‘““THE LAST AMERICAN ” 299 
head and round about, illustrating and crying 
encouragement. Meantime, they were growing 
all the while, with enormous appetites, and they 
dwelt in a great nest as conspicuous to any per- 
son wandering in that forest as would be a huge 
hogshead tied to the peak of the Methodist 
steeple. But so Baldy’s parents, and their 
parents before them, had built the nest, and no 
experience taught him concealment, no instinct 
came to his rescue. When, in the dim ancient 
days of his race, the nest had been built that way, 
the eagle knew no fear. He was king of the air, 
and only from the air could danger come or, if it 
came from below, the higher in the tree, the better 
for the nest. Accordingly the instinct was fixed 
to build it there, and when man finally came as 
his enemy he was utterly unprepared to meet the 
new foe. Instinct, of course, is the greatest con- 
servative force in the world. When it is a law 
of one’s being, it precludes change. Nothing can 
change it but the power of reason. When an 
animal changes its instinctive habits to meet new 
conditions and thus protect itself, we may fairly 
credit it with something like reasoning powers. 
