IOO 



RECREATION. 



hope, and the old courage of his race 

 surged through his blood and shone in his 

 eyes. If only he could get near little Dor- 

 othy, to tell her what to do ! By good 

 fortune, in the shifting of the boxes to get 

 fresh birds, he heard her soft coo and hur- 

 ried to her side. He saw that she was 

 suffering, and that the torture of the close 

 sack and the crowded box had greatly in- 

 jured the mutilated leg. 



Her turn soon came. The boy who 

 took her out cramped the poor stiff leg 

 close to her body, so she might pass muster, 

 and therefore when she was put in the trap 

 she was half crazed with pain. When the 

 trap was pulled she sprang up with every 

 vestige of strength she had ; but with only 

 one leg fit to use she toppled over and be- 

 fore she could right herself she fell, a 

 bleeding mass of feathers: killed almost 

 before she left the trap. 



Then poor Dick knew that all rested with 

 him, and like a stoic he waited. The boy 

 who pulled him out saw no fear in the 

 brave eyes. He found no resistance in that 

 compact body. Dick was ready. 



When the trap flew open, he ran rapidly 

 along the ground a few paces, and sprang 

 into the air with a burst of speed such as 

 gave his mother a record. 



"Bang!" went one barrel of the shooter's 

 gun, but not a scratch. "Bang !" went the 

 other, and the shot didn't even reach Dick. 

 He was already thinking of his starving 

 nestlings in the old steeple, when up, seem- 

 ingly right out of the ground in front of 

 him, rose one of those miserable scouts who 

 hang around a shooting match. Too stingy 

 to take part in the match and pay for their 

 shots, they hang around the outskirts to kill 

 the lucky birds that have escaped, and the 

 poor cripples that, with desperate flutters, 

 have gotten out of bounds. 



When Dick saw this fellow, he darted up 

 like a flash, his strong wings beating the 

 air in a perfect agony of fury as s he strove 

 to rise out of shooting distance. Too late ! 

 A moment and he fell to the ground, his 

 life blood staining the copper sheen of ^his 

 breast, a film coming fast over the bright 

 and fearless eyes, the feet clutched tightly 

 together, as with a gasp the bold spirit de- 

 parted. 



That night the moonbeams stole softly 

 through the windows of the old steeple, and 

 lingered a moment tenderly on 2 little dead 

 forms in the lonely nest. They, too, had 



THE MOONLIGHT LINGERED ON 

 2 LITTLE DEAD FORMS. 



had their long hours of suffering. The 

 first night when their mother's warmth was 

 taken from them was bad enough, but their 

 crops were full, and that was a help to keep 

 them warm. All through the next day no 

 parents came to keep off the chill with their 

 warm, downy breasts. Not a drop of water, 

 not a bit of food. The little sister first be- 

 gan to shiver and gasp and cuddle 



more 

 won- 

 why, 

 beak, 



closely to the sturdy brother. He 

 dered why she grew so drowsy, and 

 when he tried to fondle her with his 

 there was no response, till finally she grew 

 so cold and so still. Then he in turn be- 

 gan to shiver and gasp, his eyes became 

 sunken and blue : one last shudder, and all 

 was over. 



Thus Steeple Dick, little lame Dorothy, 

 and the 2 little ones, orphaned in a day, 4 

 of God's feathered creatures, went to their 

 death to satisfy the craving of a few men 

 for what they termed sport. 



"Papa, what is a syndicate?" 

 "My son, it is a body of human beings 

 entirely surrounded by money." 



