Z Quote

Why, Cook! what are you thinking of so steadily?' said Martin.
`Why, I was a-thinking, sir,' returned Mark, `that if I was a painter and was called upon to paint the American Eagle, how should I do it?'
`Paint it as like an Eagle as you could, I suppose.'
No,' said Mark. `That wouldn't do for me, sir. I should want to draw it like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity; like a ostrich, for its putting its head in the mud, and thinking nobody sees it --'
`And like a Phoenix, for its power of springing from the ashes of its faults and vices, and soaring up anew into the sky!' said Martin. `Well, Mark. Let us hope so.'