PASSAGE HAWKS 



285 



At last he took his gun to the hut, having made up his mind 

 to shoot the hawk as a last resource and free himself from the 

 incubus. Hour after hour he sat with gun in readiness a 

 strange position, indeed, for a falconer. But that day she came 



Passage hawk under bow-net 



not, nor the next, and at last the gun was laid aside and the 

 hawk catching went on as before. 



At the end of the week one of Mollen's sons who was 

 working a hut many miles away returned home with his catch. 

 He had not much to boast of, except one, ' a real beauty.' 

 Hardly had the old man set eyes on her than he recognised 

 his tormentor unmistakable from her size, dark plumage, and 



