The Argosy, Volume XLIV — page 198: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

194 Ross had no time to retort, because at that moment the professor reappeared, and we all gasped. He had, led by a cord attached to a band on one leg, the most remarkable ornithological specimen any of us had ever beheld. , “ That’s a bird!” said Ross irrever- ently. The creature stood about four fect high, and had a pair of huge wings, which were at this time clipped to pre- vent its flight. Its eyes were very large and of a solid green. Its beak was much like two shovels placed with the concave sides inward. As the professor led the thing into the room, it let out a terrifying squawk that made Bobby turn pale. The color of this remarkable creature was a dark gray, with the under part growing lighter. Its legs were about two inches in diameter, and in the twenty-foot room we occupied it seemed as if it were going to be necessary to put our feet on the table to let the thing walk around. Its tremendous feet, only partly webbed, spread out to the extent of about eleven inches. It had a short, thick neck, and, while it maintained the general formation of a huge bird, it was awkwardly and wonderfully made. It was like nothing I had ever beheld, though the pictures I had seen of the extinct giant auk came nearest to filling the bill. “What in the name of the Great Gal- loping Joss is that thing? ” asked Ross. “Ts it the elephant of the ornithologi- cal world? ” “ Gentlemen,” said the professor, as he placed his hand on the broad back of his feathered companion, who there- upon let out another terrible war- whoop, “ gentlemen, that is the most wonderful, the most valuable, and the most desired creature on the face of the earth.” “TI can agree that it is the most won- derful,” said Foster, “and I am willing to admit that it is valuable. But if you can advance any reason why it should be desired, I would be pleased 7 “To buy it,” put in Ross to finish the sentence when Foster hesitated. > oo ———— THE ARGOSY. “In reply to your query,” continued the professor, “let me say that an i1m- mense amount of wealth has been ex- pended upon such creatures as this. To- day the egg of the giant auk is valued at three hundred pounds. One now in the British Museum cost that amount. ‘Ships are fitted out with no other purpose than to search for the eggs of that extinct bird.” “But this thing isn’t a giant auk,” said Foster. “Certainly not, since it is not ex- tinct. Therefore, if you will permit me to explain, I will show you that I have come to place it within your power to earn a valuable distinction in the scien- tific world, put many good bank notes in vour pockets, and place me upon a pinnacle for which I have striven with all the energy of forty years of my life —a fellowship in the Royal Society for scientific Research and the Dissemina- tion of Knowledge.” “Heavens!” . exclaimed Ross. “Would you belong to a thing with a name like that? ” “Sir,” said the professor blandly, “it is a most coveted honor. But to ob- tain it one must have accomplished something in research hitherto deemed impossible. “I have roamed the world, and ex- hausted my little fortune, searching for undiscovered knowledge. After years of failure, when my youth and strength. have fled, and my money is gone, the opportunity to make myself great has come to me, and I am helpless.” “ And what is it you want us to do?” asked Foster. “First let me explain... A short time ago a sailing vessel engaged in the tea trade arrived at Liverpool with this bird as a passenger. The vessel had been blown far out of her path in the Indian Ocean, and just after a most violent storm this creature flew aboard and dropped to the deck exhausted. ‘None of the crew had ever seen one like it. The bird was given over to the owner of the vessel,’ ostensibly for the purpose of making a gift of it to the British Museum. But when I heard of it I went to see the master of the craft. “He himself had no desire to apply for a fellowship in the society. It was GOHMGOOo (GO) awa