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Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Graphical User Interfaces

Multiple Choice Questions:

1) The default layout manager used by the JPanel class is the _______________________ layout.

a) flow
b) border
c) box
d) grid
e) gridBag

Answer: a
Explanation: The flow layout is the default layout manager used by JPanel objects.

2) A(n) ___________________ is an object that defines a screen element used to display information or allow the user to
interact with a program in a certain way.

a) GUI
b) component
c) event
d) listener
e) AWT

Answer: b
Explanation: A component is an object that defines a screen element used to display information or allow the user to
interact with a program in a certain way. A GUI is a graphical user interface. An event is an object that represents some
occurrence in which we may be interested. A listener is an object that waits for an event to occur and responds in some way
when it does. AWT stands for the Abstract Windowing Toolkit, which is a package that contains classes related to Java GUIs.

3) A(n) ____________________ is an object that waits for an event to occur and responds in some way when it does.

a) GUI
b) component
c) listener
d) frame
e) panel

Answer: c
Explanation: A listener is an object that waits for an event to occur and responds in some way when it does. A
component is an object that defines a screen element used to display information or allow the user to interact with a program in a
certain way. A GUI is a graphical user interface. A frame is a container that is used to display GUI-based Java applications. A
panel is also a container, but unlike a frame it cannot be displayed on its own.

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Pearson © 2017
Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

4) A GUI is being designed that will detect and respond to a mouse event. How many methods must appear in the listener
object for the event?

a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
e) 5

Answer: e
Explanation: A listener for a mouse event implements the MouseListener interface. The MouseListener
interface contains specifications for five methods to respond to different types of mouse events that can be detected. Each of
these methods must appear in the listener and have a body. If a method is not needed, its body can be an empty set of { }.

5) A container is governed by a(n) __________________, which determines exactly how the components added to the panel
will be displayed.

a) event
b) content pane
c) JFrame object
d) JPanel object
e) layout manager

Answer: e
Explanation: The layout manager determines exactly how the components added to the panel will be displayed. A
content pane's frame is where all visible elements of a Java interface are displayed. The JFrame and JPanel objects are part of
the AWT package. An event is an object that represents some occurrence in which we may be interested.

6) Which of the following components allows the user to enter typed input from the keyboard.

a) check boxes
b) radio buttons
c) sliders
d) combo boxes
e) none of the above

Answer: e
Explanation: None of the listed components allow typed input. A text field allows typed input from the user.

7) Which of the following components allows the user to select one of several options from a "drop down" menu?

a) check boxes
b) radio buttons
c) sliders
d) combo boxes
e) none of the above

Answer: d
Explanation: Combo boxes allow the user to select one of several options from a "drop down" menu.

2
Pearson © 2017
Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

8) Which of the following layout managers organize the components from left to right, starting new rows as necessary?

a) Border Layout
b) Box Layout
c) Card Layout
d) Flow Layout
e) Grid Layout

Answer: d
Explanation: The flow layout organizes components from left to right, starting new rows as necessary. A border
layout organizes components into five areas: north, south, east, west, and center. The box layout organizes components into a
single row or column. The card layout organizes components into one area such that only one is visible at any time. A grid
layout organizes components into a grid of rows and columns.

9) Which of the following event descriptions best describes the mouse entered event?

a) The mouse button is pressed down

b) The mouse button is pressed down and released without moving the mouse in between
c) The mouse pointer is moved onto a component
d) The mouse button is released
e) The mouse is moved while the mouse button is pressed down

Answer: c
Explanation: The mouse entered event is triggered when the mouse pointer is moved onto a component. Choice a best
describes a mouse pressed event. Choice b best describes a mouse clicked event. Choice d best describes a mouse released event.
Choice e best describes a mouse dragged event.

10) A(n) _______________________ is a graphical window that pops up on top of any currently active window so that the
user can interact with it.

a) component
b) dialog box
c) event
d) listener
e) none of the above

Answer: b
Explanation: The sentence describes a dialog box. Events and listeners are not windows. Components are graphical
elements that appear in windows, but they are not windows.

11) Which of the following is a fundamental idea of good GUI design?

a) Know the user

b) Prevent user errors
c) Optimize user abilities.
d) Be consistent.
e) all of the above

Answer: e
Explanation: All of the choices are fundamental ideas of good GUI design.

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Pearson © 2017
Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

12) Which of the following best describes a timer component?

a) it starts when a GUI component is first initialized, and ends when it is destroyed
b) it generates action events at regular intervals
c) every object has a timer, and it is implicitly activated in the constructor of the object
d) it determines the amount of time it takes to execute a method
e) a timer cannot be considered a GUI component

Answer: b
Explanation: Choice b is the best description of a timer component. None of the other choices are true statements.

13) Which of the following border styles can make a component appear raised or lowered from the rest of the components?

a) line border
b) etched border
c) bevel border
d) titled border
e) matte border

Answer: c
Explanation: A bevel border can be used to add depth to a component and give it a 3-D appearance.

14) Which of the following represents a dialog box that allows the user to select a file from a disk or other storage medium?

a) color chooser
b) disk chooser
c) tool tip chooser
d) file chooser
e) none of the above

Answer: d
Explanation: A file chooser is a dialog box that allows the user to select a file. A color chooser allows the user to select
a color. There are no dialog boxes in the AWT that represent a tool tip chooser or a disk chooser.

15) Which of the following classes play a role in altering a visual aspect of a component?

a) ColorChooser
b) ToolTip
c) BorderFactory
d) ColorCreator
e) none of the above

Answer: c
Explanation: The BorderFactory class can be used to create borders, and when used with the setBorder()
method, the borders of components can be changed. The other options are not classes that are included with the AWT.

4
Pearson © 2017
Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

True/False Questions:

1) A panel is displayed as a separate window, but a frame can only be displayed as part of another container.
Answer: False
Explanation: A frame is displayed as a separate window, but a panel can only be displayed as part of another container.

2) Layout managers determine how components are visually presented.

Answer: True
Explanation: Every container is managed by a layout manager, which determines how components are visually
presented.

3) Check boxes operate as a group, providing a set of mutually exclusive options.

Answer: False
Explanation: Radio buttons operate as a group, providing a set of mutually exclusive options. Check boxes are
buttons that can be toggled on or off using the mouse, indicating that a particular boolean condition is set or unset.

4) A dialog box allows the user to select one of several options from a "drop down" menu.
Answer: False
Explanation: A combo box allows the user to select one of several options from a "drop down" menu. A dialog box is
a pop-up window that allows for user interaction.

