40 SPOltT IN NORTH AMERICxV. 



joining me to-morrow evening (provided always 

 there be a fine moonlight), we shall enjoy a kind 

 of sport known only to the friends of Mr. Marvin. 

 We shall be fortunate indeed if the worthy host 

 agrees to lend us his osprey." 



''His osprey ! " I cried. "But what on earth 

 shall we do with a stinking bird that sleeps all day 

 long in the hotel garden? " 



" We shall do with him what the sportsmen" of 

 the middle ages used to do when they rode forth 

 upon their steeds, with falcon on wrist. ^^ 



" Then Marvin's osprey has been trained as the 

 ger-falcons and merlins of former days ? ^' 



" Precisely ! he is a fishing-eagle, and of the best 

 kind." 



" Ha ! ha ! Then Marvin's osprey be it, by all 

 means. Make every arrangement for the expedi- 

 tion, and I will join you. At what o'clock shall 

 we start ? " 



" About three in the afternoon. We will sup at 

 the Lake Hotel, and after a glass of toddy and a 

 cigar, we will embark with Sandy Hair, the old 

 fisherman of the place." 



"Agreed. At three o'clock to-morrow be it."^ 



We parted ; he to the hotel, and I after my busi- 

 ness. That evening, when I met him at the hotel, 

 he told me that Marvin had consented to let us 

 have his osprey, and I may add he had proffered 

 us this service in the most obliging manner. In- 



