THE BEAR-SLAYER. 141 



the silent little Aztec, hastily dispersed it 

 self along the outer edge of the grounds 

 next to the chaparral abode of the jack- 

 rabbits, and then, while grave professors 

 leaned from their windows, and a hundred 

 curious white boys looked on, these little 

 brown fellows fastened all their long bird- 

 nets together, and stretched two wide 

 wings out and up the hill. 



Very quiet but very quick they were, and 

 when all the nets had been unwound and 

 stretched out in a great letter V far up 

 the hill, it was seen that each brown boy 

 had a long, heavy manzanita wood club in 

 his hand. 



Suddenly and silently as they had corue 

 they all disappeared up and over the hills 

 beyond, and in the dense black chaparral. 



Where had they gone and what did all 

 this silent mystery mean? One, two, three 

 hours! What had become of this strange 

 little army of silent brown boys? 



Another hour passed. Not a boy, not a 



sign, not a sound. What did it all mean? 

 10 



