a trouble
by beating the air with his wings, and lifting his heavy body--thirty
pounds at least--up into the heavens. His judgment proved sound; for, in
less than ten minutes from the commencement of the chase, he had gained
a clear hundred yards upon his pursuers, and continued to widen the
distance. At intervals he raised his beak higher than usual, and uttered
his loud booming note, which fell upon the ears of the voyageurs as
though it had been sent back in mockery and defiance.

They would have given up the pursuit, had they not noticed that a few
hundred yards farther down the river made a sharp turn to the right. The
swan, on reaching this, would no longer have the wind in his favour.
This inspired them with fresh hopes. They thought they would be able to
overtake him after passing the bend, and then, either get a shot at him,
or force him into the air. The latter was the more likely; and, although
it would be no great gratification to see him fly off, yet they had
become so interested in this singular chase that they desired to
terminate it by putting the trumpeter to some trouble. They bent,
therefore, with fresh energy to their oars, and pulled onward in the
pursuit.

First the swan, and after him the canoe, swung round the bend, and
entered the new "reach" of the river. The voyageurs at once perceived
that the bird now swam more slowly. He no longer "carried sail," as the
wind was no longer in his favour. His wings lay closely folded to his
body, and he moved only by the aid of his webbed feet and the current,
which last happened to be sluggish, as the river at this part spread
over a wide expanse of level land. The canoe was evidently catching up,
and each stroke was bringing the pursuers nearer to the pursued.

After a few minutes' brisk pulling, the trumpeter had lost so much
ground that he was not two hundred yards in the advance, and "dead
ahead." His body was no longer carried with the same gracefulness, and
the majestic curving of his neck had disappeared. His bill protruded
forward, and his thighs began to drag the water in his wake. He was
evidently on the threshold of flight. Both Francois and Basil saw this,
as they stood with their guns crossed and ready.

At this moment a shrill cry sounded over the water. It was the scream of
some wild creature, ending in a strange laugh, like the laugh of a
maniac!

On both sides of the river there was a thick forest of tall trees of the
cotton-wood speci