The Dragon's Eye by Dugald A. Steer Read Free Book Online

you track Weasel, then watch her hunting?”
    â€œYes,” I said.
    â€œWell, tomorrow Dr. Drake will probably take you to Weasel’s lair,” she said, smiling. “I was wondering if you could help me. I’m having a bit of trouble with the idea behind this book. Dr. Drake says that you understand it quite well, but I’m not sure where to begin.”
    She showed the book to me. It was Darwin’s
On the Origin of Species.
    â€œAre you studying that too, then?” I asked.
    â€œYes,” said Beatrice. “Dr. Drake says that it’s exactly the sort of thing a dragonologist needs to understand in order to study dragons in what he calls ‘the proper scientific manner.’”
    I felt pleased that Beatrice needed my help, so I said, “Well, as far as I can see, Darwin visited some islands called the Galápagos, where he noticed that different tortoises and birds were slightly different on different islands. So he came up with a theory. All baby animals are born with small differences between them. One may be bigger, another faster, or another may just have a longer neck. If those differences give them an advantage over other animals — in defending themselves, perhaps, or in finding food — then they are more likely to survive until they have babies themselves, and the babies may well exhibit the same traits. Over millions of years, these differences can grow and grow until the animals become so different that they can turn into a completely new species. It’s called natural selection.”
    â€œThank you, Daniel,” said Beatrice.
    Beatrice went back to reading the book and occasionally looking up words in the dictionary, which was something that, annoyingly, I hadn’t thought of when I’d been trying to read it. I took out my record book and, pencil in hand, opened a new page and laid out my records as I had been taught by Dr. Drake:

    When I had completed the record of everything I had seen, I made a new entry listing the differences between Weasel and Scorcher.

For the next few days, I got up early with Dr. Drake to go and study Weasel. On the second day, after watching her feed again, Dr. Drake let me track her to her lair and taught me how to tell the difference between fresh tracks, which are unbroken, and tracks that have crumbly edges or tiny bits of twig or grass over them, which are a day old or more. He made me crouch among the bracken, looking for signs of hidden tracks such as broken stems, or bits of slime where Weasel’s tail had rubbed against the boles of trees. He also taught me how to track the knucker from upwind, so that she would not smell me coming.
    When I reached Weasel’s lair, I saw that it was dug among some tree roots by the edge of the stream, in one of the deepest parts of the forest. Small piles of what looked like fur and bones lay scattered round. I rushed to examine one, but Dr. Drake called me back.
    â€œDaniel,” he said, “a dragonologist must remember to remain concealed when approaching a dragon, particularly one in its own lair. It can be highly dangerous to introduce yourself too soon. Even though this knucker knows me and is unlikely to attack us, you ought always to follow this practise so that you will be prepared if you have to attract the attention of an unknown dragon.”
    I nodded, and Dr. Drake then reached into his bag and handed me two small parcels covered with waxed paper. One of them contained sliced onions, while the other was full of sausages.
    â€œNow,” said Dr. Drake, “a dragon can often be tempted to the mouth of its lair by offering it a suitable gift. With a more intelligent specimen, such as Scorcher, this might involve something shiny, since European dragons love to collect treasure. However, he is only a juvenile, so it is unlikely that he is yet able to tell the difference between true gemstones and shiny bits of glass. Weasel is a much simpler