Rascal

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It was a long time ago...

here in the Wisconsin

of my boyhood...

that a new friend

came into my life...

and stole my heart away.

I often think of him now,

a half a century later...

and I relive in memory

the good times we had together.

He was a member

of our family almost...

for a while anyway...

and I shall never forget him.

I wonder if I can

make it as real for you...

as it is for me still.

I wonder if you

can remember the excitement...

of that last day of school...

when everybody could

hardly wait to get out...

and enjoy

the long, lazy summer ahead.

And also this summer...

my mother's going to teach me

how to use the sewing machine...

and to make upside-down cake.

That sounds like a very

interesting summer, Sarah.

Now, let me see...

whom have I overlooked?

Of course, Lucy.

For my vacation,

we're going to New York City.

Well...

And my Aunt Elizabeth is

going to take us to the top...

of the Woolworth Building,

sixty stories high!

And then we're going to

Central Park and Grant's Tomb...

and the Metropolitan Museum!

That's very exciting, Lucy.

Now...

And then we're going

to Boston and Bunker Hill...

and Paul Revere's house.

Lucy, if you tell us

everything now...

there won't be anything left

to tell us next fall.

Yes, gice Whalen.

And how about you, Sterling?

Hey... come to the party.

Sorry, gice Whalen.

And what kind of excitement...

are you going to stir up

this summer, Sterling?

Well, mostly I'm going

to be working on my canoe.

Canoe? Is that what this is?

Yes, ma'am.

It's a design my Pa worked out.

From the kind the Indians used.

I'm very impressed.

Well, we have only

a few moments more...

so I'd like to wish you all

a very pleasant summer.

Be sure that you don't

have any books with you...

that should be left behind.

Bye! I'll send you a postcard!

Sterling, what else will you

be doing this summer...

besides working on your canoe?

Will you be going with your

father on one of his trips?

Well, he goes by himself.

You see, he sells real estate

all over the place.

Well, you don't want

a kid hanging around...

when you're doing that.

I see.

Well, you won't be alone.

Your sister Theo has been

taking care of things...

since your mother

passed away, hasn't she?

Yes, ma'am.

But she has to go back

to Chicago tomorrow.

Bye, gice Whalen.

Have a nice summer.

Sterling, I'll be working

at the library this summer...

and you can stop by.

Wowser, how are you, boy?

Huh? Ha ha!

Come on, get in there.

Pa! Hi, Pa!

Sterling!

How are you, boy? Ha ha ha!

Fine. Theo was afraid

you wouldn't get home in time.

Well, now, she ought

to know better than that.

I always get home, don't it?

Come on, jump in!

-How about my bike?

We'll pick it up later.

I've got something to show you.

Hmm?

-Out at Lake Koshkonong.

Well, what do you think it is?

A bobcat?

You're getting warm.

You got a rough idea,

haven't you, boy?

A panther?

A lynx.

They live in Canada.

This one lives right here.

At the moment, anyway.

Hasn't been four hours since

he put those tracks there...

and a good size cat it is

from the looks of them.

There he is.

Well, you want

to remember that, son.

He's probably the first lynx

in these woods in forty years.

What's he doing

so far from home?

Oh, he's a rambler, I guess.

Like me.

Wowser!

Mmm.

Who made it?

Farmer's wife in Minnesota.

I told her I had a boy

who liked apple pie.

Good, isn't it?

Mmm.

Nighthawks.

Mmm. They're awful busy.

Whippoorwill?

Yes. Special kind of bird.

To me, anyway.

Your mother and I used to

sit here and listen...

to the whippoorwills

a long time ago.

I thought we had all the time

in the world then.

If I'd only known

how short it would be...

I might have listened

to her more.

She always wished

I'd settle down...

and stop chasing

after farm auctions...

all over the country and...

rent that little office

over Pringle's store...

come home for supper

every night...

instead of every other week.

I always figured I would...

someday.

You know, Sterling...

it's awfully hard for

the female of the species...

to understand how some men are.

I'll bet that lynx has a wife...

up in the Canadian woods

somewhere...

with supper

on the table right now...

wondering why he can't come

home every night at 6:00...

like the other lynxes.

Pa?

Yeah?

Don't you ever get lonesome?

No. I got a million things

on my mind.

Miles of country to look at,

people to talk to.

A little fishing on

Sunday afternoon now and then.

The only man

who gets lonesome...

is a man who can't live

with himself.

It's a big, wonderful world,

Sterling.

You only walk through it once.

Wouldn't it be

a terrible mistake...

to come to the end

of the line...

and realize you haven't stopped

along the way...

to smell the flowers?

The lynx!

What's he after?

A woodchuck or something.

Wowser!

Wowser!

Wowser, get off him!

Wowser!

Now, I said quit

and I mean quit!

Now you know

what she was fighting for.

Serves you right, you big bully.

I don't know why he's got

such a thing about raccoons.

He gets along

with a skunk even...

but there's something

about a raccoon.

Well, it's time

we got on home anyway.

Come on, Wowser.

Wowser, it's all over.

There's nothing we can do.

Wowser, what's eating you?

Well...

Look what got left behind.

Ha ha ha!

Ah! Ha ha!

Why did the mother leave him?

She probably

doesn't know she has.

She won't find out till she

gets a chance to stop and count.

Well, then this one's

sort of lost.

Yeah. Looks like it.

Almost

without needing to say it...

Pa and I agreed we couldn't

leave the little fellow...

to fend for himself,

not at his age...

and not with the lynx

in the neighborhood.

Besides, we kind of

felt responsible for him.

After all, it was my dog that

had chased his mother away.

I guess Wowser

didn't realize it...

but from then on he was going

to have to share my affections.

So, that's how it happened...

on that special day in June...

a helpless little orphan

came into my life.

I didn't know then how much

he'd come to mean to me...

or the troubles he'd bring.

As it turned out,

I had met a character...

a personality,

and a ring-tailed wonder.

I called him...

Rascal.

Rascal.

That day

we came home with Rascal...

I remember Walt Dabbett

went sailing by...

in his Stanley Steamer.

Pa said he was

a bit of a blowhard...

but not a bad fellow at heart.

Cy Jenkins was

our neighbor on the back...

and I swear he spent

more time in his corn patch...

than in his drugstore

downtown.

Anybody home?

This was my sister

Theo as she looked then.

She'd come home on her vacation

to take care of us...

and for some reason,

she seemed to feel...

one of her duties

was worrying about me...

more than I thought necessary.

Our other neighbor,

Garth Shadwick...

was a horse lover.

I guess it went with his owning

the town's harness shop.

Afternoon, Garth.

Afternoon!

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