight, From Winchester— 20 miles away!" The last great cavalry charge on record took place during World War II. An Ital- ian cavalry battalion, trapped 22 by a superior Soviet force, charged to cover a retreat. Later, Italian soldiers found Albino, the sole surviving horse, minus one eye and with a bullet through his leg. He recovered and returned to Italy, but in the confusion following the war was sold. The commander searched the country for Albino and fi- nally spied him pulling a vege- table cart. Pensioned for life by the Italian Government, Albino died a peaceful death in 1960. Reckless, a Korean mare, played a valiant role in the Ko- rean conflict of the early 1950's by serving as ammunition car- rier for a U.S. Marine platoon. She was decorated for bravery and made an honorary sergeant. Today, military horses have largely ceremonial duties, serv- ing as symbols of valiant deeds and dead heroes. One, named Black Jack, marched riderless in the funeral of President John F. Kennedy. Still active at 25, he was honored each year at a birthday party. One attentive fan even provided a birthday cake in Black Jack’s favorite flavor: butter pecan. 490 wordsMichigan's Magic Island Most people seek out an island retreat because of some- thing it has. But people come to Michigan’s Mackinac Island because of something it doesn’t have—automobiles. On Mackinac (pronounced MACK-uh-naw to rhyme with hack ‘n’ saw) there are no cars. Not even any motorbikes. Just the jingle of plain old bicycle bells and the clop of horses’ hooves. Patricia F. Robbins Policemen ride bikes and horses. A local bank provides a “trot-in” window. And on hot days harried city dwell- ers stream off ferries from the Michigan mainland and gently ease themselves backward in time. Tiny Mackinac Island— just two miles wide, three miles long, and nine miles around the edge—has 25 miles of drives, bridle paths, and 2324 foot-paths that wind along a sandy shore, through cool pine forests, and over the island’s rock-ribbed midsection. Visi- tors can go back a century to the tranquil Main Street of small-town America or many centuries to Indian campfires. There legends grew about spirits who lived in the island’s unusual rock formations—for- mations with names like Arch Rock, Sugar Loaf, and Devil's Kitchen. Mackinac Island looks peaceful today, but once it rang with war whoops, gunfire, and the noisy laughter of fur trap- pers swapping pelts and tall tales. Its location made Macki- nac a natural stopping place for men traveling through the Great Lakes. It sits astride the Straits of Mackinac where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan. Here the Upper and Lower Michigan Peninsulas almost touch. Indians paddled their ca- noes to the island centuries ago to fish, to escape enemies, and to bury dead chieftains among the great spirits. They called the spot Michilimackinac. Jesuit missionaries arrived in the 1600's with European ideas and with European lilacs that still tint the island purple each June. Because so many French fur traders stopped regularly at the island, French soldiers built a mainland fort nearby to protect them. After the French and Indian War, victorious British took over the fort and built a new one on the island itself overlooking the harbor. Much of the fort still stands today. But it was fur, not firearms, that really put Mackinac on the map. The American million- aire John Jacob Astor made the island trading post the headquarters of his far-flung American Fur Company in the early part of the 19th century. During 1822—a peak year— thousands of traders swarmed. to Mackinac during the sum- mer to sell or barter $3,000,000 worth of pelts. Fur trade declined after the mid-1800's, but summer traffic kept on growing. Rich busi- nessmen built vacation homes. The Grand Hotel, opened in1887, rolled out 30,000 square yards of red carpet for guests and lined an 880-foot front porch with rockers—a must for resort hotels at the turn of the century. To keep this gentle Vic- torian flavor, Mackinac residents banned the noisy invention called the motor- car. No one seems to miss it. Today more than half a million visitors jounce, pedal, and tramp around the island each summer, enjoying what one 19th-century writer called its “refreshing and inspiring landscape.” 510 words 2526 The Windmill: Energy's Friend I recall a summer long past when the wind refused to blow across north Texas. The wind- mill wouldn’t turn, and the water hid deep in the earth. Each day we got drier. We young people took to washing our hands in sand to help out a little. One sunset the clouds hung limp, like sails of be- calmed ships. After moonrise the windmill looked like an erect old lady with a round poke bonnet on her head. Did Thear right? The bonnet was creaking. A thin breeze turned the fan around once. The wind thickened, and the blades whirled, and soon we heard that wondrous sound of water pouring into the tank. Yipee! We lived again. Tl never forget those fine old Texas ladies in their bon- nets, standing tall like masted schooners catching the tides of the air. Today windmills are called “near-perfect ecological ma- chines,” now that they are almost gone, now that nostalgiahas set in. But it’s no senti- mental tale that they work in harmony with the earth. Many easterners buy one just to own a bit of the past. Ammill costs little to main- tain and the fuel’s as free as the breeze. Such economy impresses foreign farmers. Windmills now turn in lands as far apart as India, Australia, and Argentina. In our own land, between 1880 and 1935, six anda half million windmills were erected. “The vast prairie land is fairly alive with them,” a visitor to Kansas said 75 years ago. Then the wind pumped water, sawed wood, and ran cream separators. Electricity arrived on the prairie in the 1930's and banished millions of hardworking windmills from the American scene. Today most of the fan wheels are gone, and TV an- tennas stand atop the mold- ering skeletons of neglected windmill pylons. Maybe it takes such a death to bring about a rebirth. Some U.S. energy experts say windmills, even perched. atop skyscrapers, could help ease the nation’s power pinch. Mechanical engineers look back longingly to a magnifi- cent experiment along these lines. I’m proud our country made the world’s biggest, most powerful windmill. Built like a sleek aircraft, this supercharged monster had two metal wings designed like airscrews. They swiv- eled to catch the wind. They glinted from Grandpa Knob near Rutland, Vermont. The turbine measured 150 feet across. During World War IT it tamed winds up to 70 miles an hour and turned the force into commercial electrical en- ergy. But the great windmill threw a blade and the project was abandoned. All of us are entitled to dreams now and then. One of mine is to see windmills turning again, bustling in the breeze, doing useful work, and helping save fuel resources. The mills, equipped with electric alternators, would serve Space Age homestead- ers. The pioneers could redeem our worn-out lands. 2228 They might need a boost from rooftop sunpower, too. Big central power stations need not do all the work. Small en- ergy converters—not quite as small as a squirrel—can give us valuable energy bonus. To a wanderer like me the sun and the wind are old friends. I think if people used these natural forces, life could be better. It’s worth a try. 535 words