CHAPTER XVIII. 
HA WKS. 
rp(HE Elmridge chickens were usually in a very 
prosperous condition, and there were such nu- 
merous broods of them that the children were con- 
stantly running to the poultry-yard to admire some 
fresh arrivals, that looked more like plump balls of 
down than anything else. But lately these living 
balls had been disappearing at quite a rapid rate, 
and Patrick complained bitterly of the hawks, which 
gobbled them up, he said, without so much as “ by 
your lave.” This did not sound very logical to his 
hearers, w T ho could not fancy a bird of prey stopping 
to be polite or getting Patrick’s “ lave ” to swallow 
the chickens, if he asked for it ever so much. Such 
vengeance, however, was vowed against the hawks, 
who were represented as the most utterly depraved 
of all the feathered tribe, that the little Kyles be- 
came curious to know what they really were like; 
and Miss Harson agreed to give them a bird-talk 
on the subject. 
“It is quite a jump,” said she, “from humming- 
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