rney to waters unknown. No
one knows where he goes, what lonely places he visits, where in the
great sea the little adventurer makes his winter home. Certainly the
Arctic Ocean is not too cold for him, for the waters of the far
Mackenzie, emptying themselves into the polar sea, swarm with salmon;
but wherever the little fellow does winter, the climate, food, and life
must agree with him amazingly. He goes seaward in August. Next summer he
is back in the same old river; and not only that, but in the very pool
in it where he was hatched out. He is the same, but not the same; for
now he weighs from three to five pounds. In the river it took him two
years to grow five inches and weigh two ounces. In those six months of
sea life he has gained at least twenty-four times his own weight. There
is a reward for you! He felt he ought to go away and fight it out in the
great sea. He went, he fought, he won, and now he revisits the old river
a very different fish indeed. There is no longer any reason why he need
lurk behind stones and dash aside to avoid the rush of the voracious
trout. The very trout that once tried to gobble him must move out of the
way, for he is almost a salmon. What has made him the strong beautiful
fish he is? One thing, and one only--the struggle with the deep sea, and
all the deep sea means. If he had been content to stay behind his
fellows in the warm clear river he would be scarcely any bigger than he
was last fall. His red spots would not be quite so bright, nor he
himself so vigorous. Nature whispered to him to go forth and strive and
grow, and since he obeyed her, and did his best, she kept her word with
him.

Have you ever tried to crawl up on a bunch of wild ducks, or sat behind
a blind while your wooden decoys were spread on the water all around
you? If you have done either, I know you will agree with me when I say
the wild duck is a very smart fellow indeed. His eye is keen, he is full
of sense, and very hard to fool. Now his cousin, the tame duck, is next
door to an idiot. He cannot hide himself or protect himself in any way.
Strangely enough, too, while the wild duck finds one wife and one family
quite all he can attend to, the big, hulking tame duck is a regular
Mormon, and prefers a dozen wives, and neglects his children sadly. It
is not hard to guess why these two birds are so different. The tame duck
is only a wild duck domesticated, that is, put in such a position that
he could not continue t