YOUNG HERONS IN TRAINING 119 



Then, moving forward to the look-out station he 

 had occupied on the previous day, he watched 

 the birds wheeling lower and yet lower till their 

 wings almost trailed the smooth, bright surface 

 of the little lake. 



Presently the young herons checked their 

 flight, and, depressing their tails and throwing 

 forward their legs, managed, with much self- 

 satisfaction, to alight safely at the water's edge, 

 where they began, in the sheer exuberance of 

 their summer mirth, a series of exercises that to 

 Renoult seemed as diverting as the antics of the 

 Justiciar's half-witted fool had been during the 

 recent revels in the Castle hall. Lifting their 

 legs almost to the level of their breasts, they 

 paced awkwardly around a clump of reeds, and 

 along the summit of a grassy mound, where, 

 turning quickly, they bowed to each other with 

 grave formality. Then they marched in single 

 file back to the reeds, and, again turning, lurched 

 from side to side, balancing themselves with 

 half-open wings and occasionally shooting out 

 their long, lean necks as if to guard against a 

 fall. Afterwards, perhaps giddy and out of 

 breath, they for a few moments stood motionless, 

 with their feathers raised around their throats 

 and their heads buried almost out of sight in 

 their distended crops. Anon, recovering from 

 their exertions, they formed a compact little 



