e," said he, at last, "and I have a mind to turn the tables on that
old thief up there."

He pointed to the male eagle, which was now flapping in short circles
above the top of the tree, uttering hoarse cries of anger.

"You'd better look out," said John; "old Mother Eagle will pick your
eyes out if you're not careful."

"I'm not so sure about that," said Rob; "but I'll take care. Anyhow,
here goes!" So saying, he threw off his coat and began to ascend the
tree, a feat which grew easier as he reached the wide-spreading limbs.
In a few minutes he stood almost under the nest. Here he kept his left
arm in front of his face and made feints with a piece of branch at the
mother eagle, which indeed came dangerously close to him. The boys below
began to flop their arms and throw up their coats. At length both of the
parent birds, contrary to what might be believed or may have been
written regarding them, turned tail like cowards and abandoned their
young to their fate. They perched on trees a hundred yards or so
distant, and watched to see what would go forward. Rob worked his way on
up the tree and peered curiously over the edge of the wretched
brush-heap which served as the nest. Here he saw two large, ungainly
young birds, not yet able to fly, but able to spit, scratch, and flap
their wings. Getting a good foothold on a supporting branch, Rob made
several attempts to get hold of the young birds. Finally he succeeded in
getting one by the neck, and with a jerk threw it out so that it fell
flapping to the ground. Skookie would have killed it at once, but the
others stopped him. A few moments later they were owners of both these
birds, and Rob had rejoined his companions at the foot of the tree.

"I'll tell you what," said he, as he wiped the perspiration from his
face; "let's see if we can't make pets of these eagles. We nearly always
have more than we can eat, and it's the same sort of food these birds
are used to; so why shouldn't we tie them up and keep them around the
hut? Maybe they'll scare the crows and ravens away from our fish."

"That's a fine idea," said John. "We'll just try that. I had a couple of
hawks once for pets. They ate a great lot, and they fought you, too, for
a long while. My hawks used to lie on their backs and grab me by the
hand every time I tried to feed them. I suppose these eagles will be
worse yet."

"Anyhow, we'll try them," said Rob. "Let's wrap them up in our coats and
take them down to t