5) The grid layout organizes components into a grid of rows and columns, and also allows components to span more than one
cell.
Answer: False
Explanation: Both the grid and the GridBag layouts organized components into a grid of rows and columns. Only a
GridBag layout allows components to span more than one cell.

6) The keyHit event is called when a key is pressed.

Answer: False
Explanation: The keyPressed event is called when a key is pressed.

7) A tool tip can be assigned to any Swing component.

Answer: True
Explanation: All Swing components can be assigned a tool tip, which is a short line of text that will appear when the
cursor is rested momentarily on top of the component..

8) A color chooser is a dialog box.

Answer: True
Explanation: A color chooser is a dialog box that allows the user to select a color from a palette or using RGB values.

9) When designing a GUI, the ability of the user is not an important consideration. A GUI should be designed with the lowest
common denominator in mind.
Answer: False
Explanation: It is important to design GUIs that are flexible and that support both skilled and unskilled users.

10) A mnemonic is a short line of text that will appear when the cursor is rested momentarily on top of the component.
Answer: False
Explanation: A mnemonic is a character that allows the user to push a button or make a menu choice using the
keyboard in addition to the mouse. A tool-top is a short line of text that will appear when the cursor is rested momentarily on
top of the component.

5
Pearson © 2017
Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

Short Answer Questions:

1) Explain the difference between check boxes and radio buttons.

Answer: A check box sets a boolean condition to true or false. Therefore if there are multiple items listed with check
boxes by each, any or all of them can be checked at the same time. A radio button represents a set of mutually exclusive
options. This means that at any given time, only one option can be selected.

2) Explain the difference between a combo box and a dialog box.

Answer: A combo box is a component that allows the user to select one of several options from a "drop down" menu.
A dialog box is a graphical window that pops up on top of any currently active windows so that the user can interact with it.

3) Give an example of a common use of a dialog box.

Answer: A confirm dialog box presents the user with a simple yes-or-no question. A file chooser is a dialog box that
presents the user with a file navigator that can be used to select a file. A color chooser is a dialog box that allows the user to
select an RGB color.

4) What method in what interface is used in a GUI application to detect that a user typed the letter 'Y'?

Answer: The keyPressed() method in the KeyListener interface can be used to determine which key was
typed.

5) Write a keyPressed method that behaves as follows. If the user presses the up arrow, the method should output "You
pressed up" using the System.out.println method. If the user presses the down arrow, the method should output "You
pressed down" using the System.out.println method.

Answer:

public void keyPressed(KeyEvent event) {

switch(event.getKeyCode()) {
case KeyEvent.VK_UP:
System.out.println("You pressed up.");
break;
case KeyEvent.VK_DOWN:
System.out.println("You pressed down.");
break;
}//end switch
}//end method

6) When, if ever, should a component be disabled?

Answer: A component should be disabled whenever it is inappropriate for the user to interact with it. This minimizes
error handling and special cases.

6
Pearson © 2017
Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

7) Write a segment of code that will use a dialog box to ask a user to enter their age. Their age will then be stored in an int
variable named userAge. Assume that the necessary import statements to support the dialog box are already in place.

Answer:

int userAge;
String ageStr; // used for user's response
ageStr = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("How old are you"?);
userAge = Integer.parseInt(ageStr);

8) Write a short class that represents a panel with a single radio button that has the option "Yes" and the option "No." By
default, the Yes button should be checked.

Answer:

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;

public class RadioPanel extends JPanel {

private JRadioButton yes, no;

public RadioPanel() {
yes = new JRadioButton("Yes", true);
no = new JradioButton("No");

add(yes);
add(no);
} // end constructor

} // end class RadioPanel

9) Suppose we have created a class called MyGUI, which represents a GUI. Write a program that creates a JFrame object,
adds a MyGUI object to the frame and makes it visible.

Answer:

import javax.swing.*;

public class MyGUIDisplayer {

public static void main(String [] args) {
JFrame frame = new Jframe("My GUI");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

frame.getContentPane().add(new MyGUI());

frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);

} // end main
} // end class MyGUIDisplayer

7
Pearson © 2017
Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

10) Write a short class that represents a panel with a single slider that has values from 0 to 250, with large tick marks in
increments of 50 and small tick marks in increments of 10.

Answer:

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;

public class SlidePanel extends JPanel {

private JSlider slide;

public SlidePanel() {
slide = new Jslider(JSlider.HORIZONTAL, 0, 255, 0);

slide.setMajorTickSpacing(50);
slide.setMinorTickSpacing(10);
slide.setPaintTicks(true);
slide.setPaintLabels(true);

add(slide);
} // end constructor
} // end class SlidePanel

11) Describe the areas of a border layout.

Answer: Border layout is divided into five areas: North, South, East, West and Center. The North and South areas are
at the top and bottom of the container, respectively, and span the entire width of the container. Sandwiched between them,
from left to right, are the West, Center, and East areas. Any unused area takes up no space, and the others fill in as needed.

12) One of the fundamental ideas of good GUI design is to "know the user". How does "know the user" influence a GUI
design?

Answer: The software has to meet the user's needs. This means not only that it has to do what it is designed to do, but
it also must be software that the user understands how to use. It needs to have an interface that the user is comfortable with in
order to be usable and useful to the user. A person who designs a GUI without an awareness of the user's preferences or skills
is less likely to please the user than someone who takes these into consideration.

13) What is the difference between a mnemonic and a tool tip?

Answer: A mnemonic is a character that allows the user to push a button or make a menu choice using the keyboard in
addition to the mouse. A tool-top is a short line of text that will appear when the cursor is rested momentarily on top of the
component. The difference is that the mnemonic allows for more flexibility on the users end (it allows for multiple methods of
achieving the same task), which a tool-tip is simply a helpful reminder of the role of a particular component and offers no
flexibility on the users end.

8
Pearson © 2017
Java Foundations: Introduction to Program Design & Data Structures, 4/e
John Lewis, Peter DePasquale, Joseph Chase
Test Bank: Chapter 6

14) Describe the difference between a heavyweight container and a lightweight container. Give an example of each.

Answer: A heavyweight container is a container that is managed by the underlying operating system on which the
program is run, whereas a lightweight container is managed by the Java program itself. A frame is an example of a heavyweight
container and a panel is a lightweight container.

15) When using a box layout, how is the orientation – horizontal or vertical box – specified?

Answer: The orientation is specified as a parameter to the BoxLayout constructor. BoxLayout.Y-AXIS

indicates a vertical box layout. BoxLayout.X-AXIS indicates a horizontal box layout.

