The Eagle He sat upon the very topmost perch¹ under the open-work dome² of his spacious³ and lofty cage. This perch was one of three or four lopped limbs jutting⁴ from a dead tree-trunk erected⁵ in the centre of the cage—a perch far other than that great branch of thunder-blasted pine, out-thrust from the seaward-facing cliff, whereon he had been wont⁶ to sit in his own land across the ocean.
 
He sat with his snowy, gleaming, flat-crowned head drawn⁷ back between the dark shoulders of his slightly uplifted wings. His black and yellow eyes, unwinking, bright and hard like glass, stared out from under his overhanging brows with a kind of darting⁹ and defiant¹⁰ inquiry¹¹ quite unlike their customary expression of tameless despair. That dull world outside the bars of his cage, that hated, gaping¹², inquisitive¹³ world which he had ever tried to ignore by staring at the sun or gazing into the deeps of sky overhead, how it had changed since yesterday! The curious crowds, the gabbling voices were gone. Even the high buildings of red brick or whitish-grey stone, beyond the iron palings of the park, were going, toppling down with a slow, dizzy lurch¹⁴, or leaping suddenly into the air with a roar and a huge belch¹⁵ of brown and orange smoke and scarlet¹⁶ flame. Here and there he saw men running wildly. Here and there he saw other men lying quite still—sprawling¹⁷, inert¹⁸ shapes an the close-cropped grass, or the white asphalted walks, or the tossed pavement of the street. He knew that these inert, sprawling shapes were men, and that the men were dead; and the sight filled his exile heart with triumph. Men were his enemies, his gaolers, his opponents, and now at last—he knew not how—he was tasting vengeance¹⁹. The once smooth green turf around his cage was becoming pitted with strange yellow-brown holes. These holes, he had noticed, always appeared after a burst of terrific noise, and livid flame, and coloured smoke, followed by a shower of clods and pebbles²⁰, and hard fragments which sometimes flew right through his cage with a vicious hum. There was a deadly force in these humming fragments. He knew it, for his partner in captivity²¹, a golden eagle of the Alps, had been hit by one of them, and now lay dead on the littered floor below him, a mere²² heap of bloody²³ feathers. Certain of the iron bars of the cage, too, had been struck and cut through, as neatly²⁴ as his own hooked beak²⁵ would sever²⁶ the paw of a rabbit.
 
The air was full of tremendous crashing, buffeting²⁷ sounds and sudden fierce gusts²⁸, which forced him to tighten²⁹ the iron grip of his talons³¹ upon the perch. In the centre of the little park pond, some fifty feet from his cage, clustered a panic-stricken knot of eight or ten fancy ducks and two pairs of red-billed coot, all that remained of the flock of water-birds which had formerly³² screamed and gabbled over the pool. This little cluster was in a state of perpetual ferment³³, those on the outside struggling to get into the centre, those on the inside striving to keep their places. From time to time one or two on the outer ring would dive under and force their way up in the middle of the press, where they imagined themselves more secure. But presently they would find themselves on the outside again, whereupon, in frantic³⁴ haste, they would repeat the manoeuvre³⁵. The piercing glance of the eagle took in and dismissed this futile³⁶ panic with immeasurable scorn. With like scorn, too, he noted³⁷ the three gaunt cranes which had been wont to stalk so arrogantly³⁸ among the lesser³⁹ fowl⁴⁰ and drive them from their meals. These once domineering birds were now standing⁴¹ huddled⁴², their drooped⁴³ heads close together, beneath a dense⁴⁴ laurel thicket⁴⁵ just behind the cage, their long legs quaking at every explosion.
 
Amid all this destroying tumult⁴⁶ and flying death the eagle had no fear. He was merely excited by it. If a fragment of shell sang past his head, he never flinched⁴⁷, his level stare never even filmed or wavered. The roar and crash, indeed, and the monstrous⁴⁸ buffetings of tormented⁴⁹ air, seemed to assuage⁵⁰ the long ache of his home-sickness. They reminded him of the hurricane racing⁵¹ past his ancient pine, of the giant waves shattering themselves with thunderous jar upon the cliff below. From time to time, as if his nerves were straining with irresistible⁵² exultation⁵³, he would lift himself to his full height, half spread his wings, stretch forward his gleaming white neck, and give utterance⁵⁴ to a short, strident, yelping⁵⁵ cry. Then he would settle back upon his perch again, and resume his fierce contemplation of the ruin that was falling on the city.
 
