A heavy rain followed by August sun soon had her dripping
while she made several studies of wild morning glories, but she was
particularly careful to wrap up and drive slowly going home, so
that she would not chill. In the afternoon the author went to the
river northeast of town to secure mallow pictures for another
chapter, and after working in burning sun on the river bank until
exhausted, she several times waded the river to examine bushes on
the opposite bank. On the way home she had a severe chill, and for
the following three weeks lay twisted in the convulsions of
congestion, insensible most of the time. Skilled doctors and nurses
did their best, which they admitted would have availed nothing if the
patient had not had a constitution without a flaw upon which to work.
"This is the history," said Mrs. Porter, "of one little tail piece
among the pictures. There were about thirty others, none so
strenuous, but none easy, each having a living, fighting history
for me. If I were to give in detail the story of the two years'
work required to secure the set of bird studies illustrating `The
Cardinal,' it would make a much larger book than the life of the bird."
"The Cardinal" was published in June of 1903. On the 20th of
October, 1904, "Freckles" appeared. Mrs. Porter had been delving
afield with all her heart and strength for several years, and in
the course of her work had spent every other day for three months
in the Limberlost swamp, making a series of studies of the nest of
a black vulture.
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