e to those the
owls had made with their wings; and the first grievous disappointment
which his freedom brought came when he found himself sprawling on the
field.

His alert mind sought other exercise. Some distance away stood a house,
and at the front gate was a man, and Romulus knew man to be the meanest
and most cruel of all living things and the conscienceless taskmaster
of weaker creatures. So Romulus avoided the house and struck out across
the fields. Presently he came upon a very large thing which awed him.
It was a live-oak, and the birds were singing in the foliage. But his
persistent curiosity put a curb upon his fears, and he crept closer and
closer. The kindly aspect of the tree, the sweetness of the shade which
it cast, the cool depths of its foliage, the gentle swaying of the
boughs in the soft north wind--all invited him to approach. This he
did, until he arrived at the gnarled old bole, and then he leaped into
the branches and was filled with delight. The little birds took flight.
Romulus sat upon a limb, and then stretched himself at full length upon
it and enjoyed the peace and comfort of the moment. But he was an ape
and had to be employed, and so he ran out upon the smaller branches and
shook them after the manner of his parents before him.

These delights all exploited, Romulus dropped to the ground and began
to explore the world again; but the world was wide and its loneliness
oppressed him. Presently he saw a dog and made quickly for him. The
dog, seeing the strange creature approach, sought to frighten it by
barking; but Romulus had seen similar animals before and had heard
similar sounds; he could not be frightened by them. He went boldly
towards the dog by long leaps on all fours. The dog, terrified by the
strange-looking creature, ran away yelping and left Romulus with
freedom and the world again.

On went Romulus over the fields, crossing a road now and then, and
keeping clear of all living things that he found. Presently he came to
a high picket-fence, surrounding a great inclosure, in which sat a
large house in a grove of eucalyptus-trees. Romulus was thirsty, and
the playing of a fountain among the trees tempted him sorely. He might
have found courage to venture within had he not at that moment
discovered a human being, not ten feet away, on the other side of the
fence. Romulus sprang back with a cry of terror, and then stopped, and
in a crouching attitude, ready to fly for his life and