I. BIRTH OF GAY-NECK II. EDUCATION OF GAY-NECK III. TRAINING IN DIRECTION IV. GAY-NECK IN THE HIMALAYAS V. ON GAY-NECK'S TRACK VI. GAY-NECK'S TRUANCY VII. GAY-NECK'S STORY VIII. GAY-NECK'S ODYSSEY (Continued) PART II I. GAY-NECK'S TRAINING FOR WAR II. WAR TRAINING (Continued) III. MATING OF GAY-NECK IV. WAR CALLS GAY-NECK V. SECOND ADVENTURE VI. GHOND GOES RECONNOITRING VII. GAY-NECK TELLS HOW HE CARRIED THE MESSAGE VIII. HEALING OF HATE AND FEAR IX. THE WISDOM OF THE LAMA LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS GAY-NECK WITH ENORMOUSLY LONG REACH HE ALMOST TOUCHED THE TOP OF THE TREE NO BEAST OF PREY CAN KILL HIS VICTIM WITHOUT FRIGHTENING HIM FIRST THAT SOUND WAS DROWNED IN THE CRY OF THE EAGLES ABOVE WHO SCREECHED LIKE MAD, SLAYING EACH OTHER GAY-NECK PART I CHAPTER I BIRTH OF GAY-NECK The city of Calcutta, which boasts of a million people, must have at least two million pigeons. Every third Hindu boy has perhaps a dozen pet carriers, tumblers, fantails, and pouters. The art of domesticating pigeons goes back thousands of years in India, and she has contributed two species of pigeons as a special product of her bird fanciers, the fantail and the pouter. Love and care have been showered on pigeons for centuries by emperors, princes and queens in their marble palaces, as well as by the poor, in their humble homes. The gardens, grottos and fountains of the Indian rich--the small field of flowers and fruits of the common folks, each has its ornament and music,--many-colored pigeons and cooing white doves with ruby eyes. Even now any winter morning foreigners who visit our big cities may see on the flat-roofed houses innumerable boys waving white flags as signals to their pet pigeons flying up in the crisp cold air. Through the blue heavens flocks of the birds soar like vast clouds. They start in small flocks and spend about twenty minutes circling over the roofs of their owners' homes. Then they slowly ascend and all the separate groups from different houses of the town merge into one big flock and float far out of sight. How they ever return to their own homes is a wonder, for all the house-tops look alike in shape in spite of their rose, yellow, violet and white colors.