motes of tbe 



eagle in its flight, to see it swoop resistlessly 

 upon the quarry it has marked! We feel our 

 limitations at such a time, and the regal bird's 

 demoniac laugh is, for us, a veritable cry of defi- 

 ance. Brag as we may, man has yet great 

 strides to make before he can claim the perfect 

 freedom of such birds as these. 



I am glad that a petulant little red owl greeted 

 me as I reached the hill-foot. It was perched on 

 a low limb of a small ash sapling, and wheu-u-u- 

 u-ed at me as a little dog might bark when I rang 

 a door-bell. It was perhaps a complaint at my 

 intrusion, possibly a welcome ; but protest or as- 

 surance of its gratification at my arrival, I paused 

 to reply by lamely imitating its notes. My good 

 intentions were not appreciated, or else were 

 misinterpreted, for the owl sank into the depths 

 of the wood's thick darkness, and I was again 

 alone. I was now so near home that the feel- 

 ing of loneliness was gone. Although there was 

 yet a dense wood to pass through, I thought no- 

 thing of this, it was all so familiar, and I rather 

 rejoiced at an opportunity to test the pathfinding 

 faculties of my hands and feet. I could see no- 

 thing now. While I loitered with the owl, the 

 clouds completed the sky's veiling, and it was not 

 comparatively but absolutely dark. No cunning 

 vision of owl or cat would have availed now. 

 I readily found the end of the path and shuffled 

 along ; but every pebble proved an obstacle, and 



