FURRED AND FEATHERED YOUNGSTERS. 23 



have suffered lately, being harried almost to extinc- 

 tion ; and I would earnestly plead for this fisher, and 

 for this reason — before he was harried, any boy that 

 could be trusted by the water could catch enough 

 fish for a good fry. 



As to their elders, they caught as many as they 

 thought were needed, and then left off. This is 

 altered now, and chiefly because there are no fish 

 to catch. 



The young of furred and feathered creatures re- 

 semble the children of humans. You can see all 

 the troubles of common humanity, the shifts and 

 accidents to which all are liable, before your eyes, 

 in and about the woods and fields, acted over again 

 by the creatures that live and shelter there. 



All wild things, if man does not interfere with 

 them, live out their lives joyously; but there is no 

 such thing as perfect peace or happiness, even in 

 their forest sanctuaries. When robbed of their 

 young, or when these are wantonly killed, they 

 mourn for them in their own way, and in very 

 doleful fashion. 



Pike are all very well in their place; but when 

 one, or for the matter of that a couple, came up 



