Part 14 (2/2)
”It's no worse than a our own kind,” interposed Basil ”See how the white man makes the black one work for hi for the _million_ In Europe the case is reversed There, in every country, you see the archy in luxurious case, or a monarch in barbaric splendour”
”But why do they do so? the fools!” asked Francois, soarchy, and those monarchs, have taken precious care to educate and train them to the belief that such is the _natural_ state of man They furnish them with school-books, which are filled with beautiful sophis, and reverence for their wrongers They fill their rude throats with hurrah songs that paint false patriotis loyalty--no reatest of virtues, and revolution the greatest of crimes; they studiously divide their subjects into several creeds, and then, playing upon the worst of all passions--the passion of religious bigotry--easily prevent their ive thea!”
It was Basil who gave utterance to these sentiun to think strongly on political subjects No doubt Basil would one day be an MC
”The bald eagles have been much blamed for their treatment of the ospreys, but,” said Lucien, ”perhaps they havetheir tax than at first appears It has been asked: Why they do not capture the fish themselves? Now, I apprehend, that there is a _natural_ reason why they do not As you have seen, the fish are not always caught upon the surface The osprey has often to plunge beneath the water in the pursuit, and Nature has gifted him with power to do so, which, if I ales The latter are therefore compelled, in some les sometimes do catch the fish themselves, when the water is sufficiently shallow, or when their prey coh to the surface to enable them to seize it”
”Do they ever kill the ospreys?” inquired Francois
”I think not,” replied Lucien; ”that would be 'killing the goose,' etc
They know the value of their tax-payers too well to get rid of them in that way A band of ospreys, in a place where there happens to be ether, have been known to unite and drive the eagles off
That, I suppose, ht of a successful _revolution_”
The conversation was here interrupted by another incident The ospreys had again gone out fishi+ng, and, at this moment, one of them was seen to pounce down and take a fish froe fish, and, as the bird flew heavily upward, the eagle again left its perch, and gave chase This tiot two hundred yards into the air, and seeing it was no use atte to carry off the prey, it opened its claws and let it drop
The eagle turned suddenly, poised hi fish Before the latter had got near the ground, he overtook and secured it in his talons Then, arresting his own flight by the sudden spread of his tail, he winged his way silently across the river, and disappeared a the thing as a ain descended to the proper elevation, and betook hirinned a little, like many another royal taxpayer, but he knew the tax had to be paid all the sa
An incident soon after occurred that astonished and puzzled our party not a little The female osprey, that all this ti, was now seen to descend with a rush, and plunge deeply into the wave The spray rose in a little cloud over the spot, and all sat watching with eager eyes to witness the result
What was their astonish many seconds, the bird still remained under water! Minutes passed, and still she did not come up _She came up no more!_ The foam she had made in her descent floated away--the bosolass--not a ripple disturbed its surface They could have seen the smallest object for a hundred yards or more around the spot where she had disappeared
It was i her Where, then, had she gone? This, as I have said, puzzled the whole party; and formed a subject of conjecture and conversation for the rest of that day, and also upon the next Even Lucien was unable to solve the mystery It was a point in the natural history of the osprey unknown to hiar pike,” or soot hold of and sed her? Had she dashed her head against a rock, or becoled in weeds at the bottom of the river?
All these questions were put, and various solutions of the probleht of, until accident revealed it
It was Saturday when the incident occurred The party, of course, remained all next day at the place They heard almost continually the cry of the bereaved bird, who most likely knew no more than they what had become of his mate On Monday our travellers re-embarked and continued down-strea, their attention was drawn to a singular object floating upon the water
They brought the canoe alongside it
It was a large fish, a sturgeon, floating dead, with a bird beside it, also dead! On turning both over, as their astonishment to see that the talons of the bird were firmly fixed in the back of the fish!+ It was the _female osprey_! This explained all She had struck a fish too heavy for her strength, and being unable to clear her claws again, had been drawn under the water and had perished along with her victim!
CHAPTER, XXII
THE VOYAGE INTERRUPTED
About ten days' rapid travelling down the Elk River brought our party into the Athabasca Lake--sometireat bodies of fresh water that lie between the primitive rocks of the ”Barren Grounds,” and the more fertile limestone deposit upon the west It is nearly two hundredfrom west to east, and it is only fifteen miles in breadth, but in some places it is so narrow and full of islands that it looks more like a broad river than a lake Its shores and many of its islands are thickly wooded, particularly upon the southern and western edges; and the eye of the traveller is delighted with
But our voyageurs took little heed of these things
A gloom had come over their spirits, for one of their party had taken ill, and was suffering froerous disease--an intermittent fever It was Lucien--he that was beloved by all of the for several days--even while ad the fair scenery of the ro worse, until, on their arrival at the lake, he declared hier able to travel It became necessary, therefore, to suspend their journey; and choosing a place for their caements to re-hut for the invalid, and did everything to make him as comfortable as possible The best skins were spread for his couch; and cooling drinks were brewed for him froht his companions to prepare theun, and returned with a pair of young pigeons, or a wood-partridge, or a brace of the beautiful ruffed grouse; and out of these he would make delicate soups, which he was the better able to do as they had procured salt, pepper, and other ingredients, at the Fort They had also brought with thear; and as the quantity of both was but se was ly beneficial during his illness