197 



for the word to fetch. Then he dropped his 



head, and drew a long breath, and tried to 



puzzle it out why a man should go out on a 



freezing day in February, and tramp, and (;^^^^ .. 



row, and get wet to find a bird, only to let ^^^^^^^^^ 



him go after he had been fairly caught. 



Kwaseekho the sheldrake leads a double 

 life. In winter he is found along the Mas- 

 sachusetts coast and southward, where he 

 leads a dog's life of it, notwithstanding V 

 his gay appear- ^ -"^t 



ance. A hun- ^^^' J^r 



dred guns are roaring 

 at him wherever he 

 goes. From daylight 

 to dark he has never a minute to 

 eat his bit of fish, or to take a wink 

 of sleep in peace. He flies to the 

 ocean, and beds with his fellows on 

 the broad open shoals for safety. 

 But the east winds blow; and the 

 shoals are a yeasty mass of tumbling 

 breakers. They buffet him about; 

 they twist his gay feathers ; they 

 dampen his pinions, spite of his 