9
Pearson © 2017
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Some Animal
Stories
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Some Animal Stories

Creator: Sir Charles G. D. Roberts

Release date: May 6, 2016 [eBook #52010]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Al Haines

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME ANIMAL

STORIES ***
Charles G. D. Roberts, title page
 SOME
ANIMAL
STORIES

BY
CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS

NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY

J. M. DENT & SONS LTD LONDON & TORONTO

All rights reserved

FIRST PUBLISHED . . . 1921

REPRINTED . . . 1923, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

CONTENTS
Do Seek their Meat from God

"The Young Ravens that Call upon Him"

Strayed
The Watchers in the Swamp

Quills the Indifferent

Stripes the Unconcerned

The Black Mule of Aveluy

Star-Nose of the Under Ways

Kroof, the She-Bear

The Initiation of Miranda

A Royal Marauder

SOME ANIMAL STORIES

DO SEEK THEIR MEAT FROM GOD

One side of the ravine was in darkness. The darkness was soft and
rich, suggesting thick foliage. Along the crest of the slope tree-tops
came into view—great pines and hemlocks of the ancient unviolated
forest—revealed against the orange disc of a full moon just rising.
The low rays slanting through the moveless tops lit strangely the
upper portion of the opposite steep,—the western wall of the ravine,
barren, unlike its fellow, bossed with great rocky projections, and
harsh with stunted junipers. Out of the sluggish dark that lay along
the ravine as in a trough, rose the brawl of a swollen, obstructed
stream.
Out of a shadowy hollow behind a long white rock, on the lower
edge of that part of the steep which lay in the moonlight, came
softly a great panther. In common daylight his coat would have
shown a warm fulvous hue, but in the elvish decolourising rays of
that half hidden moon he seemed to wear a sort of spectral grey. He
lifted his smooth round head to gaze on the increasing flame, which
presently he greeted with a shrill cry. That terrible cry, at once
plaintive and menacing, with an undertone like the fierce
protestations of a saw beneath the file, was a summons to his mate,
telling her that the hour had come when they should seek their prey.
From the lair behind the rock, where the cubs were being suckled by
their dam, came no immediate answer. Only a pair of crows, that
had their nest in a giant fir-tree across the gulf, woke up and
croaked harshly their indignation. These three summers past they
had built in the same spot, and had been nightly awakened to vent
the same rasping complaints.
The panther walked restlessly up and down, half a score of
paces each way, along the edge of the shadow, keeping his wide-
open green eyes upon the rising light. His short, muscular tail
twitched impatiently, but he made no sound. Soon the breadth of
confused brightness had spread itself further down the steep,
disclosing the foot of the white rock, and the bones and antlers of a
deer which had been dragged thither and devoured.
By this time the cubs had made their meal, and their dam was
ready for such enterprise as must be accomplished ere her own
hunger, now grown savage, could hope to be assuaged. She glided
supplely forth into the glimmer, raised her head, and screamed at
the moon in a voice as terrible as her mate's. Again the crows
stirred, croaking harshly; and the two beasts, noiselessly mounting
the steep, stole into the shadows of the forest that clothed the high
plateau.
The panthers were fierce with hunger. These two days past their
hunting had been wellnigh fruitless. What scant prey they had slain
had for the most part been devoured by the female; for had she not
those small blind cubs at home to nourish, who soon must suffer at
any lack of hers? The settlements of late had been making great
inroads on the world of ancient forest, driving before them the deer
and smaller game. Hence the sharp hunger of the panther parents,
and hence it came that on this night they hunted together. They
purposed to steal upon the settlements in their sleep, and take
tribute of the enemies' flocks.
Through the dark of the thick woods, here and there pierced by
the moonlight, they moved swiftly and silently. Now and again a dry
twig would snap beneath the discreet and padded footfalls. Now and
again, as they rustled some low tree, a pewee or a nuthatch would
give a startled chirp. For an hour the noiseless journeying continued,
and ever and anon the two grey, sinuous shapes would come for a
moment into the view of the now well-risen moon. Suddenly there
fell upon their ears, far off and faint, but clearly defined against the
vast stillness of the Northern forest, a sound which made those
stealthy hunters pause and lift their heads. It was the voice of a
child crying,—crying long and loud, hopelessly, as if there were no
one by to comfort it. The panthers turned aside from their former
course and glided toward the sound. They were not yet come to the
outskirts of the settlement, but they knew of a solitary cabin lying in
the thick of the woods a mile and more from the nearest neighbour.
Thither they bent their way, fired with fierce hope. Soon would they
break their bitter fast.
Up to noon of the previous day the lonely cabin had been
occupied. Then its owner, a shiftless fellow, who spent his days for
the most part at the corner tavern three miles distant, had suddenly
grown disgusted with a land wherein one must work to live, and had
betaken himself with his seven-year-old boy to seek some more
indolent clime. During the long lonely days when his father was
away at the tavern the little boy had been wont to visit the house of
the next neighbour, to play with a child of some five summers, who
had no other playmate. The next neighbour was a prosperous
pioneer, being master of a substantial frame house in the midst of a
large and well-tilled clearing. At times, though rarely, because it was
forbidden, the younger child would make his way by a rough wood
road to visit his poor little disreputable playmate. At length it had
appeared that the five-year-old was learning unsavoury language
from the elder boy, who rarely had an opportunity of hearing speech
more desirable. To the bitter grief of both children, the
companionship had at length been stopped by unalterable decree of
the master of the frame house.
Hence it had come to pass that the little boy was unaware of his
comrade's departure. Yielding at last to an eager longing for that
comrade, he had stolen away late in the afternoon, traversed with
endless misgivings the lonely stretch of wood road, and reached the
cabin only to find it empty. The door, on its leathern hinges, swung
idly open. The one room had been stripped of its few poor
furnishings. After looking in the rickety shed, whence darted two
wild and hawklike chickens, the child had seated himself on the
hacked threshold, and sobbed passionately with a grief that he did
not fully comprehend. Then seeing the shadows lengthen across the
tiny clearing, he had grown afraid to start for home. As the dusk
gathered, he had crept trembling into the cabin, whose door would
