;o 
A PUZZLE. 
She did wish it, very decidedly. So, his boots 
were drawn off, and- — well — the tree was large, 
and it was a long way up to any branches, and 
he was out of practice in that business — so— 
“Oh, dear! must I give up that nest?” Mrs. 
Maxwell laughed, as her husband brushed him- 
self, after his failure, which at least was not with- 
out a comic side. 
“ I don’t want to, if it can possibly be helped.” 
“ Oh ! I have an idea ! ” she exclaimed, giving 
the tree another searching glance. “ If I were 
upon your shoulders I believe I could reach that 
lowest limb, and then I’m sure I could climb to 
the nest.” 
“You’d better not risk breaking your neck 
for it,” Mr. Maxwell replied ; “ besides, how do 
you know but you’d have to fight the old hawk ? 
I should judge from her size she was capable of 
having something to say as to whether you could 
have her family or not. She could half kill you, 
for all you could do toward defending yourself § 
against her beak and talons.” 
“Oh, pshaw ! I don’t believe she’d dare touch 
me ! besides, you can shoot her. It would be 
cruel to leave her to grieve over the loss of her 
children ; and then, I ought to preserve her any 
way, for she is different from any hawk I have. 
Come ; you take care of her, and let me get the 
little ones,” she added, coaxingly. 
