hold of the fish by the head and the other
by its tail, a struggle now arose as to which should be the first to
swallow its body. Each soon passed a portion of it down its capacious
throat, until its mandibles met in the middle, and cracked against each
other.

As neither would yield to the other, so neither would consent to
disgorge, and let go; and for some seconds this curious contention was
kept up.

How long it might have continued was not left to the determination of
the parties themselves; but to Ossaroo, who, while they were thus
occupied, rushed upon the spot; and, flinging wide his arms, enfolded
both the birds in an embrace, from which they vainly struggled to get
free.

With the assistance of Karl and Caspar--who had in the meantime tied
Fritz to a tree--the huge creatures were soon overpowered, and pinioned
beyond the possibility of escaping.

CHAPTER SIXTY.

A LABELLED LEG.

"It is! it is!" cried Karl, stooping suddenly down, and grasping the
shank of one of the birds.

"What?" inquired Caspar.

"Look, brother! See what is there, round the stork's leg! Do you not
remember having seen that bit of jewellery before?"

"A brass ring! Oh yes!" replied Caspar; "now I do remember. In the
Botanic Gardens there was an adjutant with a ring round its ankle; a
brass ring, too--just like this one. How very odd!"

"Like!" echoed Karl. "Not only like, but the very _same_! Stoop down,
and examine it more closely. You see those letters?"

"_R.B.G., Calcutta_," slowly pronounced Caspar, as he read the
inscription graven upon the ring. "`_R.B.G_.' What do these initials
stand for, I wonder?"

"It is not difficult to tell that," knowingly answered Karl. "_Royal
Botanical Garden_! What else could it be?"

"Nothing else. For certain, these two birds must be the same we used to
see there, and with which we so often amused ourselves!"

"The same," asserted Karl. "No doubt of it."

"And Fritz must have recognised them too--when he made that unprovoked
attack upon them! You remember how he used to quarrel with them?"

"I do. He must not be permitted to assail them any more. I have a use
for them."

"A use?"

"Ah, a most important one; so important that these birds, ugly and
unamiable as they are, must be cared for, as if they were the prettiest
and most prized of pets. We must provide them with food and water; we
must tend them by day, and watch over them by night--as though they were