To each even to lower
his bill and sip from the cool waters was a supreme effort. And in their
exhaustion so complete was something humanly helpless and pathetic.
[Illustration: "I think," said Ainsley, "they have lost their way"]
To Ainsley the mysterious visitors made a direct appeal. He felt as
though they had thrown themselves upon his hospitality. That they showed
such confidence that the sanctuary would be kept sacred touched him. And
while his friends spoke eagerly, he remained silent, watching the
drooping, ghost-like figures, his eyes filled with pity.
"I have seen birds like those in Florida," Mortimer was whispering, "but
they were not migratory birds."
"And I've seen white cranes in the Adirondacks," said Lowell, "but never
six at one time."
"They're like no bird _I_ ever saw out of a zoo," declared Elsie
Mortimer. "Maybe they _are_ from the Zoo? Maybe they escaped from the
Bronx?"
"The Bronx is too near," objected Lowell. "These birds have come a great
distance. They move as though they had been flying for many days."
As though the absurdity of his own thought amused him, Mortimer laughed
softly.
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