Until the day when Glooskap shall return to restore the Golden
Age, and make men and animals dwell once more together in amity and
peace, all Nature mourns. And tradition says that on his departure from
Acadia the Great Snowy Owl retired to the deep forests, to return no
more until he could come to welcome Glooskap; and in those sylvan
depths the owls even yet repeat to the night _Koo-koo-skoos_!
which is to say in the Indian tongue, 'Oh, I am sorry! Oh, I am sorry!'
And the Loons, who had been the huntsmen of Glooskap, go restlessly up
and down through the world, seeking vainly for their master, whom they
cannot find, and wailing sadly because they find him not." [Footnote:
This passage is one of seven on the subject of Glooskap, cited in
Osgood's _Maritime Provinces_, without giving either the name of
the author or the book from which they were taken.]
But ere the Master went away from life, or ceased to wander in the ways
of men, he bade it be made known by the Loons, his faithful messengers,
that before his departure years would pass, and that whoever would seek
him might have one wish granted, whatever that wish might be. Now,
though the journey was long and the trials were terrible which those
must endure who would find Glooskap, there were still many men who
adventured them. [Footnote: There is a great embarrassment of riches,
or rather a great wealth of embarrassment, as regards this chapter.
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