nder Sue was frightened, and stumbled, and fell into a bed
of nettles, and then--screamed!

"Drat the young 'un!" exclaimed Lycurgus, just as the eagle made an
awkward spring into the air.

But the bird did not fly away; instead it swooped around in a circle,
displaying great strength and agility in its motion. It's wings spread
all of six feet. They beat the air tremendously, and then the bird
sailed low, aiming directly for the child just climbing out of the bed
of nettles.

It was plain that Lycurgus had not been quite ready for the eagle's
swoop. He had to try for the bird, however. The screaming Sue could not
extricate herself from the dangerous situation in which her father had
placed her. Lycurgus shouldered his gun and pulled the trigger.

He may have had a reputation for never missing his quarry; but his gun
missed that time, for sure! Not a feather flew from the great bird. Its
pinions beat the air so terribly that poor little Sue was thrown to the
ground once more.

Agnes shrieked. The two smaller girls were awestruck. Neale O'Neil
fairly groaned. It seemed as though the child must fall a victim to the
eagle's beak and claws.

Its huge wings, beating the air, drowned most other sounds. Lycurgus
struggled to slip another shell into his old-fashioned rifle. Somehow
the mechanism had fouled.

[Illustration: At the moment the eagle dropped with spread talons, the
big dog leaped. Page 103]

"Pap! Pap!" screeched the girl at last. "He's goin' to git me!"

At that shrill and awful cry the man flung away his gun and leaped the
rail fence into the open field. What he thought he might do with his
bare hands against the talons and armed beak of the bird of prey, it
would be impossible to say. But whatever fault might be found with
Lycurgus Billet, he was no coward.

Bare-handed, hatless, and as white as paper, the man ran toward his
little girl. The shadow of the swooping eagle covered them both.

Then it was that Tess Kenway awoke from her trance. She shrieked,
suddenly: "Tom! Tom Jonah! Do, _do_ catch it! Tom Jonah! _Sic him,
boy!_"

The growling dog needed no second urging. He flung himself through the
fence and dashed across the intervening space. At the moment the eagle
dropped with spread talons, the big dog leaped.

Tom Jonah's teeth gained a grip upon the bird's leg. The eagle screamed
with pain and rage. Its wings beat the air mightily, and it rose several
feet from the ground, carrying Tom Jon