Page:The Swiss Family Robinson (Kingston).djvu/91

Rh if only your game would always give you time to make ready comfortably.’

“ ‘But I had no notion that anything was going to fly up just at our feet like that,’ cried he.

“ ‘A good shot,’ I replied, ‘must be prepared for surprises: neither wild birds nor wild beasts will send you notice that they are about to fly or to run.’

“ ‘What sort of bird can it have been?’ enquired Jack.

“ ‘Oh, it certainly must have been an eagle,’ answered little Franz, ‘it was so very big!’

“ ‘Just as if every big bird must be an eagle!’ replied Ernest, in a tone of derision.

“ ‘Let's see where he was sitting, at all events!’ said I.

“Jack sprang towards the place, and instantly a second bird, rather larger than the first, rushed upward into the air, with a most startling noise.

“The boys stood staring upwards, perfectly stupefied, while I laughed heartily, saying, ‘Well, you are first-rate sportsmen, to be sure! You certainly will keep my larder famously well supplied!’

“At this, Ernest coloured up, and looked inclined to cry, while Jack put on a comical face, pulled off his cap, and with a low bow, called after the fugitive:

“ ‘Adieu for the present, sir! I live in hopes of another meeting!’

“On searching the ground carefully, we discovered a rude sort of nest made untidily of dry grass. It was empty, although we perceived broken egg-shells at no great distance, and concluded that the young brood had escaped among the grass, which, in fact, we could see was waving at a little distance, as the little birds ran through it.

“ ‘Now look here, Franz,’ said Ernest, presently, ‘just consider how this bird could by any possibility have been an eagle. Eagles never build on the ground, neither can their young leave