Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/286

280 "People say very appropriately 'as cunning as a fox,'" said Grandmother.

"This is the eagle!" cried the children, looking at a beautiful bird with wings outstretched, just as if he were about to light on his prey.

"Just like the one that I shot! It was a beautiful bird and I was almost sorry to shoot it, but what was to be done? one does not meet such an opportunity every day. I hit it well,—that is the principal thing,—so that the creature did not suffer."

"That's what I always say," spoke up Grandmother.

"But are you not sorry for those poor animals, Mr. Beyer. I could not shoot any of them," said Barunka.

"But you could cut a creature's head off," smiled Mr. Beyer; "and which is better: to kill it at once, when it is not suspecting danger, or first to frighten it while you are catching it, then to spend some time in preparation, and finally to cut its neck, sometimes so clumsily that it escapes still alive?"

"We never kill the poultry," protested Barunka; "Vorsa, who doesn't pity them, does it, and then they die instantly." For a while longer, the children amused themselves with the pictures, and then Mrs. Proshek called them to supper.

Heretofore, when Mr. Beyer had come, he had no rest from the children; they wanted to know about the mountains, whether he had not wandered into Ryberzol's garden, and many other things. This time, however, they questioned Orel, and listened with great wonder when the boy told them of the perils which he had shared with his