THIRD DAY. 39 



glided through the bending reeds. I had got iny gun ready 

 to shoot, for Ferencz whispered that the eagle was on its 

 nest ; but I was in such a fever of excitement that I scarcely 

 dared to breathe or to look at the tree, for it is an anxious 

 moment for any sportsman when he nears for the first time 

 that great structure, the pirate stronghold of a mighty eagle. 

 Ferencz most skilfully guided the craft under the tree to 

 a spot where I could get a good open shot. There he stopped, 

 and begged me to be prepared to fire, as he was going to 

 frighten the eagle off the nest by clapping his hands. How- 

 ever, thank goodness, nothing moved, for the eagle was not at 

 home, and it w r as only the head of the rather large young 

 one which he had seen and mistaken for the old bird. 



I was glad that the eagle was not there, for shooting out 

 of a shaky " csikel " is always a very uncertain business, and 

 I could really hardly see for excitement. 



We now had to land quickly and to wait for the eagle at 

 its dwelling, the depth of the water allowing us to come 

 quite close to the dry land, so that we only had to wade a few 

 steps. 



Hodek ordered the two men to conceal themselves with 

 the " csikeln " at different points, in case of having to follow 

 up a hard-hit eagle, and when both crafts had quietly vanished 

 into the thick reeds, he and I hid ourselves as well as we 

 could. 



The tree with the nest was on a longish strip of land, 

 nowhere more than twenty yards wide, and though not 

 now under water, the rnuddiness of the ground showed that 

 the floods had but recently left this more elevated spot. Here 

 stood huge ancient oaks with their thick foliage and dead 

 twisted upper branches, and there were also a few gigantic 

 silver poplars, but the only black poplar was the one on which 

 the nest was placed, and its peculiar form made it conspicuous 

 among all the other trees. 



