ill 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 many
of them together, have been known to unite and drive the eagles off.
That, I suppose, must be looked upon in the light of a successful
_revolution_."

The conversation was here interrupted by another incident. The ospreys
had again gone out fishing, and, at this moment, one of them was seen to
pounce down and take a fish from the water. It was a large fish, and, as
the bird flew heavily upward, the eagle again left its perch, and gave
chase. This time the osprey was overtaken before it had got two hundred
yards into the air, and seeing it was no use attempting to carry off the
prey, it opened its claws and let it drop.

The eagle turned suddenly, poised himself a moment, and then shot after
the falling 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 among the trees upon the opposite side. The osprey,
taking the thing as a matter of course, again descended to the proper
elevation, and betook himself to his work. Perhaps he grinned a little,
like many another royal taxpayer, but he knew the tax had to be paid all
the same, and he said nothing.

An incident soon after occurred that astonished and puzzled our party
not a little. The female osprey, that all this time seemed to have had
but poor success in her fishing, 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 astonishment when, after waiting 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 bosom of the water was smooth as glass--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 impossible she could have emerged without them seeing 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