104 THE HERON OF CASTLE CREEK 



his charge, whose pick-axe beak he had been 

 careful to render harmless by wrapping his hose 

 around it, he occupied himself for a while in 

 makirg a coarse rope of grass. Then he bound 

 the heron's legs and wings and beak, donned 

 jerkin and hose, and walked away through the 

 wood towards a corn-mill on the banks of the 

 river some distance beyond the head of the creek. 

 At dead of night, long after curfew, the heron 

 was taken to the cage of a duck-decoy in the 

 feeder, where she spent a luxurious captivity, 

 fed by the miller with fish and all manner of 

 dainties till her wound was healed, and the 

 balance of her wide vanes so far restored that 

 she was able to fly. But one of the great 

 pinions was damaged beyond the present prospect 

 of a new growth. 



When all was in readiness Serewulf carried the 

 heron back to the glade where, by appointment, 

 he met his comrade and their pupil ; and with 

 great show of boyish gladness the Earl's young 

 son himself released the bird and watched her as, 

 wild-eyed and with ludicrous haste, she rose to 

 the heights of the sky before flapping away in 

 the direction of her unforgotten haunts. Thus 

 for the bowmen ended a time of considerable 

 misgiving. They cared little whether the boy 

 kept his counsel or not, now that all had hap- 

 pened well ; and their affectionate regard for 



