"The Romans were frightened at the elephants of King Pyrrhus; and the Romans were the bravest people in the world, and not afraid of lions."

And Eva said, softly, “And I like elephants best; they are the largest and strongest and wisest of animals."

The Elephant's trunk went down, and the Eagle proceeded.

"Yes, the lion and I had quite a pleasant chat together. Perhaps we grew a little melancholy when we thought of our own countries that we should never see again. But still we are very comfortable here, and perhaps get more attention than we might in our own homes. But sometimes I long to see the great lakes and rivers, and to hear the roar of Niagara, and to see the great prairies and the grand forests glowing in all their autumn splendour-ah, that is a sight !—and the swamps, and the herds of buffaloes, and the Indians.”

Here Jeff interrupted.

"And have you ever seen an Indian, a North American Indian, and a squaw, and a wigwam, and a dear little papoose?

The Eagle looked meditatively at Jeff.

"Yes," he replied, “I have seen them all; they are not so plentiful as they were in my grandfather's time. Then the Indians waged war not altogether unsuccessfully with the Yengees-for so they called the first Englishmen who settled in the eastern border of the great continent. There were terrible massacres until the white men became numerous enough to resist them, and maintain their position."

"Yengees!" repeated Eva; "what a funny name!"

"Since corrupted into Yankees," said the Eagle; "it was the Indian mode of pronouncing English.' There's an old family tradition," he added, half to himself.

Ah! my

"What? who? whose family?" asked Jeff. "I do not mention names," returned the Eagle; "one of the New England families. grandfather (for we are a long-lived family) saw the white ships tossing over the ocean. Poor little ships not such grand vessels as come sailing to our shores nowadays. And there were no piers and docks, the people landed on the rocky coast, and were thankful enough to have reached the new country in safety. Poor ships and poor people, as far as worldly goods were concerned, but rich in strength and determination to hew their own path in the world. He saw them housed in log-huts until they could build houses for themselves. They had not much money, for they were not allowed to carry away more than five pounds in money from England. So they took furniture and merchandise instead.

One man of whom I am thinking turned all the money he possessed into goods and furniture, and stored them up in London, ready to take away with him and his wife and children to the new settlement. And it was in the year of the Great Fire, and all his goods were burned up. I think of him sometimes, for he seems a link between me and this great city; he belonged to one of the great London companies, and his wife's brother was a rich man. who left money to Christ's Hospital and to many charities, and also some to his sister's children in New England. Yes, he had carriages and horses, and plate and jewels, but his sister was living without any of the luxuries of life."

"Did she mind?" asked Eva, softly.

"I think not," returned the Eagle; "my grandfather used to see her sometimes, and she seemed happy enough in her new life."

“And the Indians were all about?” said Jeff.

66

'Oh, yes! they had a fort near the great swamp on the borders of the forests, and they hunted and fished, and made raids on the white people when they had an opportunity. Ah! an Indian was something to look at then, in his war-paint and hunting leggings and fringes of scalp-locks. Fierce he was, and he had a deadly hatred of the white man, who had come to take the land from him.

"The land is mine from the rising to the setting of the sun,' said he, 'wherefore should the Yengees come from over the great water to take away the red man's hunting-grounds. The red man has done them no harm; he has not made war upon them, he is content with his own land. Shall we sit down and let the pale faces take it from us?'

"At this many warriors started to their feet, and one drew forth a scalping-knife, and said

"With this will I take the scalp-locks of our enemies, man, woman, and child, none shall escape. So has the Flying Deer spoken, and his word shall be kept.'

"Then rose up the medicine-man of the tribe, and he answered

"The Yengees have fire-weapons, and dwell together. Let them but separate one from the other and then we will fall upon them.'

"Then rose up another young warrior.

"That is not the language of a brave,' said he ; 'let the war-whoop sound through the woods, and our tribe come like a whirlwind and sweep the red man's enemies away.'

"The younger Indians applauded, but the Great Chief rose and said

"Silence! ye hot-headed ones; the medicineman hath counselled wisely.'

"And so the Indians waited, and the spring blossoms unfolded into summer flowers, and then

the autumn tinted the leaves with red and gold until they fell off the trees, and winter came. By that time some of the new-comers had made rude wooden houses for themselves, and had dug up the land and had planted and reaped their corn.

"There was one settler at some little distance from the others, and he and his wife were rejoicing in their home.

"We shall be happy here,' said the wife; our crops are good, there is no lack of food; it is rich

"In the distance rose a shrill piercing cry that once heard is never forgotten.

"The Indians! It is the war-whoop!' "The wife turned white as the snow that was falling, and the husband seized his gun.

"And Phineas has a fowling-piece; we can perhaps keep them at bay.'

"Not here, not here,' said the wife; we must flee to some safer place where we shall be quite secure; two are not enough to defend the house.'

land, but we will not forget the dear old mother country in this young New England to which we have come.'

"It is growing more home-like,' answered Eben, 'and we must keep in memory some of the old customs. And we have been more peaceful of late, and have had no sign of molestation from the Indians.'