Suddenly an eleven-inch shell dropped straight in the centre of the pool and exploded on the concrete bottom which underlay⁵⁶ the mud. Half the pool went up in the colossal⁵⁷ eruption⁵⁸ of blown flame and steam and smoke. Even here on his perch the eagle found himself spattered and drenched⁶⁰. When the shrunken surface of the pool had closed again over the awful vortex, and the smoke had drifted off to join itself to the dark cloud which hung over the city, the little flock of ducks and coot was nowhere to be seen. It simply was not. But a bleeding fragment of flesh, with some purple-and-chestnut feathers clinging to it, lay upon the bottom of the cage. This morsel⁶¹ caught the eagle's eye. He had been forgotten for the past two days—the old one-legged keeper of the cages having vanished—and he was ravenous⁶² with hunger. He hopped⁶³ down briskly to the floor, grabbed the morsel, and gulped⁶⁴ it. Then he looked around hopefully for more. There were no more such opportune⁶⁶ tit-bits within the cage, but just outside he saw the half of a big carp, which had been torn in twain by a caprice of the explosion and tossed up here upon the grass. This was just such a morsel as he was craving⁶⁷. He thrust one great talon³⁰ out between the bars and clutched at the prize. But it was beyond his reach. Disappointed, he tried the other claw, balancing himself on one leg with widespread wings. Stretch and struggle as he would, it was all in vain. The fish lay too far off. Then he tried reaching through the bars with his head. He elongated⁶⁸ his neck till he almost thought he was a heron, and till his great beak was snapping hungrily within an inch or two of the prize. But not a hair's-breadth closer could he get. At last, in a cold fury, he gave it up, and drew back, and shook himself to rearrange the much dishevelled feathers of his neck.
 
Just at this moment, while he was still on the floor of the cage, a high-velocity shell came by. With its flat trajectory⁶⁹ it passed just overhead, swept the dome of the cage clean out of existence, and whizzed onwards to explode, with a curious grunting⁷⁰ crash, some hundreds of yards beyond. The eagle looked up and gazed for some seconds before realizing that his prison was no longer a prison. The path was clear above him to the free spaces of the air. But he was in no unseemly haste. His eye measured accurately⁷¹ the width of the exit, and saw that it was awkwardly narrow for his great spread of wing. He could not essay it directly from the ground, his quarters being too straitened for free flight. Hopping⁷² upwards⁷³ from limb to limb of the roosting-tree, he regained⁷⁵ the topmost perch, and found that, though split by a stray splinter of the cage, it was still able to bear his weight. From this point he sprang straight upwards, with one beat of his wings. But the wing-tips struck violently against each side of the opening, and he was thrown back with such force that only by a furious flopping⁷⁶ and struggle could he regain⁷⁴ his footing on the perch.
 
After this unexpected rebuff he sat quiet for perhaps half a minute, staring fixedly⁷⁷ at the exit. He was not going to fail again through misjudgment. The straight top of the roosting-tree extended for about three feet above his perch, but this extension being of no use to him, he had never paid any heed⁷⁹ to it hitherto. Now, however, he marked it with new interest. It was close below the hole in the roof. He flopped⁸⁰ up to it, balanced himself for a second, and once more sprang for the opening, but this time with a short, convulsive beat of wings only half spread. The leap carried him almost through, but not far enough for him to get another stroke of his wings. Clutching out wildly with stretched talons, he succeeded in catching⁸¹ the end of a broken bar. Desperately⁸² he clung to it, resisting the natural impulse to help himself by flapping his wings. Reaching out with his beak, he gripped another bar, and so steadied himself till he could gain a foothold with both talons. Then slowly, like a dog getting over a wall, he dragged himself forth⁸³, and stood at last free on the outer side of the bars which had been so long his prison.
 
But the first thing he thought of was not freedom. It was fish. For perhaps a dozen seconds he gazed about him majestically⁸⁴, and scanned with calm the toppling and crashing world. Then spreading his splendid wings to their fullest extent, with no longer any fear of them striking against iron bars, he dropped down to the grass beside the cage and clutched the body of the slain⁸⁵ carp. He was no more than just in time, for a second later a pair of mink⁸⁶, released from their captivity in perhaps the same way as he had been, came gliding⁸⁷ furtively⁸⁸ around the base of the cage, intent upon the same booty. He turned his head over his shoulder and gave them one look, then fell to tearing and gulping⁸⁹ his meal as unconcernedly as if the two savage⁹⁰ little beasts had been field mice. The mink stopped short, flashed white fangs⁹¹ at him in a soundless snarl⁹² of hate, and whipped about to forage⁹³ in some more auspicious⁹⁴ direction.
 
