UNCLE SAM 



closed his mighty wings and dropped with such speed 

 that he caught the fish in mid-air; and the tree-tops 

 swayed with the sudden wind his passing caused. Surely 

 there was never a more exciting way of going fishing 

 than this ! 



And did the fish belong to the osprey or to Uncle Sam? 



What would you call a man who, by power of greater 

 strength, took away the food another man had earned? 



Are we, then, to call Uncle Sam a thief and a bully? 



Ah, no; because it is not with an eagle as it is with a 

 man. 



For the wild things of the world there is only one law, 

 and that is the Law of Nature. They must live as they 

 are made to live, and that is all that concerns them. 

 There is nothing for bird or beast or blossom to learn 

 about ^^ right '^ or ^^wrong,^^ as we learn about those 

 things. All they need to do — any of them — is to five 

 naturally. 



When we think about it that way, it is very easy to 

 tell whether the fish belonged to the osprey or to Uncle 

 Sam. Of course, to begin with, the fish belonged to itself 

 as long as it could dive quickly enough or smm fast 

 enough to keep itself free and safe. But the minute the 

 osprey caught it, it belonged to the osprey, just as much 

 as it would belong to you if you caught it with a net or a 

 hook. Yes, the fish belonged to the osprey more than it 



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