68 What Birds Have Done With Me 



lish Bone, was on the eve of springing the drop, 

 when a kind of a human catapult shot out from 

 behind the cedar and the head of it took him 

 exactly in the pit of the stomach, and for a little 

 time, in the beautiful and expressive language of 

 Bret Hart "the subject of proceedings inter- 

 ested him no more." Captain Shanty Pete was 

 that spellbound that he "got his" before he could 

 speak or move and went down beside the redoubt- 

 able English Bone equally limp and equally 

 drowsy. The little Eatons in retreat, the small 

 boy was in possession of the field barely long 

 enough to release the captives, who were too 

 young to either walk or fly, when the "little 

 Eatons" made a grand rally and he went down 

 before their charge with both on top and 

 Shanty Pete, capping the climax, atop of the 

 struggling trio. It's no use, at this late day, to 

 recount all the pirates did to their helpless pris- 

 oner; sufficient to say that after he was securely 

 bound with fish-line, Stub Miller walked over him 

 and kicked him in the face fortunately with bare 

 feet. 



The pirates now reorganized their hanging 

 bee, first sending to the boat for a rope for the 

 land-lubber who had dared to interfere with their 

 sport; they would dispatch the bird-captives first, 

 and then hang their would-be rescuer from the 

 white-oak, close beside them, as a horrible exam- 