"No,' returned the wife, 'they have forsaken their camp, and gone farther into the woods. But I wish the winter were over. It is likely to be a severe one; even now the snow is falling and the wind whistling, and-- Hark! Both husband and wife sprang to their feet. Ha! what was it?

"And she took up her little boy in her arms."

The Eagle paused.

Jeff was breathless.

"Did the Indians catch

them," he asked, impatient to hear the remainder of the story.

But the Eagle did not notice the interruption. "There is one spot,' said the husband, 'north of the swamp, if we could only reach it.'

"Let me carry the child,' said Phineas, and he would have taken the child from the mother.

"But the mother said, 'Nay, two guns are better than one; they may be needed, and your arms should be free.' And she still held the child.

"So the three began their flight in the wild snow-storm. A flight for life with the wind raging and the distant wolves howling, for there were many wolves to be met with in the forests in those days;

and above the storm and the howl of the wolf rose the shrill Indian war-whoop. On, on, on, but not to reach the destined shelter."

Eva involuntarily gave a sob, and Jeff started up and clenched his fists.

The Eagle continued

"The Indians were upon their trail. They might be upon them in another moment. The husband and Phineas kept their guns ready, and bade the wife flee to the border of the swamp. On, on! they soon overtook her again. There was an Indian in sight. Better trust to the swamp than to the mercy of the Indians.

"The Indian was within ten yards of them, with uplifted tomahawk. Then the husband fired; the Indian rolled over, and the three fugitives plunged into the swamp.

"Farther, farther, into the dismal swamp, not knowing whether the ground might not give way beneath their feet. But they were guided in safety, and the snow proved a friend, for it covered all traces of their path. Still, the Indians knew they could not be far off; so they encamped and feasted. "And the fugitives heard them, and had but little hope of escape.

"But the shots and the war-whoop had been heard at the settlement, and the strong-hearted colonists rose up to succour the brother in distress. They knew the danger of living apart from the community, and they made their way to Eben's Farm. Even as they expected, there was no one there, but there were unmistakable traces of the Indians.

"With steady tramp, the colonists moved on. They fired several shots, and then through the still air rose a mighty chant that almost seemed a song of victory, the men's deep voices rolling out one of their grand old psalms.

"Wild and solemn it sounded, and the superstitious hearts of the Indians were filled with awe. "And Eben and his wife and Phineas heard it also, and a ray of hope came to them. They grasped each other's hands, but dared not speak. Then they heard a wild confusion of soundsthe terrible war-whoop, shouts, cries, and volleys of musketry. How long it lasted they could not tell it seemed like days and days.

"At last there came a shout of victory from the colonists, and one loud English cheer that, as it died away, was succeeded by a psalm of thanksgiving."

"And they found them," said Jeff, "and took them away in safety?"

"Yes," answered the Eagle, "but with some difficulty, for it was easier to get into the swamp than out of it, but by a miracle they escaped. But they did not return to their farm; they went to the

settlement, and afterwards moved to a town that was being built."

"Thank you very much," said Jeff. "I shall often think of the story, and to-night I dare say I shall dream of the Red Indians."

66

"But you will not be in bed to-night, Jeff," suggested Eva. Remember, we are to meet Eric." Just at that moment the sound of scampering feet was heard, and a loud panting as of some animal in distress, and in another moment the Spaniel made his appearance.

"Why, I thought you were going with the other dogs," said Jeff.

"I did think of it," replied the Spaniel; "but I've taken a fancy to you and your sister, because you spoke kindly to me. You know that our race clings to the human race. Even the most miserable of us, even the lowest of the poor half-wild dogs who are the scavengers of the Eastern cities, greet eagerly the human being who has vouchsafed the smallest token of kindness to them. Yes, we care more for the human race than for our own."

"I wish all people thought of this," murmured Eva; "it would be happier for dogs if they did."

The Spaniel looked up gratefully; he would have licked Eva's hand if she had not been perched up on the Elephant's back.

"A few pounds more or less make no difference," said the Elephant, enigmatically; and Eva wondered what that had to do with the Spaniel's speech. But while she was wondering the elephant gently seized the dog with his trunk, and lifted him up beside the children.

“Thank you, thank you! Mr. Elephant," said Eva, patting the Elephant's neck; "you are the best, and kindest, and most thoughtful, and

"Hush," said he, "don't make me vain." Eva laughed, and patted him more vigorously than before. Suddenly she turned to the Spaniel. "We've never asked your name," said she. "Nor about his running away," added Jeff. "I'll tell you about both, if you would like to hear my story," said the Spaniel.

"Of course we should. You can tell it to us as we go along, if Mr. Elephant does not mind." "I should like to hear it," answered the Elephant; "but where do you wish to go next?" "I should like to see the Kangaroos again," said Eva.

"Ah! then we shall have to go through the tunnel; keeper, lead the way."

"Yes, sir," said the keeper; but as he did not touch his hat, the Elephant quietly took it off for him, saying

"Where are your manners, sir?"

Then the little cavalcade again moved onward.