him. It missed its mark and splashed into the 
water. Hardheart rushed afterit. Another gull 
got it first, but Hardheart hit her so hard that she 
was glad to leave it to him. The blow must 
have hurt her very much for she sat out there 
in the water all afternoon and did not attempt to 
eat anything. 
This is just the way Hardheart was. He was 
mean and selfish, so that no gull and no man liked 
him except Mark Thaw, who declared it was his 
duty to protect all gulls and he would let no one 
harm this one. 
Il 
Tue worst part about this feathered pirate is 
yet to be told. One day Mark saw him, over in 
the colony, walk up to another bird’s nest that 
was not guarded and peck a hole in each of the 
two eggs. Then the warden suspected who had 
destroyed the contents of several other nests 
that had come to sorrow. 
That night the warden thought over the 
matter until he went to sleep. He was almost of 
the opinion that he should take his gun and go 
10 
