SENTRY OF THE SEDGE FLATS 57 



his leg. He had stepped into a steel 

 trap. 



Stung by the sharp pain, astounded by the 

 strangeness of the attack, and panic-stricken, 

 as all wild creatures are by the sudden forfeit 

 of their freedom, the great bird lost all his 

 dignified self-possession. First he ' nearly 

 broke his beak with mad jabs at the inexplic- 

 able horror that had clutched him. Then, 

 with a hoarse squawk of terror, he went quite 

 wild. His huge wings flapped frantically, 

 beating down the sedges and the blossoms 

 of the arrow-weed, as he struggled to wrench 

 himself free. He did succeed in lifting the 

 trap above water ; but it was securely 

 anchored, and after a minute or two of insane, 

 convulsive effort, it dragged him down again. 

 Again and again he lifted it ; again and yet 

 again it dragged him down inexorably. And 

 so the blind battle went on, with splashing 

 of water and heavy buffeting of wings, till 

 at last the bird fell back utterly beaten. In 

 the last bout the trap had turned and got itself 

 wedged in a slanting position, so that it was 

 impossible for the captive to hold himself 

 upright. He lay sprawling on his thighs, 

 one wing outspread over the mud and leaves, 

 the other on the water. His deadly beak 

 was half open, from exhaustion. Only his 



D 