not stay shut. When it grew quite dark, he crouched in the inmost
corner of the room, desperate with fear and loneliness, and lifted up
his voice piteously. From time to time his lamentations would be
choked by sobs, or he would grow breathless, and in the terrifying
silence would listen hard to hear if any one or anything were
coming. Then again would the shrill childish wailings arise, startling
the unexpectant night, and piercing the forest depths, even to the
ears of those great beasts which had set forth to seek their meat
from God.
The lonely cabin stood some distance, perhaps a quarter of a
mile, back from the highway connecting the settlements. Along this
main road a man was plodding wearily. All day he had been walking,
and now as he neared home his steps began to quicken with
anticipation of rest. Over his shoulder projected a double-barrelled
fowling-piece, from which was slung a bundle of such necessities as
he had purchased in town that morning. It was the prosperous
settler, the master of the frame house. His mare being with foal, he
had chosen to make the tedious journey on foot.
The settler passed the mouth of the wood road leading to the
cabin. He had gone perhaps a furlong beyond, when his ears were
startled by the sound of a child crying in the woods. He stopped,
lowered his burden to the road, and stood straining ears and eyes in
the direction of the sound. It was just at this time that the two
panthers also stopped, and lifted their heads to listen. Their ears
were keener than those of the man, and the sound had reached
them at a greater distance.
Presently the settler realised whence the cries were coming. He
called to mind the cabin; but he did not know the cabin's owner had
departed. He cherished a hearty contempt for the drunken squatter;
and on the drunken squatter's child he looked with small favour,
especially as a playmate for his own boy. Nevertheless he hesitated
before resuming his journey.
"Poor little devil!" he muttered, half in wrath. "I reckon his
precious father's drunk down at 'the Corners,' and him crying for
loneliness!" Then he reshouldered his burden and strode on
doggedly.
But louder, shriller, more hopeless and more appealing, arose
the childish voice, and the settler paused again, irresolute, and with
deepening indignation. In his fancy, he saw the steaming supper his
wife would have awaiting him. He loathed the thought of retracing
his steps, and then stumbling a quarter of a mile through the stumps
and bog of the wood road. He was foot-sore as well as hungry, and
he cursed the vagabond squatter with serious emphasis; but in that
wailing was a terror which would not let him go on. He thought of
his own little one left in such a position, and straightway his heart
melted. He turned, dropped his bundle behind some bushes,
grasped his gun, and made speed back for the cabin.
"Who knows," he said to himself, "but that drunken idiot has left
his youngster without a bite to eat in the whole miserable shanty?
Or maybe he's locked out, and the poor little beggar's half scared to
death. Sounds as if he was scared"; and at this thought the settler
quickened his pace.
As the hungry panthers drew near the cabin, and the cries of
the lonely child grew clearer, they hastened their steps, and their
eyes opened to a wider circle, flaming with a greener fire. It would
be thoughtless superstition to say the beasts were cruel. They were
simply keen with hunger, and alive with the eager passion of the
chase. They were not ferocious with any anticipation of battle, for
they knew the voice was the voice of a child, and something in the
voice told them the child was solitary. Theirs was no hideous or
unnatural rage, as it is the custom to describe it. They were but
seeking with the strength, the cunning, the deadly swiftness given
them to that end, the food convenient for them. On their success in
accomplishing that for which nature had so exquisitely designed
them depended not only their own, but the lives of their blind and
helpless young, now whimpering in the cave on the slope of the
moon-lit ravine. They crept through a wet alder thicket, bounded
lightly over the ragged brush fence, and paused to reconnoitre on
the edge of the clearing, in the full glare of the moon. At the same
moment the settler emerged from the darkness of the wood-road on
the opposite side of the clearing. He saw the two great beasts,
heads down and snouts thrust forward, gliding toward the open
cabin door.
For a few moments the child had been silent. Now his voice rose
again in pitiful appeal, a very ecstasy of loneliness and terror. There
was a note in the cry that shook the settler's soul. He had a vision of
his own boy, at home with his mother, safe-guarded from even the
thought of peril. And here was this little one left to the wild beasts!
"Thank God! Thank God I came!" murmured the settler, as he
dropped on one knee to take a surer aim. There was a loud report
(not like the sharp crack of a rifle), and the female panther, shot
through the loins, fell in a heap, snarling furiously and striking with
her fore-paws.
The male walked around her in fierce and anxious amazement.
Presently, as the smoke lifted, he discerned the settler kneeling for a
second shot. With a high screech of fury, the lithe brute sprang upon
his enemy, taking a bullet full in his chest without seeming to know
he was hit. Ere the man could slip in another cartridge the beast was
upon him, bearing him to the ground and fixing keen fangs in his
shoulder. Without a word, the man set his strong fingers desperately
into the brute's throat, wrenched himself partly free, and was
struggling to rise, when the panther's body collapsed upon him all at
once, a dead weight which he easily flung aside. The bullet had
done its work just in time.
Quivering from the swift and dreadful contest, bleeding
profusely from his mangled shoulder, the settler stepped up to the
cabin door and peered in. He heard sobs in the darkness.
"Don't be scared, sonny," he said, in a reassuring voice. "I'm
going to take you home along with me. Poor little lad, I'll look after
you if folks that ought to don't."
Out of the dark corner came a shout of delight, in a voice which
made the settler's heart stand still. "Daddy, daddy," it said, "I knew
you'd come. I was so frightened when it got dark!" And a little figure
launched itself into the settler's arms, and clung to him trembling.
The man sat down on the threshold and strained the child to his
breast. He remembered how near he had been to disregarding the
far-off cries, and great beads of sweat broke out upon his forehead.
Not many weeks afterwards the settler was following the fresh
trail of a bear which had killed his sheep. The trail led him at last
along the slope of a deep ravine, from whose bottom came the
brawl of a swollen and obstructed stream. In the ravine he found a
shallow cave, behind a great white rock. The cave was plainly a wild
beast's lair, and he entered circumspectly. There were bones
scattered about, and on some dry herbage in the deepest corner of
the den, he found the dead bodies, now rapidly decaying, of two
small panther cubs.

