7.  Joseph was determined to see the result.  His eye followed her till she grew small, smaller, a mere speck in the sky, and then disappeared.  What boy has not thus watched the flight of the bird of his country!

8.  She was gone nearly two hours, about double her usual time for a voyage, when she again returned, on a slow, weary wing, flying uncommonly low, in order to have a heavier atmosphere to sustain her, with another fish in her talons.

9.  On nearing the field, she made a circuit round it, to see if her enemies were again there.  Finding the coast clear, she once more reached the tree, drooping, faint, and weary, and evidently nearly exhausted.  Again the eaglets set up their cry, which was soon hushed by the distribution of a dinner, such as, save the cooking, a king might admire.

10.  “Glorious bird!” cried the boy, “what a spirit!” Other birds can fly more swiftly, others can sing more sweetly, others scream more loudly; but what other bird, when persecuted and robbed, when weary, when discouraged, when so far from the sea, would do this?

11.  “Glorious bird!  I will learn a lesson from thee to-day.  I will never forget, hereafter, that when the spirit is determined it can do almost anything.  Others would have drooped, and hung the head, and mourned over the cruelty of man, and sighed over the wants of the nestlings; but thou, by at once recovering the loss, hast forgotten all.”

12.  “I will learn of thee, noble bird!  I will remember this.  I will set my mark high.  I will try to do something, and to be something in the world; I will never yield to discouragements.”

Definitions.—­l.  Cen’tu-ry, the space of a hundred years.  Gi-gan’tic, very large.  Di-men’sions, size.  Sub-lime’, grand, noble. 4.  Dis-persed’, scattered.  Un-a-vail’ing, useless.  Ea’glets, young eagles.  Clam’or-ous, loud, noisy. 6.  In-de-ci’sion, want of fixed purpose.  Mo’men-ta-ry, for a single moment. 9.  Cir’cuit, movement round in a circle.  Ex-haust’ed, wholly tired. 11.  Nes’-tlings, young birds in the nest.

Exercises.—­Relate the story of the “Old Eagle Tree.”  What lesson was taught the boy who watched the eagle’s actions?

XXXI.  ALPINE SONG. (88) William W. Story, the author, was born in Salem, Mass.,

In 1819.  His writings in poetry and prose are well known, and he also gained distinction in his profession as a sculptor.  He died in 1895.

1.  With alpenstock and knapsack light,
     I wander o’er hill and valley;
   I climb the snow peak’s flashing height,
     And sleep in the sheltered chalet,—­
   Free in heart—­happy and free—­
   This is the summer life for me.

2.  The city’s dust I leave behind
     For the keen, sweet air of the mountain,
   The grassy path by the wild rose lined,
     The gush of the living fountain,—­
   Free in heart—­happy and free—­
   This is the summer life for me.