e remnants, and only consented to devour them, at last, when
Horner was not looking.

After this Horner found it easy enough to partake of his prisoner's
meals, whether they were of fish, flesh, or fowl; and with the
ice-cold water from the little spring, and an occasional mouthful of
leaves and roots, he fared well enough to make progress towards
recovery. The male eagle grew so accustomed to his presence that he
would alight beside the prisoner, and threatened Horner with that old,
cold stare of challenge, and frequently Horner had to drive him off
in order to save his share of the feast from the rapacity of the
eaglet. But as for the female, she remained incurably suspicious and
protesting. From the upper ledge, where she devoted her care to the
other nestling, she would yelp down her threats and execrations, but
she never ventured any nearer approach.

For a whole week the naked hours of day and dark had rolled over the
peak before Horner began to think himself well enough to try the
descent. His arm and shoulder were almost well, but his leg, in spite
of ceaseless rubbing and applications of moist earth, remained
practically helpless. He could not bear his weight on it for a second.
His first attempt at lowering himself showed him that he must not be
in too great haste. It was nearly a week more before he could feel
assured, after experiments at scaling the steep above him, that he was
fit to face the terrible steep below. Then he thought of the eaglet,
his unwilling and outraged preserver! After a sharp struggle, of which
both his arms and legs bore the marks for months, he caught the bird
once more and examined the injured wing. It was not broken; and he saw
that its owner would be able to fly all right in time, perhaps as
soon as his more fortunate brother in the nest above. Satisfied on
this point, he loosed all the bonds and jumped back to avoid the
indomitable youngster's retort of beak and claws. Unamazed by his
sudden freedom, the young eagle flopped angrily away to the farther
end of the ledge; and Horner, having resumed his useful shirt, started
to climb down the mountain, whose ascent he had so heedlessly
adventured nearly two weeks before. As he lowered himself over the
dizzy brink, he glanced up, to see the male eagle circling slowly
above him, gazing down at him with the old challenge in his unwinking,
golden eyes.

"I reckon you win!" said Horner, waving the imperturbable bird a grave
salutation.