t right," said Kernel Cob.

But nothing happened to raise their hopes.

So they went up into the hills in search of a scene that looked like
the one that the Magician had shown them on the crystal ball in
India, and they walked about all day until, tired and worn out, they
crept into a hollow stump to rest.

They slept all night and in the morning they walked on.

They were pretty high up in the mountains now, and Sweetclover, who
was very tired, began to cry.

"Oh dear, oh dear," said she, "will nothing ever happen to help us?"

And just then something did happen; something that looked as if it
were going to do them a great deal of harm, but which really did them
a great deal of good and it was this:

High over their heads, so small that you could scarcely see it, was an
eagle. He was flying about in circles that brought him nearer and
nearer to where Kernel Cob and Sweetclover were sitting.

Closer and closer he flew, and still they didn't see him until it was
too late.

With a cry of alarm, Sweetclover jumped to her feet but the eagle
caught her up in a powerful claw.

Kernel Cob had been slow to see the danger, and by the time he had
drawn his sword and was ready for the attack, he, too, had been caught
and was struggling in the eagle's grasp.

You know, of course, that eagles carry things off to their nests, and
I suppose this one thought that Kernel Cob and Sweetclover were
babies, and would be nice for Mrs. Eagle to play with. So, with the
two dolls in his claws, he rose up from the ground with a great swoop.

CRACK!

The sound of a rifle and a bullet ripped through Kernel Cob's hat and
struck the eagle full in the breast. His wings fluttered for a minute,
and then with a plunge like a ball of lead he fell to the earth.

"Well, well, well!" said Kernel Cob, as they lay under the eagle,
"that was a pretty close shave."

"I wonder who did it," said Sweetclover.

"I don't know," said Kernel Cob, "but whoever it was did us a very
good turn, for if he hadn't killed the Eagle we'd have been pulled to
pieces in his nest, just to see what was inside of us. But come, we
must get out of here before the hunter comes to take us, for surely he
will want to keep the Eagle."

"I don't see how we are to get out of here," said Sweetclover, "for
this Eagle weighs about a thousand pounds. I can't move, can you?"

And when Kernel Cob attempted to pull himself from under the Eagle he
found he couldn't do it wit