ioo Wilderness Ways. 



far away, and hid in the underbrush. He passed very 

 near, and following, I saw him standing on a ledge 

 near the top of the cliff. Just below him, in the top 

 of a stunted tree growing out of the face of the rock, 

 was a huge mass of sticks that formed the nest, with 

 a great mother-eagle standing by, feeding the little 

 ones. Both birds started away silently when I ap- 

 peared, but came back soon and swept back and forth 

 over me, as I sat watching the nest and the face of 

 the cliff through my glass. No need now of caution. 

 Both birds seemed to know instinctively why I had 

 come, and that the fate of the eaglets lay in my hands 

 if I could but scale the cliff. 



It was scaring business, that three-hundred-foot 

 climb up the sheer face of the mountain. Fortu- 

 nately the rock was seamed and scarred with the 

 wear of centuries ; bushes and stunted trees grew 

 out of countless crevices, which gave me sure foot- 

 ing, and sometimes a lift of a dozen feet or more on 

 my way up. As I climbed, the eagles circled lower 

 and lower; the strong rustling of their wings was 

 about my head continually; they seemed to grow 

 larger, fiercer, every moment, as my hold grew more 

 precarious, and the earth and the pointed tree-tops 

 dropped farther below. There was a good revolver 

 in my pocket, to use in case of necessity ; but had the 



