Atalapha, a Winged Brownie 
they had sped, and were not far from the sounding 
shore when the leader of the Bats led his following 
into hanging quarters for the day. 
They were a tired lot, especially the youngsters, 
whose first long flight it was, and when the evening 
meal hour came most of them preferred to go on 
sleeping. The night was waning, the morning was 
coming, when the leader roused the host, and all 
went out to hunt. The great game season was 
over and food was so scarce that the sun arose while 
many yet were hunting, and now it was time to be 
moving on the long south march. Turning the gold 
of his breast to the southward, Atalapha with his 
friends in long array behind went swinging easily 
down the valley to the sea, when a change of wind 
was felt, a chilly blast from the north arose. The 
leader soared at once to seek a pleasanter level, but 
found it worse, then sank so far that at last they 
were tormented with eddies answering to the con- 
tour of the hills, and flitting low, were surprised 
with a flurry of snow that sent them skurrying into 
sheltered places, where they hung and shivered, 
and so they passed the rest of that day and the 
night, after a slowly gathered meal. 
The dawn time came, and the Bats were all astir, 
for the spirit of unrest was on them. The snow was 
gone and the weather mild, so they held their course 
198 
