High up on the side of a lofty mountain, overlooking the wide ocean,
several boys were seated together on the moss and lichens which clothed
the ground, and were the only vegetable productions of that elevated
region. The bright sea sparkled in sunshine, far, far down below their
feet, though hidden at times from their sight by the dark clouds which
came rolling on, sometimes enveloping them in mist, and at others
breaking asunder and floating away far inland towards other ranges of
distant hills. High above their heads rose a succession of rugged
peaks, black, barren, and fantastic in form, which the foot of man had
never trod. The boys on a party of pleasure had climbed up from a town
by the sea-side, and had brought with them, in knapsacks and baskets, a
supply of provisions, which they now sat down to discuss. The keen pure
air, and the exercise they had undergone, sharpened their appetites and
raised their spirits, and they sat laughing and talking, and apparently
enjoying themselves to the utmost. Far below their feet sea-fowl were
skimming rapidly through the air, wheeling and circling, now descending
to the bright water below, and then rising again up into the clear
expanse of ether, rejoicing in their freedom. On a crag below them,
near where she had built her nest, stood an osprey. With wings
expanding she prepared to take her flight; then off with a cry of joy
she flew, darting through the atmosphere, away, away, over the ocean,
looking down upon the tall ships which sailed along slow and sluggishly
compared to her rapid progress. The boys eagerly watched her till she
was lost to sight in the distance.
"Oh, how I wish that I could fly, that I might skim over the world like
that sea eagle!" cried one, clapping his hands; "what glorious fun would
it not be? I should never consent to walk again. All other amusements
would be tame and tasteless in comparison. Truly yes, it mast be a fine
thing to be able to fly like a bird. To fly!--to fly! Away!--away!"
The speaker as he uttered these words rose and stretched out his arms
over the ocean, as if in imagination at all events he was about to
spring off from his lofty perch, and to follow the course of the osprey.