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Show Page 13 Chapter 3 Dixie Burr It was spring. The birch trees were beginning to touch the valley with a hint of green; the winter snows had fled back to the mountaintops. Eight-year-old Ann was wandering in the Bassett pasture when she found a dogie, a calf which had lost its mother during the roundup. The calf, hidden in a clump of willows and forlornly nibbling at the soft spring grass, was too young to live without milk and looked as though it might collapse at any minute. The dogie belonged to the large Middlesex Cattle Company, but Ann knew the calf would die if she left it alone. Ann was soft-hearted where animals were concerned and that thought was unbearable. So she wrapped her arms around the tiny bundle, intending to carry it home. But the orphan had more life in her than Ann figured. She kicked and wriggled like the wild thing she was. It took most of the day, but a very determined Ann finally got the calf to the ranchhouse, a mile away. After she force-fed |