terrible talons.

Such is the usual result, unless the swan takes

to the air, which he sometimes does.

In the present case, he had built his hopes on a different means of escape. He intended to conceal himself in a heavy sedge of bulrushes that grew along the edge of the river, and towards these he was evidently directing his course under the water. At each emersion he appeared some yards nearer them, until at length he rose within a few feet of their margin, and diving again, was seen no more. He had crept in among the sedge, and no doubt was lying with only his head, or part of it, above the water, his body concealed by the broad leaves of the water lily, while the head itself could not be distinguished among the white flowers that lay thickly along the surface.

The eagles now wheeled over the sedge, flapping the tops of the bulrushes with their broad wings, and screaming with disappointed rage. Keen as were their eyes, they could not discover the hiding-place of their victim. No doubt they would have searched for it a long time, but the canoe - which they now appeared to notice for the first time had floated near ; and becoming aware of their own danger, both mounted into the air again, and with a fearful scream flew off, and alighted at some distance down the river.

"A swan for supper," shouted Francis, as he poised his gun for the expected shot.

The canoe was headed for the bulrushes, near the point where the trumpeter had last been seen; and a few strokes of the paddles brought the little craft, with a whizzing sound, among the sedge. But the rushes were so tall, and grew so closely together, that the canoe men after entering, found, to their chagrin, that they could not see six feet around them. They dared not stand up, for this is very dangerous in a birch canoe, where the greatest caution is necessary to keep the ves、 sel from tipping over. Moreover, the sedge was so thick that it was with difficulty they could use their oars.

They remained stationary for a time, surrounded by a wall

of green bulrush. They soon perceived that this would never do, and resolved to push back into the open water. Meanwhile Marengo had been sent into the sedge, and was now heard tumbling and plunging about in search of the game. Marengo was not much of a water dog by nature, but he had been trained to almost every kind of hunting. His masters, therefore, had no fear but that he would "put up " the trumpeter.

Marengo had been let loose a little too soon. Before the canoe could be cleared of the entangling sedge, the dog was heard to utter one of his loud growls; then followed a heavy plunge, there was a confused fluttering of wings, and the great white bird rose majestically into the air. Before either of the youths could direct their aim, he was beyond the range of shot, and both prudently reserved their fire. The dog, having performed his part, swam back to the canoe, and was lifted in.

The swan, after clearing the sedge, rose almost vertically into the air, and, after attaining a height of several hundred yards, flew forward in a horizontal course, and followed the direction of the stream. His flight was now regular, and his trumpet note could be heard at intervals, as, with outstretched neck, he glided along the heavens. He seemed to feel the pleasant sensations that every creature has after an escape from danger, and no doubt he fancied himself secure.

But in this fancy he deceived himself. Better for him had he risen a few hundred yards higher, or else had uttered his self-gratulation in a more subdued tone; for it was heard and answered; and that response was the maniac laugh of the white eagle. At the same instant, two of these birds - those already introduced were seen mounting into the air. They did not fly up vertically, as the swan had done, but in spiral curves, wheeling and crossing each other as they ascended. They were making for a point that would cut off the flight of the swan, should he keep on in his horizontal course.

This, however, he did not do. With an eye as quick as theirs, he saw that he was "headed;" and stretching his long

neck upward, he again pursued an almost vertical line. But he had to carry thirty pounds of flesh and bones; while the larger of the eagles, with a still broader spread of wing, was a "light weight" of only seven. The result of this difference was soon apparent. Before the trumpeter had got two hundred yards higher, the female eagle was seen wheeling around him on the same level. The swan was now observed to double, fly downward, and then upward again, while his mournful note echoed back to the earth.

But his efforts were in vain. After a series of contortions and manœuvres the eagle darted forward, with a quick toss threw herself back downward, and striking upward, planted her talons in the under part of her victim's wing. The lacerated shaft fell uselessly down; and the great white bird, no longer capable of flight, came whistling through the air.

But it was not allowed to drop directly to the earth; it would have fallen on the bosom of the broad river, and that the eagles did not wish, as it would have given them some trouble to get the heavy carcass ashore. As soon as the mate who was lower in the air. saw that his partner had struck the bird, he discontinued his upward flight, and poising himself on his spread tail, waited its descent.

A single instant was sufficient. The white object passed him, still fluttering; but the moment it was below his level he shot after it like an arrow, and clutching it in his talons, with an outward stroke, sent it whizzing in a diagonal direction. The next moment a crashing was heard among the twigs: and a dull sound announced that the swan had fallen upon the earth.

The eagles were now seen sailing downward, and soon disappeared among the tops of the trees.

The canoe soon reached the bank; and Francis, accompanied by Basil and Marengo, leaped ashore, and went in search of the birds. They found the swan quite dead, and lying upon its back as the eagles had turned it. Its breast was torn open, and its crimson blood was spread in broad flakes

over its snowy plumage. The eagles themselves, scared by the dog, had taken flight before the youths could get within shot of them.

XXVII. TUBAL CAIN.

MACKAY.

[Charles Mackay is a living English author, who has written well both in prose and verse.]

OLD Tubal Cain was a man of might

In the days when the earth was young;
By the fierce red light of his furnace bright,
The strokes of his hammer rung;

And he lifted high his brawny hand

On the iron glowing clear,

Till the sparks rushed out in scarlet showers
As he fashioned the sword and spear.

And he sang,

"Hurrah for my handiwork!

Hurrah for the spear and sword!

Hurrah for the hand that shall wield them well!

For he shall be king and lord."

To Tubal Cain came many a one,

As he wrought by his roaring fire,

And each one prayed for a strong steel blade,

As the crown of his desire;

And he made them weapons sharp and strong,
Till they shouted loud in glee,

And gave him gifts of pearls and gold,

And spoils of forest free.

And they sang, " Hurrah for Tubal Cain,
Who hath given us strength anew!

Hurrah for the smith! hurrah for the fire!
And hurrah for the metal true!"

But a sudden change came o'er his heart
Ere the setting of the sun,

And Tubal Cain was filled with pain

For the evil he had done.

He saw that men, with rage

and hate,

Made war upon their kind;

That the land was red with the blood they shed,

In their lust for carnage blind.

And he said, "Alas, that ever I made,

Or that skill of mine should plan,

The spear and the sword, for men whose joy
Is to slay their fellow-man!"

And for many a day old Tubal Cain
Sat brooding o'er his woe;

And his hand forbore to smite the ore,
And his furnace smouldered low;
But he rose at last with a cheerful face
And a bright, courageous eye,

And bared his strong right arm for work,
While the quick flames mounted high;

"Not alone for the blade was the bright steel made,”

And he fashioned the first ploughshare.

And men, taught wisdom from the past,
In friendship joined their hands,

Hung the sword in the hall, the spear on the wall,
And ploughed the willing lands;

And sang,

"Hurrah for Tubal Cain!

Our stanch good friend is he;

And for the ploughshare and the plough

To him our praise shall be.

But while oppression lifts its head,