"THE YOUNG RAVENS THAT CALL UPON HIM"

It was just before dawn, and a greyness was beginning to trouble

the dark about the top of the mountain.
Even at that cold height there was no wind. The veil of cloud
that hid the stars hung but a hand-breadth above the naked summit.
To eastward the peak broke away sheer, beetling in a perpetual
menace to the valleys and the lower hills. Just under the brow, on a
splintered and creviced ledge, was the nest of the eagles.
As the thick dark shrank down the steep like a receding tide,
and the greyness reached the ragged heap of branches forming the
nest, the young eagles stirred uneasily under the loose droop of the
mother's wings. She raised her head and peered about her, slightly
lifting her wings as she did so; and the nestlings, complaining at the
chill air that came in upon their unfledged bodies, thrust themselves
up amid the warm feathers of her thighs. The male bird, perched on
a jutting fragment beside the nest, did not move. But he was awake.
His white, narrow, flat-crowned head was turned to one side, and his
yellow eye, under its straight, fierce lid, watched the pale streak that
was growing along the distant eastern sea-line.
The great birds were racked with hunger. Even the nestlings, to
meet the petitions of whose gaping beaks they stinted themselves
without mercy, felt meagre and uncomforted. Day after day the
parent birds had fished almost in vain; day after day their wide and
tireless hunting had brought them scant reward. The schools of
alewives, mackerel, and herring seemed to shun their shores that
spring. The rabbits seemed to have fled from all the coverts about
their mountain.
The mother eagle, larger and of mightier wing than her mate,
looked as if she had met with misadventure. Her plumage was
disordered. Her eyes, fiercely and restlessly anxious, at moments
grew dull as if with exhaustion. On the day before, while circling at
her viewless height above a lake far inland, she had marked a huge
lake-trout, basking near the surface of the water. Dropping upon it
with half-closed, hissing wings, she had fixed her talons in its back.
But the fish had proved too powerful for her. Again and again it had
dragged her under water, and she had been almost drowned before
she could unloose the terrible grip of her claws. Hardly, and late, had
she beaten her way back to the mountain-top.
And now the pale streak in the east grew ruddy. Rust-red stains
and purple, crawling fissures began to show on the rocky face of the
peak. A piece of scarlet cloth, woven among the faggots of the nest,
glowed like new blood in the increasing light. And presently a wave
of rose appeared to break and wash down over the summit, as the
rim of the sun came above the horizon.
The male eagle stretched his head far out over the depth, lifted
his wings and screamed harshly, as if in greeting of the day. He
paused a moment in that position, rolling his eye upon the nest.
Then his head went lower, his wings spread wider, and he launched
himself smoothly and swiftly into the abyss of air as a swimmer
glides into the sea. The female watched him, a faint wraith of a bird
darting through the gloom, till presently, completing his mighty arc,
he rose again into the full light of the morning. Then on level, all but
moveless wing, he sailed away toward the horizon.
As the sun rose higher and higher, the darkness began to melt
on the tops of the lower hills and to diminish on the slopes of the
upland pastures, lingering in the valleys as the snow delays there in
spring. As point by point the landscape uncovered itself to his view,
the eagle shaped his flight into a vast circle, or rather into a series of
stupendous loops. His neck was stretched toward the earth, in the
intensity of his search for something to ease the bitter hunger of his
nestlings and his mate.
Not far from the sea, and still in darkness, stood a low, round
hill, or swelling upland. Bleak and shelterless, whipped by every
wind that the heavens could let loose, it bore no bush but an
occasional juniper scrub. It was covered with mossy hillocks, and
with a short grass, meagre but sweet. There in the chilly gloom,
straining her ears to catch the lightest footfall of approaching peril,
but hearing only the hushed thunder of the surf, stood a lonely ewe
over the lamb to which she had given birth in the night.
 Having lost the flock when the pangs of travail came upon her,
the unwonted solitude filled her with apprehension. But as soon as
the first feeble bleating of the lamb fell upon her ear, everything was
changed. Her terrors all at once increased tenfold,—but they were
for her young, not for herself; and with them came a strange
boldness such as her heart had never known before. As the little
weakling shivered against her side, she uttered low, short bleats and
murmurs of tenderness. When an owl hooted in the woods across
the valley, she raised her head angrily and faced the sound,
suspecting a menace to her young. When a mouse scurried past her,
with a small, rustling noise amid the withered mosses of the hillock,
she stamped fiercely, and would have charged had the intruder been
a lion.
When the first grey of dawn descended over the pasture, the
ewe feasted her eyes with the sight of the trembling little creature,
as it lay on the wet grass. With gentle nose she coaxed it and
caressed it, till presently it struggled to its feet, and, with its
pathetically awkward legs spread wide apart to preserve its balance,
it began to nurse. Turning her head as far around as she could, the
ewe watched its every motion with soft murmurings of delight.
And now that wave of rose, which had long ago washed the
mountain and waked the eagles, spread tenderly across the open
pasture. The lamb stopped nursing; and the ewe, moving forward
two or three steps, tried to persuade it to follow her. She was
anxious that it should as soon as possible learn to walk freely, so
they might together rejoin the flock. She felt that the open pasture
was full of dangers.
 The lamb seemed afraid to take so many steps. It shook its ears
and bleated piteously. The mother returned to its side, caressed it
anew, pushed it with her nose, and again moved away a few feet,
urging it to go with her. Again the feeble little creature refused,
bleating loudly. At this moment there came a terrible hissing rush
out of the sky, and a great form fell upon the lamb. The ewe
wheeled and charged madly, but at the same instant the eagle, with
two mighty buffetings of his wings, rose beyond her reach and
soared away toward the mountain. The lamb hung limp from his
talons; and with piteous cries the ewe ran beneath, gazing upward,
and stumbling over the hillocks and juniper bushes.
In the nest of the eagles there was content. The pain of their
hunger appeased, the nestlings lay dozing in the sun, the neck of
one resting across the back of the other. The triumphant male sat
erect upon his perch, staring out over the splendid world that
displayed itself beneath him. Now and again he half-lifted his wings
and screamed joyously at the sun. The mother bird, perched upon a
limb on the edge of the nest, busily rearranged her plumage. At
times she stooped her head into the nest to utter over her sleeping
eaglets a soft chuckling noise, which seemed to come from the
bottom of her throat.
But hither and thither over the round bleak hill wandered the
ewe, calling for her lamb, unmindful of the flock, which had been
moved to other pastures.