When the eagle had finished his meal—which took him, indeed, scarcely more time than takes to tell of it—he wiped his great beak meticulously⁹⁵ on the turf. While he was doing so, a shell burst so near him that he was half smothered⁹⁶ in dry earth. Indignantly he shook himself, hopped a pace or two aside, ruffled⁹⁷ up his feathers, and proceeded to make his toilet as scrupulously⁹⁸ as if no shells or sudden death were within a thousand miles of him.
 
The toilet completed to his satisfaction, he took a little flapping run and rose into the air. He flew straight for the highest point within his view, which chanced to be the slender, soaring spire⁹⁹ of a church somewhere about the centre of the city. As he mounted on a long slant¹⁰⁰, he came into the level where most of the shells were travelling, for their objective was not the little park with its "Zoo," but a line of fortifications some distance beyond. Above, below, around him streamed the terrible projectiles¹⁰¹, whinnying or whistling, shrieking¹⁰² or roaring, each according to its calibre and its type. It seemed a miracle that he should come through that zone unscathed; but his vision was so powerful and all-embracing, his judgment⁷⁸ of speed and distance so instantaneous and unerring, that he was able to avoid, without apparent effort, all but the smallest and least visible shells, and these latter, by the favour of Fate, did not come his way. He was more annoyed, indeed, by certain volleys of debris¹⁰³ which occasionally spouted¹⁰⁴ up at him with a disagreeable noise, and by the evil-smelling smoke clouds, which came volleying about him without any reason that he could discern. He flapped up to a higher level to escape these annoyances¹⁰⁵, and so found himself above the track of the shells. Then he made for the church spire, and perched himself upon the tip of the great weather-vane. It was exactly what he wanted—a lofty observation post from which to view the country round about before deciding in which direction he would journey.
 
From this high post he noticed that, while he was well above one zone of shells, there was still another zone of them screaming far overhead. These projectiles of the upper strata¹⁰⁶ of air were travelling in the opposite direction. He marked that they came from a crowded line of smoke-bursts and blinding flashes just beyond the boundary of the city. He decided¹⁰⁷ that, upon resuming his journey, he would fly at the present level, and so avoid traversing again either of the zones of death.
 
Much to his disappointment, he found that his present observation post did not give him as wide a view as he had hoped for. The city of his captivity, he now saw, was set upon the loop of a silver stream in the centre of a saucer-like valley. In every direction his view was limited by low, encircling hills. Along one sector¹⁰⁸ of this circuit—that from which the shells of the lower stratum¹⁰⁹ seemed to him to be issuing—the hill-rim and the slopes below it were fringed with vomiting¹¹⁰ smoke-clouds and biting spurts¹¹¹ of fire. This did not, however, influence in the least his choice of the direction in which to journey. Instinct, little by little, as he sat there on the slowly veering¹¹² vane, was deciding that point for him. His gaze was fixing itself more and more towards the north, or, rather, the north-west; for something seemed to whisper in his heart that there was where he would find the wild solitudes¹¹⁴ which he longed for. The rugged¹¹⁵ and mist-wreathed peaks of Scotland or North Wales, though he knew them not, were calling to him in his new-found freedom.
 
The call, however, was not yet strong enough to be determining, so, having well fed and being beyond measure content with his liberty, he lingered on his skyey perch and watched the crash of the opposing bombardments. The quarter of the town immediately beneath him had so far suffered little from the shells, and the church showed no signs of damage except for one gaping hole in the roof. But along the line of the fortifications there seemed to be but one gigantic boiling of smoke and flames, with continual spouting¹¹⁶ fountains of debris. This inexplicable¹¹⁷ turmoil¹¹⁸ held his interest for a few moments. Then, while he was wondering what it all meant, an eleven-inch shell struck the church spire squarely about thirty feet below him.
 
The explosion almost stunned¹¹⁹ him. The tip of the spire—with the weather-cock, and the eagle still clinging to it—went rocketing straight up into the air amid a stifling¹²⁰ cloud of black smoke, while the rest of the structure, down to a dozen feet below the point of impact, was blown to the four winds. Half stunned though he was, the amazed bird kept his wits about him, and clutched firmly to his flying perch till it reached the end of its flight and turned to fall. Then he spread his wings wide and let go. The erratic¹²¹ mass of wood and metal dropped away, and left him floating, half-blinded, in the heart of the smoke-cloud. A couple of violent wing-beats, however, carried him clear of the cloud; and at once he shaped his course upwards, as steeply as he could mount, smitten¹²² with a sudden desire for the calm and the solitude¹¹³ which were associated in his memory with the uppermost deeps of air.
 
