46 BY MEADOW AND STREAM. 



one rook ; probably the hawk in his headlong flight 

 was not aware that he had only one pursuer. Ten 

 minutes later, sitting still in the same place, again 

 came over the clatter of many voices, and overhead 

 flew that same unhappy hawk still pursued by that 

 same revengeful rook ; they kept up the fight with 

 equal flight, but both seemingly almost exhausted, for 

 they must have travelled many miles since last I saw 

 them. Now the heroic rook had a body-guard away 

 up above him in the sky, but these were only there to 

 back up their champion and to see fair play, they in no 

 way interfered in the fight. 



I watched them till, away across two meadows, 

 hawk and rook seemed to drop exhausted vviih their 

 long fight into an ash tree. I ran up to the tree ex- 

 pecting to find one or both of them dead in the 

 branches or on the ground, but they had both dis- 

 appeared in the woods, where I heard a great caw- 

 cawing. 



I did not meanwhile lose sight of the Major. His 

 first cast brought to land what I should have regarded 

 as a nice grayling, about half a pound, but he con- 

 temptuously threw him back that he might grow 

 bigger and give better sport next year. I would cer- 

 tainly have bagged him. I lazily followed him up 

 stream till we came to the "pub." there I sat 

 me down in the shade, the stiles and gates touched by 

 the sun being far too hot to sit on with any degree of 

 satisfaction. Be it understood that the place we 

 affectionately call "the pub." is a half-way resting 

 place between the bridge and the hut, and is not 

 a "pub." at all, it is only a name a wide-spreading 



