Two days after the turkey adventure, when we were sailing along before a mild breeze, Mr. Green steering, the doctor smoking, and the rest of us reading, Charley suddenly called out from forward where he was standing:
“Look at that large bird flying over the woods to the west.”
We all looked in the direction indicated, and saw an immense bird moving grandly and steadily, with slowly beating wings and extended neck and legs.
“What an enormous creature,” exclaimed one of the ladies.
“It must be a rock,” chimed in the other.
“Here take the stick, while I get the glass,” saying which, Mr. Green let go of the tiller, and plunged into the cabin to reappear with the binocular, which he fixed on the wondrous bird.
“What do you make out of him?” inquired the doctor, who had forgotten his pipe in the excitement till it had gone out.
“It is a crane,” replied Seth, “but the largest one ever I saw. Charley,” he asked our captain, “did you ever see such a crane as that before?”
“No, I never did,” was the answer. “It must be something of the sort however, from the way it flies and holds its legs.”
“I wonder whether it can be the whooping crane?” I inquired, “I have heard that they are occasionally seen on the coast, although supposed to be more numerous in the interior.”