The fire from the city batteries had just now slackened for a little, and the great bird's progress carried him through the higher shell zone without mishap¹²³. In a minute or two he was far above those strange flocks which flew so straight and swift, and made such incomprehensible noises in their flight. Presently, too, he was above the smoke, the very last wisps of it having thinned off into the clear, dry air. He now began to find that he had come once more into his own peculiar¹²⁴ realm, the realm of the upper sky, so high that, as he thought, no other living creature could approach him. He arrested his ascent¹²⁵, and began to circle slowly on still wings, surveying the earth.
 
But now he received, for the first time, a shock. Hitherto the most astounding¹²⁶ happenings had failed to startle him, but now a pang¹²⁷ of something very like fear shot through his stout¹²⁸ heart. A little to southward of the city he saw a vast pale-yellow elongated form rising swiftly, without any visible effort, straight into the sky. Had he ever seen a sausage, he would have thought that this yellow monster was shaped like one. Certain fine cords descended¹²⁹ from it, reaching all the way to the earth, and below its middle hung a basket, with a man in it. It rose to a height some hundreds of feet beyond the level on which the eagle had been feeling himself supreme¹³¹. Then it came to rest, and hung there, swaying slowly in the mild wind.
 
His apprehension¹³² speedily giving way to injured pride, the eagle flew upwards, in short, steep spirals, as fast as his wings could drive him. Not till he could once more look down upon the fat back of the glistening¹³³ yellow monster did he regain his mood of unruffled calm. But he regained it only to have it stripped from him, a minute later, with tenfold lack of ceremony. For far above him—so high that even his undaunted wings would never venture thither—he heard a fierce and terrible humming sound. He saw something like a colossal bird—or rather, it was more suggestive of a dragonfly than a bird—speeding towards him with never a single beat of its vast, pale wings. Its speed was appalling¹³⁴. The eagle was afraid, but not with any foolish panic. He knew that even as a sparrow would be to him, so would he be to this unheard-of sovereign of the skies. Therefore it was possible the sovereign of the skies would ignore him and seek a more worthy¹³⁵ opponent. Yes, it was heading towards the giant sausage. And the sausage, plainly, had no stomach for the encounter. It seemed to shrink suddenly; and with sickening lurches it began to descend¹³⁰, as if strong hands were tugging¹³⁶ upon the cords which anchored it to earth. The eagle winged off modestly to one side, but not far enough to miss anything of the stupendous encounter which he felt was coming. Here, at last, were events of a strangeness and a terror to move even his cool spirit out of its indifference¹³⁷.
 
Now the giant insect was near enough for the eagle to mark that it had eyes on the under-sides of its wings—immense, round, coloured eyes of red and white and blue. Its shattering hum shook the eagle's nerves, steady and seasoned though they were. Slanting¹³⁸ slightly downwards¹³⁹, it darted¹⁴⁰ straight toward the sausage, which was now wallowing fatly in its convulsive efforts to descend. At the same time the eagle caught sight of another of the giant birds, or insects, somewhat different in shape and colour from the first, darting up from the opposite direction. Was it, too, he wondered, coming to attack the terrified sausage, or to defend it?
 
Before he could find an answer to this exciting question, the first monster had arrived directly above the sausage and was circling over it at some height, glaring down upon it with those great staring eyes of its wings. Something struck the sausage fairly in the back. Instantly, with a tremendous windy roar, the sausage vanished in a sheet of flame. The monster far above it rocked and plunged¹⁴¹ in the uprush of tormented air, the waves of which reached even to where the eagle hung poised¹⁴³, and forced him to flap violently in order to keep his balance against them.
 