STRAYED
In the Cabineau Camp, of unlucky reputation, there was a young ox
of splendid build, but of a wild and restless nature.
He was one of a yoke, of part Devon blood, large, dark-red, all
muscle and nerve, and with wide magnificent horns. His yoke-fellow
was a docile steady worker, the pride of his owner's heart; but he
himself seemed never to have been more than half broken in. The
woods appeared to draw him by some spell. He wanted to get back
to the pastures where he had roamed untrammelled of old with his
fellow-steers. The remembrance was in his heart of the dewy
mornings when the herd used to feed together on the sweet grassy
hillocks, and of the clover-smelling heats of June when they would
gather hock-deep in the pools under the green willow-shadows. He
hated the yoke, he hated the winter; and he imagined that in the
wild pastures he remembered it would be for ever summer. If only
he could get back to those pastures!
One day there came the longed-for opportunity; and he seized
it. He was standing unyoked beside his mate, and none of the
teamsters were near. His head went up in the air, and with a snort of
triumph he dashed away through the forest.
For a little while there was a vain pursuit. At last the lumbermen
gave it up. "Let him be!" said his owner, "an' I rayther guess he'll
turn up agin when he gits peckish. He kaint browse on spruce buds
an' lung-wort."
Plunging on with long gallop through the snow he was soon
miles from camp. Growing weary he slackened his pace. He came
down to a walk. As the lonely red of the winter sunset began to
stream through the openings of the forest, flushing the snows of the
tiny glades and swales, he grew hungry, and began to swallow
unsatisfying mouthfuls of the long moss which roughened the tree-
trunks. Ere the moon got up he had filled himself with this fodder,
and then he lay down in a little thicket for the night.
But some miles back from his retreat a bear had chanced upon
his foot-prints. A strayed steer! That would be an easy prey. The
bear started straightway in pursuit. The moon was high in heaven
when the crouched ox heard his pursuer's approach. He had no idea
what was coming, but he rose to his feet and waited.
The bear plunged boldly into the thicket, never dreaming of
resistance. With a muffled roar the ox charged upon him and bore
him to the ground. Then he wheeled, and charged again, and the
astonished bear was beaten at once. Gored by those keen horns he
had no stomach for further encounter, and would fain have made his
escape; but as he retreated the ox charged him again, dashing him
against a huge trunk. The bear dragged himself up with difficulty,
beyond his opponent's reach; and the ox turned scornfully back to
his lair.
At the first yellow of dawn the restless creature was again upon
the march. He pulled more mosses by the way, but he disliked them
the more intensely now because he thought he must be nearing his
ancient pastures with their tender grass and their streams. The snow
was deeper about him, and his hatred of the winter grew apace. He
came out upon a hill-side, partly open, whence the pine had years
before been stripped, and where now grew young birches thick
together. Here he browsed on the aromatic twigs, but for him it was
harsh fare.
As his hunger increased he thought a little longingly of the
camp he had deserted, but he dreamed not of turning back. He
would keep on till he reached his pastures, and the glad herd of his
comrades licking salt out of the trough beside the accustomed pool.
He had some blind instinct as to his direction, and kept his course to
the south very strictly, the desire in his heart continually leading him
aright.
That afternoon he was attacked by a panther, which dropped
out of a tree and tore his throat. He dashed under a low branch and
scraped his assailant off, then, wheeling about savagely, put the
brute to flight with his first mad charge. The panther sprang back
into his tree, and the ox continued his quest.
Soon his steps grew weaker, for the panther's cruel claws had
gone deep into his neck, and his path was marked with blood. Yet
the dream in his great wild eyes was not dimmed as his strength
ebbed away. His weakness he never noticed or heeded. The desire
that was urging him absorbed all other thoughts,—even, almost, his
sense of hunger. This, however, it was easy for him to assuage, after
a fashion, for the long, grey, unnourishing mosses were abundant.
By and by his path led him into the bed of a stream, whose
waters could be heard faintly tinkling on thin pebbles beneath their
coverlet of ice and snow. His slow steps conducted him far along this
open course. Soon after he had disappeared, around the curve in
the distance there came the panther, following stealthily upon his
crimsoned trail. The crafty beast was waiting till the bleeding and the
hunger should do its work, and the object of its inexorable pursuit
should have no more heart left for resistance.
This was late in the afternoon. The ox was now possessed with
his desire, and would not lie down for any rest. All night long,
through the gleaming silver of the open spaces, through the weird
and chequered gloom of the deep forest, heedless even of his
hunger, or perhaps driven the more by it as he thought of the wild
clover bunches and tender timothy awaiting him, the solitary ox
strove on. And all night, lagging far behind in his unabating caution,
the panther followed him.
At sunrise the worn and stumbling animal came out upon the
borders of the great lake, stretching its leagues of unshadowed
snow away to the south before him. There was his path, and without
hesitation he followed it. The wide and frost-bound water here and
there had been swept clear of its snows by the wind, but for the
most part its covering lay unruffled; and the pale dove-colours, and
saffrons, and rose-lilacs of the dawn were sweetly reflected on its
surface.
The doomed ox was now journeying very slowly, and with the
greatest labour. He staggered at every step, and his beautiful head
drooped almost to the snow When he had got a great way out upon
the lake, at the forest's edge appeared the pursuing panther,
emerging cautiously from the coverts. The round face and malignant
green eyes were raised to peer out across the expanse. The
labouring progress of the ox was promptly marked. Dropping its
nose again to the ensanguined snow, the beast resumed his pursuit,
first at a slow trot, and then at a long, elastic gallop. By this time the
ox's quest was nearly done. He plunged forward upon his knees,
rose again with difficulty, stood still, and looked around him. His
eyes were clouding over, but he saw, dimly, the tawny brute that
was now hard upon his steps. Back came a flash of the old courage,
and he turned, horns lowered, to face the attack. With the last of his
strength he charged, and the panther paused irresolutely; but the
wanderer's knees gave way beneath his own impetus, and his horns
ploughed the snow. With a deep bellowing groan he rolled over on
his side, and the longing, and the dream of the pleasant pastures,
faded from his eyes. With a great spring the panther was upon him,
and the eager teeth were at his throat,—but he knew nought of it.
No wild beast, but his own desire, had conquered him.
When the panther had slaked his thirst for blood, he raised his
head, and stood with his fore-paws resting on the dead ox's side,
and gazed all about him.
To one watching from the lake shore, had there been any one to
watch in that solitude, the wild beast and his prey would have
seemed but a speck of black on the gleaming waste. At the same
hour, league upon league back in the depth of the ancient forest, a
lonely ox was lowing in his stanchions, restless, refusing to eat,
grieving for the absence of his yoke-fellow.

THE WATCHERS IN THE SWAMP

Under the first pale lilac wash of evening, just where the slow
stream of the Lost-Water slipped placidly from the open meadows
into the osier-and-bulrush tangles of the swamp, a hermit thrush,
perched in the topmost spray of a young elm tree, was fluting out
his lonely and tranquil ecstasy to the last of the sunset. Spheral,
spheral, oh, holy, holy, clear, he sang; and stopped abruptly, as if to
let the brief, unfinished, but matchlessly pure and poignant cadence
sink unjarred into the heart of the evening stillness. One minute—
two minutes—went by; and the spaces of windless air were like a
crystal tinged with faint violet. And then this most reticent of singers
loosed again his few links of flawless sound—a strain which, more
than any other bird-song on this earth, leaves the listener's heart
aching exquisitely for its completion. Spheral, spheral, oh, holy, holy
—but this time, as if seeking by further condensation to make his
attar of song still more rare and precious, he cut off the final note,
that haunting, ethereal—clear.
Again the tranced stillness. But now, as if too far above reality
to be permitted to endure, after a few seconds it was rudely broken.
From somewhere in the mysterious and misty depth of the swamp
came a great booming and yet strangulated voice, so dominant that
the ineffable colours of the evening seemed to fade and the twilight
to deepen suddenly under its sombre vibrations. Three times it
sounded:—Klunk-er-glungk ... Klunk-er-glungk ... Klunk-er-glungk, an
uncouth, mysterious sound, sonorous, and at the same time half
muffled, as if pumped with effort through obstructing waters. It was
the late cry of the bittern, proclaiming that the day was done.
The hermit-thrush, on his tree-top against the pale sky, sang no
more, but dropped noiselessly to his mate on her nest in the
thickets. Two bats flickered and zigzagged hither and thither above
the glimmering stream. And the leaf-scented dusk gathered down
broodingly, with the dew, over the wide solitudes of Lost-Water
Swamp.

