A VOYAGE IN THE DARK 



chor, and discharged their subtle freight 

 of perfume as they tossed in our wake. 

 I knew by his clatter, drawing nearer 

 only with our progress, that a kingfisher 

 was perched on a channel-side fishing- 

 stake, used in turn by him and bigger 

 but not more skillful fishers. I heard 

 his headlong plunge, but whether success- 

 ful or not the ensuing clatter did not tell 

 me, for he has but one voice for all ex- 

 pressions. Yet as his rattling cry was 

 kept up till the rough edge of its harsh- 

 ness was worn away in receding flight, 

 I fancied he was proclaiming an unusu- 

 ally successful achievement. For the 

 sake of his reputation, he would never 

 make such a fuss over a failure, unless 

 he was telling, as we do, of the big fish 

 he just missed catching. At any rate, I 

 wished him good luck, for who would be- 

 grudge a poor kingfisher such little fish 

 as he must catch ! They would need 

 years of growth to make them worth our 

 catching or bragging over the loss of, and 

 by that time we may be done with fish- 

 ing. 



Suddenly there was a roar of multitu- 

 dinous wings as a host of redwings up- 

 119 



