118 THE HERON OF CASTLE CREEK 



nodded as the gentle wind passed by. A squirrel 

 chattered as she explored the empty nest in the 

 forest glade ; she showed no signs of fear ; its 

 rightful occupants were far from home. Renoult 

 turned away from the glade, and once more 

 wandered up the winding sheep-paths to the 

 hill-top. He looked out over the dingle, but 

 neither by lake nor by brook could he see the 

 heron and her brood. 



Tired by his long ramble, he sat on the knoll 

 to rest for a while before making straight across 

 country to the nearest part of the river, that 

 thence, on his homeward journey, he might 

 explore the pools and the reed-beds. Scarcely, 

 however, had he seated himself when far in the 

 direction of the river he saw, just above the blue 

 horizon, the heron and her young heading straight 

 towards the dingle. So slow was their flight that 

 by the time of their arrival at the lake the boy 

 was comfortably hidden in the shadow of the 

 closest thicket near the rock. Preparatory to 

 her descent by the water's edge, the mother 

 heron, followed by her brood, wheeled several 

 times around the dingle, and once, approaching 

 the rock, almost touched the top of the furze 

 beneath which the boy was hidden. But Re- 

 noult lay as motionless as the ground beneath 

 him ; and soon the birds, skimming the hill- 

 side, vanished below the line of his vision. 



