He knew the week, however, in which his guests might be expected to take their departure; and this was enough for his purpose.
During their stay in the valley the birds had been cared for, as if they had been sacred to some deity, adored by those who held them in charge.
Fish and flesh had they a plenty--with Ossaroo as their provider.

Food and drink, whenever they stood in need of either; freedom from annoyance, and protection from enemies of every kind--even from Fritz, who had long since ceased to be their enemy.

Nothing had been wanting to their comfort; everything had been granted--everything but their liberty.
This, too, was at length restored to them.
On a fair morning--such as a bird might have chosen for its highest flight--both were set free to go whithersoever they listed.
The only obstruction to their flight was a pair of small skin sacks, one attached to the neck of each, and prudently placed beyond the reach of its mandibles.

Both were furnished with this curiously-contrived bag; for Karl--as the spare leaves of his memorandum-book enabled him to do-- had determined that each should be entrusted with a letter and lest one should go astray, he had sent his _despatch in duplicate_.
For a time the birds seemed reluctant to leave those kind companions-- who had so long fed and cherished them; but the instinct that urged them to seek the sunny plains of the South at length prevailed; and, giving a _scream_ of adieu--reciprocated by the encouraging shouts of those they were leaving behind, and a prolonged baying from the throat of the boar-hound Fritz--they soared aloft into the air; and in slow, solemn flight ascended the cliff--soon to disappear behind the crest of the encircling ridge.
Ten days after, on that same cliff stood a score of men--a glad sight to Karl, Caspar, and Ossaroo.

Even Fritz barked with joy as he beheld them! Against the blue background of the sky, it could be perceived that these men carried coils of rope, pieces of wood, and other implements that might be required for scaling a cliff.
Our adventurers now knew, that, one or other, or both copies of their duplicate despatch, must have reached the destination for which they had designed it.
And the same destination was soon after reached by themselves.