The Curious Book of Birds | Page 7

begin--begin. We want
to see who is to be king. Come, birds, to the trial. Who can fly the highest? Come!"
Then the Eagle spread his great wings and mounted leisurely into the air, straight toward
the noonday sun. And after him rose a number of other birds who wanted to be king,--the
wicked Hawk, the bold Albatross, and the Skylark singing his wonderful song. The
long-legged Stork started also, but that was only for a joke. "Fancy me for a king!" he
cried, and he laughed so that he had to come down again in a minute. But the Wren was
nowhere to be seen. The truth was, he had hopped ever so lightly upon the Eagle's head,
where he sat like a tiny crest. But the Eagle did not know he was there.
Soon the Hawk and the Albatross and even the brave little Skylark fell behind, and the
Eagle began to chuckle to himself at his easy victory. "Where are you, poor little Wren?"
he cried very loudly, for he fancied that the tiny bird must be left far, far below.
"Here I am, here I am, away up above you, Master Eagle!" piped the Wren in a weak
little voice. And the Eagle fancied the Wren was so far up in the air that even his sharp
eyes could not spy the tiny creature. "Dear me!" said he to himself. "How extraordinary
that he has passed me." So he redoubled his speed and flew on, higher, higher.
Presently he called out again in a tremendous voice, "Well, where are you now? Where
are you now, poor little Wren?"
Once more he heard the tiny shrill voice from somewhere above piping, "Here I am, here
I am, nearer the sun than you, Master Eagle. Will you give up now?"
Of course the Eagle would not give up yet. He flew on, higher and higher, till the garden
and its flock of patient birds waiting for their king grew dim and blurry below. And at last
even the mighty wings of the Eagle were weary, for he was far above the clouds.
"Surely," he thought, "now the Wren is left miles behind." He gave a scream of triumph
and cried, "Where are you now, poor little Wren? Can you hear me at all, down below
there?"
But what was his amazement to hear the same little voice above his head shrilling, "Here
I am, here I am, Sir Eagle. Look up and see me, look!" And there, sure enough, he was

fluttering above the Eagle's head. "And now, since I have mounted so much higher than
you, will you agree that I have won?"
"Yes, you have won, little Wren. Let us descend together, for I am weary enough," cried
the Eagle, much mortified; and down he swooped, on heavy, discouraged wings.
"Yes, let us descend together," murmured the Wren, once more perching comfortably on
the Eagle's head. And so down he rode on this convenient elevator, which was the first
one invented in this world.
When the Eagle nearly reached the ground, the other birds set up a cry of greeting.
"Hail, King Eagle!" they sang. "How high you flew! How near the sun! Did he not scorch
your Majesty's feathers? Hail, mighty king!" and they made a deafening chorus. But the
Eagle stopped them.
"The Wren is your king, not I," he said. "He mounted higher than I did."
"The Wren? Ha-ha! The Wren! We can't believe that The Wren flew higher than you? No,
no!" they all shouted. But just then the Eagle lighted on a tree, and from the top of his
head hopped the little Wren, cocking his head and ruffling himself proudly.
"Yes, I mounted higher than he," he cried, "for I was perched on his head all the while,
ha-ha! And now, therefore, I am king, small though I be."
Now the Eagle was very angry when he saw the trick that had been played upon him, and
he swooped upon the sly Wren to punish him. But the Wren screamed, "Remember,
remember your promise never to injure me or mine!" Then the Eagle stopped, for he was
a noble bird and never forgot a promise. He folded his wings and turned away in disgust.
"Be king, then, O cheat and trickster!" he said.
"Cheat and trickster!" echoed the other birds. "We will have no such fellow for our king.
Cheat and trickster he is, and he shall be punished. You shall be king, brave Eagle, for
without your strength he could never have flown so high. It is you whom we want for our
protector and lawmaker, not this sly fellow no bigger than a bean."
So the Eagle became their king, after all; and a noble bird he is, as