68 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS. 
Death, any way, is the great doom that comes out 
of the wear and tear of time and activity, and “ Na- 
ture red in tooth and claw,” as the great poet puts it, 
is no worse than Nature rank with decay and ruin, as 
it would still be if rapine had never prevailed. As it 
is, a wise Power has arranged it so that out of death 
and sacrifice to others shall come the highest of possi- 
bilities—the best there is in life. The mission of the 
weapon, in Nature as in Eden, is to keep the way of 
the tree of life, that nothing shall become immortal 
in its frailties before it has had all the opportunities 
of progress. 