* * * * * *

It was high morning in the heart of the swamp. From a sky of purest
cobalt flecked sparsely with silver-white wisps of cloud, the sun
glowed down with tempered, fruitful warmth upon the tender green
of the half-grown rushes and already rank water-grasses—the young
leafage of the alder and willow thickets—the wide pools and narrow,
linking lanes of unruffled water already mantling in spots with lily-
pad and arrow-weed. A few big red-and-black butterflies wavered
aimlessly above the reed-tops. Here and there, with a faint elfin
clashing of transparent wings, a dragon-fly, a gleam of emerald and
amethyst fire, flashed low over the water. From every thicket came a
soft chatter of the nesting red-shouldered blackbirds.
And just in the watery fringe of the reeds, as brown and erect
and motionless as a mooring stake, stood the bittern.
Not far short of three feet in length, from the tip of his long and
powerful dagger-pointed bill to the end of his short rounded tail,
with his fierce, unblinking eyes round, bright and hard, with his
snaky head and long, muscular neck, he looked, as he was, the
formidable master of the swamp. In colouring he was a streaked and
freckled mixture of slaty greys and browns and ochres above, with a
freckled whitish throat, and dull buff breast and belly—a mixture
which would have made him conspicuous amid the cool light green
of the sedges, but that it harmonised so perfectly with the earth and
the roots. Indeed, moveless as he stood, to the undiscriminating eye
he might easily have passed for a decaying stump by the water side.
His long legs were of dull olive which melted into the shadowy tones
of the water.
For perhaps ten minutes the great bird stood there without the
movement of so much as a feather, apparently unconcerned while
the small inhabitants of the swamp made merry in the streaming
sunshine. But his full round eyes took in, without stirring in their
sockets, all that went on about him, in air, or sedge, or water.
Suddenly, and so swiftly that it seemed one motion, his neck
uncoiled and his snaky head darted downward into the water near
his feet, to rise again with an eight-inch chub partly transfixed and
partly gripped between the twin daggers of his half-opened bill.
Squirming, and shining silverly, it was held aloft, while its captor
stalked solemnly in through the sedges to a bit of higher and drier
turf. Here he proceeded to hammer his prize into stillness upon an
old half-buried log. Then, tossing it into the air, he caught it adroitly
by the head, and swallowed it, his fierce eyes blinking with the effort
as he slowly forced it down his capacious gullet. It was a satisfying
meal, even for such a healthy appetite as his, and he felt no
immediate impulse to continue his fishing. Remaining where he was
beside the old log, thigh deep in the young grasses and luxuriously
soaking in the sunshine, he fell once more into a position of rigid
movelessness. But his attitude was now quite different from that
which he had affected when his mind was set on fish. His neck was
coiled backwards till the back of his head rested on his shoulders,
and his bill pointed skyward, as if the only peril he had to consider
seriously during his time of repose might come, if at all, from that
direction. And though he rested, and every nerve and muscle
seemed to sleep, his gem-like eyes were sleeplessly vigilant. Only at
long intervals a thin, whitish membrane flickered down across them
for a fraction of an instant, to cleanse and lubricate them and keep
their piercing brightness undimmed.
Once a brown marsh-hawk, questing for water-rats, winnowed
past, only ten or a dozen feet above his head. But he never stirred a
muscle. He knew it would be a much more formidable and daring
marauder than the marsh-hawk that would risk conclusions with the
uplifted dagger of his bill.
In about half-an-hour—so swift is the digestion of these masters
of the swamp—the bittern began to think about a return to his easy
and pleasant hunting. But, always deliberate except when there was
need for instant action, at first he did no more than uncoil his long
neck, lower his bill to a level, and stand motionlessly staring over the
sedge-tops. One of the big red-and-black butterflies came wavering
near, perhaps under the fatal delusion that that rigid yellow bill
would be a good perch for him to alight on. A lightning swift dart of
the snaky head; and those gay wings, after curiously adorning for a
moment the tip of the yellow bill, were deftly gathered in and
swallowed—an unsubstantial morsel, but not to be ignored when
one is blest with a bittern's appetite.
After a few minutes more of statuesque deliberation, having
detected nothing in the landscape particularly demanding his
attention, the bittern lazily lifted his broad wings and flapped in slow
flight, his long legs almost brushing the sedge-tops, back to the post
of vantage where he had captured the chub. As soon as he alighted
he stiffened himself erect, and stared about as if to see whether his
flight had been noticed. Then, presently, he seemed to remember
something of importance. This was the season of mating joys and
cares. It was time he signalled his brown mate. First he began
snapping his bill sharply, and then he went through a number of
contortions with his throat and neck, as if he were trying to gulp
down vast quantities of air, and finding the effort most difficult. At
length, however, the painful-looking struggle was crowned with
achievement. Once more, as on the preceding evening, that great
call boomed forth across the swamp, sonorous yet strangulated,
uncouth yet thrilling and haunting, the very voice of solitude and
mystery:—Klunk-er-glungk—Klunk-er-glungk—Klunk-er-glungk.
Almost immediately came an acknowledgement of this untuneful
love-song—a single hoarse quaw-awk; and another snaky brown
head and yellow dagger bill were raised above the tops of the
sedges. The hen bittern, in response to her mate's cry, had just
come off her nest.
For some tranquil moments the two eyed each other without
stirring, and it almost seemed as if their very immobility was a mode
of expression, a secret code for communication between them. The
result, if so, appeared to be satisfactory. The hen came stalking
solemnly through the grass and sedges towards the water's edge,
only pausing on the way to transfix and gulp down a luckless frog.
And the stately male, once more spreading his spacious vans,
flapped slowly over and dropped again into the grass some ten or a
dozen feet from the nest.
The nest was a rather casual structure of dry grass and weeds,
in a hollow of the turf, and more or less concealed by leaning tufts of
swamp-grass. It contained three large eggs of a dull greenish buff,
clouded with darker tones, and blending elusively with the soft
colourings of the nest. These precious eggs the male bittern had no
intention of brooding. His object was merely to stand guard over
them, with jealous vigilance, while his mate was away foraging. The
sun was softly warm upon them, through the thin shadows of the
grass blades, and he knew they would not chill during her brief
absence. He took his post just near enough to keep his eye upon the
