Oh! please give me your hand--quick, father!" The Doctor caught her as she was sinking in what looked like a bit of good ground, but was really a bog tuft.
It took some time to work their way to the centre of the island.

There the ground was drier in spots, between the little pools, and there were some high trees.
"Stop here," said Olaf cautiously, "and look well before." They did so just as the crackling twigs startled some dusky shapes that flapped among the trees.
"The Herons!" exclaimed Rap, settling his crutch more firmly and preparing to watch closely.
As soon as their eyes became accustomed to the dim light, the party saw many large birds, some in the trees, some in the decaying underbrush, and others on the ground.

Here and there among the trees were nests, looking like flat heaps of sticks.

They were empty; but their sides, the trees, and the ground were all spattered and befouled with the chalky-white droppings of the careless colony.

"Ugh!" shivered Dodo, who had a very keen nose, "what an ugly place to live in, and such a horrid smell! Please, uncle, don't these birds have dreadful headaches very often ?" "I think House People would have wretched headaches if they lived here--in fact, we must not stay very long; but it agrees with Herons, who are built to be the wardens of just such places." "There are two kinds of Herons here," said Rap.