154 STORIES OF BIED LIFE 



we bore with us one of their young. He was an awkward 

 creature with long weak legs and slender toes. Thin white 

 down covered the dark green skin, and the wing quills had 

 been growing but a short time. His neck, which was long 

 and slender, he kept drawn in. His bill was slim and 

 pointed. His pale yellow eyes looked out in startled won- 

 der, or moved in fright whenever he was seized with a 

 desire to clamber out of the boat. "When we put forth our 

 hands to detain him he squawked piteously. 



At length our prisoner settled quietly on the center- 

 board case, and sat looking back at the old parent egrets 

 which now like fragments of white clouds came floating 

 back to their nests of eggs and young. 



Poor little egret ! He knew nothing of the world but the 

 island and the lake. Now against his will a boat was bear- 

 ing him from home far across a waste of waters. What 

 lake shores would his feet yet tread, through what space 

 would his wings yet carry him I Would they sometime 

 bear him back to his home on the island? It was we who 

 thought and asked these questions; the bird, more prob- 

 ably, was speculating on the possibilities of escape, or 

 wondering when he would be fed again. Indeed, before 

 many hours had elapsed, it became the general opinion 

 that contemplations of the latter subject occupied the 

 greater part of his time. 



