f an enormous
bird, in whose great cruel talons struggled little Royal, upon whom had
been made a sudden and fierce attack.

"My goodness! it's the demon!" gasped Wash, while the father, overcome
by a sickening horror, fell back against a tree. Even too, as they
approached, the huge, repulsive creature spread its big dusky wings and
began slowly to rise, bearing off in its claws the poor child, who
stretched out his tiny hand, sobbing piteously, "Oh, papa, save me!"
There was one terrible nightmarish second, when nobody had power to
move, and then the Professor, with a wild lunge forward, caught at his
vanishing boy. But the gay kilt slipped through his fingers, and still
the bird of prey soared relentlessly upward and onward.

But at that moment Granddaddy Saunders's old rifle was raised and
levelled at the monster.

"Oh, Wash, pray be careful: you may hit the wee laddie," cried Jean,
sinking down and covering her face.

[Illustration: "MAY OLD 'SALLY BLAZERS' NOT MISS FIRE THIS TIME!"]

No one knew the danger better than the mountain-bred youth, but he held
himself well in hand and kept cool. "I must only maim, not kill, the
critter outright," he thought, "and may old 'Sally Blazers' not miss
fire this time!"

Then he took careful aim, a bullet whistled through the air, and the
"demon's" left wing dropped powerless at his side. They could see the
wrathful red gleam in the creature's eyes as it paused, wavered, and
careened to one side, but the right pinion still flapped vigorously, and
kept it up, while it still retained its clutch on the little fellow, who
no longer screamed, but now appeared ominously quiet and white.

"Ef he gits over the precipice all is lost," murmured the young
sportsman, with a glance toward the edge of the cliff upon which they
stood, and he wasted no time in reloading and firing again. And oh, joy!
again he winged his victim, which, uttering an unearthly, discordant
cry, began to flutter slowly downward. But now a fresh danger threatened
Royal, for the bird, maddened by pain, suddenly released its hold, and
the fair little head must surely have been crushed on the jagged rocks
beneath, had not Wash been prepared for this, and, springing forward,
caught him in his strong young arms, although the precipitancy with
which the child came almost flung both to the ground. There was just an
instant, too, in which to stagger to one side, before, with a whirl and
a whir, the mighty fowl was upo