At last, to their great satisfaction, after travelling about one hundred miles, they saw in the distance the bright red tops of the fruit trees they sought. At the sight the two guanioniens came together and whispered: “Surely some troops of monkeys will come and feed upon these trees. Let us soar above them all day, if necessary. Patience is often rewarded. Sometimes the prey comes when we are ready to give up.”
Then they flew very high and soared above the fruit-bearing trees. They soared a long time, looking down in that peculiar manner which belongs to the eagle, their eyeballs moving so that they can see directly under them. Suddenly they heard monkeys chattering among themselves. The reason of this loud talk was that two troops of different species of monkeys were quarrelling, daring each other and ready to fight. One troop was trying to drive the other away.
The two guanioniens, by peculiar motions of their wings and other silent ways of communication only known to their species, told each other the news about the monkeys.
Great indeed was the joy of the guanioniens at the prospect of a good hearty meal. They bided their time and watched for their opportunity. They were not going to be rash and run the chance of missing their prey.
It happened that two or three days before, troops of monkeys had come to those same trees and had eaten up all the fruit that was on their lower and middle branches, thus leaving that on the top. The monkeys looked up, and when they saw the bright red, juicy fruit, they forgot all about guanioniens, and soon were all over the tops of several trees eating away to their hearts’ content, unaware of the presence of their enemies soaring above them and waiting for the opportune moment to pounce upon them.
Suddenly, like a flash, the two guanioniens swooped down perpendicularly from their height, and before the monkeys were aware of their presence, they had seized the two largest in their talons, clutched firmly by the neck and back, and rose in the air with them.
CHAPTER II
THE GUANIONIENS’ DEPARTURE FOR THE LAND OF PLENTY
One evening after the guanioniens had returned to their tree to spend the night, and as they stood close together on a branch upon which they had perched, the big guanionien said to his mate: “Dear, it is time to prepare ourselves for the long journey we take every year at this season, to go to our nest and repair it. The country where we have built our nest will soon be a land of plenty; there will be berries, nuts, and fruits in abundance. By that time little guanioniens will break out of their shells into the world. The monkeys will come in great numbers to feed on the ripened fruits or nuts, and,” with a laugh peculiar to guanioniens, “then we shall be able to feed ourselves and our dear little ones quite well.”
“It is so,” replied his mate. “The height of the sun, the intense heat, dry moons and rainy moons that have passed away since we were in the Land of Plenty tell us that it is time for us to go to our nest, repair it, and raise a brood of guanioniens.”