nest, without unduly drawing attention to its hiding-place.
 This patch of water-meadow, perhaps a half-acre in extent, on
which the bitterns had their nest, was one of many such tiny islands
scattered amid the interlacing channels of Lost-Water Swamp. It
formed a congenial refuge for all that small life of the wilderness
which loves to be near water without being in it. It was particularly
beloved of the meadow-mice, because the surrounding watercourses
and morasses were an effectual barrier to some of their worst
enemies, such as foxes, skunks, and weasels; and they throve here
amazingly. To be sure the bittern would take toll of them when they
came his way, but he did not deliberately hunt them, rather
preferring a diet of frogs and fish; and moreover, his depredations
upon the mice were more than counterbalanced by his eager
hostility to their dreaded foes, the snakes. So, on the whole, he
might have been regarded by the mouse community as a benefactor,
though a rather costly one.
Even now, as he stood there apparently thinking of nothing but
his guardianship of the nest, he gave a telling example of his
beneficence in this regard. There was a tiny, frightened squeak, a
desperate small rustling in the grass-stems, and a terrified mouse
scurried by, with a two-foot black snake at its tail. The bittern's head
flashed down, unerringly, and rose again, more slowly, with the
snake gripped by the middle. Held high in air, as if on exhibition,
between the knife-edge tips of that deadly yellow bill, the victim
writhed and twisted, coiling itself convulsively around its captor's
head and neck. But with two or three sharp jerks it was drawn
further back, towards the base of the mandibles, and then, with an
inexorable pressure, bitten clean in two, the halves uncoiled and fell
to the ground, still wriggling spasmodically. With grave deliberation
the bittern planted one foot upon the head half, and demolished the
vicious head with a tap of his bill. This done, he swallowed it, with
determined and strenuous gulpings. Then he eyed the other half
doubtfully, and decided that he was not yet ready for it. So, placing
one foot upon it with a precise air, as if in assertion of ownership, he
lifted his head again and resumed his motionless guarding of the
nest. If any mice were watching—and their beady bright eyes are
always watching—they may well have congratulated themselves that
the pair of bitterns had chosen this particular island for their nesting-
place.
A little later in the morning—perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes
after the incident of the snake—the mice found yet another potent
reason for congratulating themselves on the presence of their
expensive champion. The hen bittern, apparently, had not been very
successful in her foraging. She had shown as yet no sign of
returning to the nest. The male was just beginning to get impatient.
He even went so far as to move his head, though ever so slightly.
Indeed, he was on the very point of beginning those grotesque
snappings of the bill and gulpings of air, which would be followed by
his booming triple call, when he caught sight of a dark form moving
through the grass, beyond the nest. Instantly he stiffened again into
rigidity. Only, very slowly, the long slender feathers which crowned
his head and lay along his neck began to rise.
The dark form, gliding stealthily among the grasses, was that of
an animal about two feet in length, low on the legs, slender, sinuous,
quick-darting. The bittern had never chanced to observe a mink
before, but he needed no one to tell him that this creature was
dangerous. Ferocity and efficiency were written all over the savage,
triangular head, and lithe, swift body. But the intruder had evidently
not yet discovered the precious nest. He was half a dozen paces
away from it, and not moving directly towards it. He seemed quite
otherwise occupied. Indeed, in the very next moment he pounced
upon a mouse, which he tore and devoured with an eagerness which
showed him to be hungry. The bittern, being blest with prudence
and self-control, made no move to meet trouble half-way. He waited,
and hoped anxiously that the treasure of the nest might escape
discovery.
The mink, to do that sanguinary marauder justice, was not at
the moment thinking of any such luxury as eggs. A restless and far-
ranging slayer, and almost as much at home in the water as on dry
land, he had entered the swamp in the hope of finding just such a
happy hunting ground as this bit of mouse-thronged meadow. He
had just arrived, after much swimming of sluggish channels,
scrambling over slimy roots, and picking a fastidious way about dark
pools of treacherous ooze, and he was now full of blood-thirsty
excitement over the success of his adventure. His acute ears and
supersensitive nostrils had already assured him that the meadow
was simply swarming with mice. His nose sniffed greedily the subtle,
warm mousy smells. His ears detected the innumerable, elusive
mousy squeaks and rustlings. His eyes, lit now with the red spark of
the blood-lust, were less fortunate than his ears and nose, because
word of a new and dreadful foe had gone abroad among the mouse-
folk, and concealment was the order of the day. But already, he had
made one kill—and that so easily that he knew the quarry here was
not much hunted. He felt that, at last, he could afford to take life
easily and do his hunting at leisure.
 He licked his lips, gave his long whiskers a brush with his fore-
paws, to cleanse them after his rather hasty and untidy meal, and
was just preparing to follow a very distinct mouse trail which lay
alluringly before his nose, when a chance puff of air, drawing softly
across the grass, bore him a scent which instantly caught his
attention. The scent of bittern was new to him, as it chanced. He
knew it for the scent of a bird, a water-bird of some kind,—probably,
from its abundance, a large bird, and certainly, therefore, a bird
worth his hunting. That the hunting might have any possible perils
for himself was far from occurring to his savage and audacious spirit.
Curious and inquiring, he rose straight up en his hind-quarters
in order to get a good view, and peered searchingly over the grass-
tops. He saw nothing but the green and sun-steeped meadow with
the red-and-black butterflies wavering over it, the gleam of the
unruffled water, and the osier-thickets beyond, their leafage astir
with blackbirds and swamp-sparrows. He looked directly at, and
past, the guardian bittern, not discovering him for a bird at all, but
probably mistaking that rigid, vigilant shape for an old brown stump.
For the mink's eyes, like those of many other animals, were less
unerring than his ears and nostrils, and much quicker to discern
motion than fixed form. Had the bittern stirred by so much as a
hair's breadth, the mink would have detected him at once for what
he was. But there in the full glare of the open, his immobility
concealed him like a magic cloak. The mink looked at him and saw
him not; nor saw another similar form, unstirring, tensely watchful,
over by the water-side. The hen bittern, warned perhaps by some
subtle telepathic signal from her mate, had stopped her fishing and
stood on guard.