A few moments later the second monster arrived. The eagle saw at once that the two were enemies. The first dived headlong at the second, spitting fire, with a loud and dreadful rap-rap-rapping noise, from its strange blunt muzzle¹⁴⁴. The two circled around each other, and over and under each other, at a speed which made even the eagle dizzy with amazement¹⁴⁵; and he saw that it was something more deadly than fire which spurted¹⁴⁶ from their blunt snouts; for every now and then small things, which travelled too fast for him to see, twanged past him with a vicious note which he knew for the voice of death. He edged discreetly¹⁴⁷ farther away. Evidently this battle of the giants was dangerous to spectators. His curiosity was beginning to get sated. He was on the point of leaving the danger area altogether, when the dreadful duel¹⁴⁸ came suddenly to an end. He saw the second monster plunge¹⁴² drunkenly, in wild, ungoverned lurches, and then drop head first, down, down, down, straight as a stone, till it crashed into the earth and instantly burst into flame. He saw the great still eyes of the victor staring down inscrutably upon the wreck¹⁴⁹ of its foe¹⁵⁰. Then he saw it whirl sharply—tilting its rigid¹⁵¹ wings at so steep an angle that it almost seemed about to overturn—and dart⁸ away again in the direction from which it had come. He saw the reason for this swift departure. A flock of six more monsters, of the breed of the one just slain, came sweeping¹⁵² up from the south to take vengeance for their comrade's defeat.
 
The eagle had no mind to await them. He had had enough of wonders, and the call in his heart had suddenly grown clear and intelligible¹⁵³. Mounting still upward till he felt the air growing thin beneath his wing-beats, he headed northwards as fast as he could fly. He had no more interest now in the amazing panorama¹⁵⁴ which unrolled beneath him, in the thundering and screaming flights of shell which sped past in the lower strata of the air. He was intent only upon gaining the wild solitudes of which he dreamed. He marked others of the monsters which he so dreaded¹⁵⁵, journeying sometimes alone, sometimes in flocks, but always with the same implacable directness of flight, always with that angry and menacing hum which, of all the sounds he had ever heard, alone had power to shake his bold heart. He noticed that sometimes the sky all about these monsters would be filled with sudden bursts of fleecy cloud, looking soft as wool; and once he saw one of these apparently¹⁵⁶ harmless clouds burst full on the nose of one of the monsters, which instantly flew apart and went hurtling down to earth in revolving¹⁵⁷ fragments. But he was no longer curious. He gave them all as wide a berth¹⁵⁸ as possible, and sped on, without delaying to note their triumphs or their defeats.
 
At last the earth grew green again below him. The monsters, the smoke, the shells, the flames, the thunders, were gradually left behind, and far ahead at last he saw the sea, flashing gold and sapphire¹⁵⁹ beneath the summer sun. Soon—for he flew swiftly—it was almost beneath him. His heart exulted¹⁶⁰ at the sight. Then across that stretch of gleaming tide he saw a dim line of cliffs—white cliffs, such cliffs as he desired.
 
But at this point, when he was so near his goal, that Fate which had always loved to juggle¹⁶¹ with him decided to show him a new one of her tricks. Two more monsters appeared, diving steeply from the blue above him. One was pursuing the other. Quite near him the pursuer overtook its quarry¹⁶², and the two spat⁵⁹ fire at each other with that strident rap-rap-rapping sound which he so disliked. He swerved¹⁶³ as wide as possible from the path of their terrible combat, and paid no heed to its outcome. But, as he fled, something struck him near the tip of his left wing.
 
The shock went through him like a needle of ice or fire, and he dropped, leaving a little cloud of feathers in the air above to settle slowly after him. He turned once completely over as he fell. But presently; with terrific effort, he succeeded in regaining¹⁶⁴ a partial balance. He could no longer fully⁶⁵ support himself, still less continue his direct flight; but he managed to keep on an even keel and to delay his fall. He knew that to drop into the sea below him was certain death. But he had marked that the sea was dotted with peculiar-looking ships—long, narrow, dark ships—which travelled furiously, vomiting black smoke and carrying a white mass of foam¹⁶⁵ in their teeth, Supporting himself, with the last ounce of his strength, till one of these rushing ships was just about to pass below him, he let himself drop, and landed sprawling on the deck.
 
Half stunned though he was, he recovered himself almost instantly, clawed up to his feet, steadied himself with one outstretched wing against the pitching of the deck, and defied, with hard, undaunted eye and threatening beak, a tall figure in blue, white-capped and gold-braided, which stood smiling down upon him.
 
"By Jove," exclaimed Sub-Lieutenant James Smith, "here's luck: Uncle Sam's own chicken, which he's sent us as a mascot¹⁶⁶ till his ships can get over and take a hand in the game with us: Delighted to see you, old bird: You've come to the right spot, you have, and we'll do the best we can to make you comfortable."