WITH BEAK AND CLAW 43 



his rifle as usual in the hollow of his arm, slouched 

 up the pine ridge. 



"What- all's wrong?" he called. 



*'I'm treed," Shan answered, *4ike a 'coon. 

 I've been up here since morning. I can't get 

 down, 'cause the branch I got up by, broke, and the 

 Fish-Hawks are after my scalp. I 've got the eggs, 

 though." 



' ' Ain 't hurt, are yo ' ? " his uncle queried. 



"My shoulder's a bit clawed up," the boy re- 

 plied. "They got me, once." 



"Could yo' get down if the birds was out o' the 

 way I ' ' 



"Reckon I could," said Shan; "it would be a 

 heap easier, anyway." 



Bull threw his gun up to his shoulder and fired, 

 almost, it seemed, without aiming. The male 

 hawk fell like a stone. A second shot, right on the 

 heels of the first, caught the hen-bird and, with a 

 fluttering flight, she tried to wing away, then fell 

 also. 



This done, without any comment. Bull rested the 

 butt of his gun on the ground, crossed his hands 

 on the muzzle and watched the boy. 



No sooner had he seen the second bird fall than 

 Shan commenced to tear away the nest until he 



