WHIPPED BY EAGLES 41 



Their wild cries thrilled me, and their mighty 

 wings, wheeling so close around me, seemed to catch 

 me in their majestic sweep and almost to carry me 

 in swift, swinging circles through the empty air. 

 An ecstasy of excitement overcame me. I felt no 

 body, no weight of anything. I lost my head com- 

 pletely, and, seizing the eggs, rose to my feet and 

 stood upright in the nest. 



The eagles swept nearer. I could feel the wind 

 from their wings. I could see the rolling of their 

 gleaming eyes, and the glint of the sun on their 

 snow-white necks. And as they dipped and turned 

 and careened over me, I came perilously near trying 

 to fly myself. 



What a scene lay under me and rolled wide and 

 free to the very edge of the world ! The level marsh, 

 the blue, hazy bay, the far-off, unblurred horizon 

 beyond the bending hill of the sea ! The wild, free 

 wind from the bay blew in upon my face, the old 

 tree trembled and rocked beneath me, the screaming 

 eagles wove a mazy spell of double circles about me, 

 till I screamed back at them in wild delight. 



The sound of my voice seemed to infuriate the 

 birds. The male turned suddenly in his round and 

 swooped directly at me. The movement was instantly 

 understood by his mate, who, thus emboldened, cut 

 under him and hurled herself downward, passing 

 with a vicious grab at my face. I dodged, or she 

 would have hit me. 



