THE CZAR'S GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX 161 



went out to Audubon for what lie had done as the pro- 

 tector of the birds of America : would that it had been soft- 

 ened in like manner toward those who had sought to pro- 

 tect his own subjects! 



The story of the Czar's gold snuff-box went through 

 Europe, and delighted the people of many museums; it sur- 

 prised America, filled the papers, and slowly made its way 

 into the backwoods, and reached at last the inn in the 

 forest. 



And now Audubon and Victor are in America and enter 

 the far forests again. They are to travel wide ways. 



The travels of Audubon and his sons through the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley, over the great Southern lagoons and the vast 

 prairies of the West, were the means of collecting notable 

 stories as well as specimens and pictures, and these the nat- 

 uralist, who had been schooled by the natural story-teller 

 Daniel Boone, wrote out with true art. He included them 

 in his Ornithological Biographies, and these we will wish in 

 part to follow to the end of this volume. They picture the 

 life of Audubon as nothing else can do, and the pioneer 

 days of America will long live in them. The past of early 

 pioneer times will not die while Audubon's stories live. 

 They are among the best American stories ever told. 



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