Then, arresting his own flight by the sudden spread of
his tail, he winged his way silently across the river, and disappeared
among the trees upon the opposite side. The osprey, taking the thing as
a matter of course, again descended to the proper elevation, and betook
himself to his work. Perhaps he grinned a little like many another
royal tax-payer, but he knew the tax had to be paid all the same, and he
said nothing.

An incident soon after occurred that astonished and puzzled our party
not a little. The female osprey, that all this time seemed to have had
but poor success in her fishing, was now seen to descend with a rush,
and plunge deeply into the wave. The spray rose in a little cloud over
the spot, and all sat watching with eager eyes to witness the result.
What was their astonishment when, after waiting many seconds, the bird
still remained under water! Minutes passed, and still she did not come
up. _She came up no more_! The foam she had made in her descent
floated away--the bosom of the water was smooth as glass--not a ripple
disturbed its surface. They could have seen the smallest object for a
hundred yards or more around the spot where she had disappeared. It was
impossible she could have emerged without them seeing her. Where, then,
had she gone? This, as I have said, puzzled the whole party; and formed
a subject of conjecture and conversation for the rest of that day, and
also upon the next. Even Lucien was unable to solve the mystery. It
was a point in the natural history of the osprey unknown to him. Could
she have drowned herself? Had some great fish, the "gar pike," or some
such creature, got hold of and swallowed her? Had she dashed her head
against a rock, or become entangled in weeds at the bottom of the river?

All these questions were put, and various solutions of the problem were
offered. The true one was not thought of, until accident revealed it.
It was Saturday when the incident occurred. The party, of course,
remained all next day at the place. They heard almost continually the
cry of the bereaved bird, who most likely knew no more than they what
had become of his mate. On Monday our travellers re-embarked and
continued down-stream. About a mile below, as they were paddling along,
their attention was drawn to a singular object floating upon the water.
They brought the canoe alongside it. It was a large fish, a sturgeon,
floating dead, with a bird beside it, also dead