110 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 



big empty room next the dairy and let it remain 

 until fit to cook. The longer it hung the more 

 tender it would be. 



There was an iron hook in the central beam of 

 the big vacant room he had spoken of, and on this 

 hook he suspended the heron by its legs, its long 

 pointed beak nearly touching the tiled floor, and 

 hanging there with nothing else in the room it 

 looked bigger than ever. It troubled them greatly 

 to have to go through this room many times a 

 day, but it was far worse at night. They were 

 accustomed, especially on moonlight nights, to go 

 that way to the dairy without a candle ; and they 

 sometimes forgot about the bird, and then the 

 sight of it in its pale grey plumage would startle 

 them as if they had seen a ghost. How awful it 

 looked, with its wings like great arms half -open 

 as if to scare them ! 



Days and weeks went by, and still the heron 

 was suspended in the big vacant room to make 

 their life on the farm a burden to them, then one 

 morning after finishing his breakfast their brother 

 said that he had been looking at the heron and 

 found it was just about in perfect condition to be 

 cooked, and that they would have it for dinner 

 that day. Then he added : " I don't mean at 

 our twelve o'clock dinner. There would be no 

 time to prepare it and it would not be proper to 

 eat it at such an hour. To-day we must have a 

 real eight o'clock dinner so as to do honour to the 

 heron." 



