Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-07-18
THE OWL FINDER

tioOOAoAely anu WOrken on the ShOul-
ders, and his heavy but handsome Saxon fea-
lures were expressive of the most intense mel
anchOly. On the ground beside him was what
looked like the foundation Of an armchair
crossed and recrOssed by wicker-work. round
which various long grasses in seed and flower
were twisted, every passing breeze bending their
heads or rustling among their stems: the chair
was divided into three or four compartments.
"Eerarched by these grasSes-bOwer fashion,
and we imagined we saw something moving
within each recess. We inquired who the
stranger was.
- That" exclaimed the bOatman, " Oh, that
Is Tom Hirsell. the owl-finder'
Owl-fnder' What do you mean?'
ny, he travels the country from one end
10 the other, looking fOT owls and bats-OwIs
eSPeSlalIy, ne catches or steals from their nests
ahd 1amfeS, and then sells them to the gentry
vi may De 10 gardeners. Many one likes them
W parns and granerleS, better than eats and
ioIn Is man of his word-if he promises an owl
ne IL De sure to bring it, and for the price he
named even If some one else offered him twice
'he sum lie dont matter walk of thirty
mlIeS u get the owlets, and he's as true as a
sale, " ''"" "'' o"'' i'i
None fit. he replied, none that he could
There was sleepincss in the mans look; his
eyes Wlnked In the sun. as if light were disa-
sreeaoie 10 him; he moved his head too; slowly.
IN sort OF half circle while he s,oke and we
iancled he had mbibed some of the owl nature
Our nature is subdued TO what it works in =
Tine of our party laughingly observed that in
iormeT state of existence he must have been
the ord OF night Certainly there was much
'pOut MIN unlike any other peasant we had
ever noted he seemed hardly awake. and vet
a. was evident he saw and observed us. We
inquired II there was owl under shelter of
th"Se long grasses
e5, there was; fine tame one lie had
deai OF trouble training that owl; il was such
sulky he had taken 1t at Earnham; but il
was promised 70 lords gardener near MARROW;
he couldn't sell tit was promised -
lie pulled the bird out: it fiuttcred, and
wiuked, and twiStc'l on his hand. and shook its
tedtherS, and Its eyes dilated and contracted
while creeping up his sleeve, gently. and hidin.
Its great full heal in the neck of his smnck
trcch he drew cut another, fierce, spitciuI
little bir'l-vho hisSed Ikea serpent ami chat
tered. an1 ciappcd its bcak and tried to bite
though 1T evidently did not see what to bite at
Ii will take another month or two to tame
this one, be said
Had you ever one You could no, tame -
he Owl-hnder gave a grim. solemn Smilc.
while sort OF Pho-phoric light glittdTed in his
eyes.
One 1 could nc, tame ," be repcatcd:
they re all awhiles stubbOrn-its their ma
ture: they take different training from other
hlrt>-nOt a; all the same the younger tbey be
the better; but Id be sorry to fnd one couldn
tame.
Do you find them at night -
Night and day is all the same 20 me day
and night-all one. Glov-wOrIn owls, bats
niSht-h Iwks snakes, fish flesh and fOwI-aII
the same; l can catch anything like tame
anything like; but the owls are my fayorites
i know them best and they know me . The
peculiar light that glittered in the ewes of the
DyUl- or nTt-f htf, ,,Io
the more he talked (his talk was decidedly an
underground, graveyard whisper,) the more he
blinked his eyes and moved his head.
Il We young one here, he continued, ''Pope
cal1 II; itcame from the tower where the Pope
lived snce; they call it POpe's Tower
He pulled il out of its appropriate cage and
held it,up; the bird hOoted and hissed, and the
OtherstcOk up the harmonious notes. and hiSsed
in concert, tapped their wings
Here Is thing. said the man, don
understand, though I've been among them.
man and boy these many years, for my father
was grave-dssger 10 m old church. and so
may say grew up among them. / used to
climb the ivy when was little chap-So high
IN twilight or mOOnligh, or dead darkneSs-aIl
one; and knew well the two great nests Of the
big buff owl, and the horned owl, at different
sides OF the old clock tower; and I used to
take up bits of meat or mice, and Law EN- on
the edge Of the nest; and the great buff owl. or
the horned owl, would come and take up the
things, and feed the little mufTy OUlets and al
last they came to know me, and would coo like
doves when they heard me coming: and I had
like many another boy, mo:her-in-law-step-
mother some call it-whO had no feeling for the
child OF the dead bones that were in the church
yard and she'd often when my father was
Rbed and asleep, turn me out in the shiny snow
or the bitter rain, and I'd away and just climb
up and shelter under the nest Of the great buff
owl IN the angle of the tower. warm and dry;
and the old owls would come and COO at me as
they did To their young ones. but never seek To-
hurt me; and many the star we We seen shin
ing and falling through that dar,kess, and
many n blink of the moon I've goc that never
reached earth, and seen and heard much through
The broad leaves Of the ivy that nobody would
believe If | was to tell it. There more rOams
the skies anights than We think of. L shall
never, on this earth, have the happy time again
had the under the buff owl nest -
lie raised his dreamy eyes. but their bright
ness was gone they looked dim and heavy, and
the poor fellow sighed
We reminded him he hal said there was some
thing he did not understand about the particu-
lar owl be called Pope
90 Oh yes day OF night, night or day. when
ever Pope hi-ses all the rest his and If he hoots
they all hoot; ne seems like master among
them-they h1ye their ina stsr4 Ec never minds
fhSJr hOOtinS
L. Pope bespoke
Yes I've only three with me they re all
bcsIoke '''
Have you any st home
At home he repeated, then moved his
mead IN that strange haIfcirclins way. and
added Home have no home hut have
two or three sets tn take from different parts of
the country Our re from the town think
j shall he on Waterloo bridge on the 18th of
November and If you want an owl then, I'll
keep one for you L rest there for u couple of
hours between two and four.
We bespoke sn owl Tom Hirsell replaced
hls birds. tying all tO their pcrches except the
senior, who seemed 10 have an affection for his
master, and desire 10 nestle about his person.
rather than return into the shadows of the long
grass. There was something strange and myS-
terious about the owl finder" lie did not
reek even To- dispose of his game. What an un-
childish childhood must his have been e$cap-
ing from the brutality of a cruel Stepmother to
shelter under an owls nest in the tower Of an