THE EAGLE AND THE CANARY 221 



naturalist; replace the little twinkling lustres with 

 sun and moon and milky way; plant forests on 

 the floor, and let there be hills and valleys, rivers 

 and wide spaces; and let the blue pillars of heaven 

 be the wires of your cage, with free entrance to 

 wind and rain; then your little captives will be 

 happy, even happy as I am, in spite of all the 

 perils which do environ me — guns and cats and 

 snares, with wet and fog and hard frosts to 

 come." 



And, seeing my error, I should open the cage 

 and let them fly away. Even to death, I should 

 let them fly, for there would be a taste of liberty 

 first, and life without that sweet savour, whether 

 of aerial bird or earth-bound man, is not worth 

 living. 



