They could see Nancy clinging far up in the tree; and the little eagles seemed also to spy her. For they set up a horrible squawking. Presently the girls heard another sound. A high piping scream far away, but growing louder.
“The old eagles are coming!” cried Nelly Sackett. “Hurry up, Nancy! Come down!”
You cannot hurry very fast coming down from a high tree. Nancy began to descend. But before she had gone very far a great shadow came between her and the sun. Mighty wings with a stretch of at least seven feet from tip to tip seemed to Nancy like the pinions of the Roc in the Arabian Nights. There were two of the birds, and they were circling round her high up in the air, screaming frightfully. The old eagles had come to defend their babies!
Nancy suddenly remembered the stories she had read about the fierceness of eagles when their young are in danger. She knew they would try to peck her eyes, or beat her with their great wings.
“Keep in the thick part of the tree, Nancy!” called out Nelly. “They can’t get at you there.”
Nancy clung close to the trunk, and gradually let herself slip down to the ground where the other girls were cowering, very white and anxious. The eagles could not get at them there, though they still circled screaming overhead. The trees grew too thickly; the great birds would not venture down among them where those enormous wings might be entangled in the branches. Eagles have to fight in the open; which is the only hope of the small, weak creatures they would otherwise make their prey.
“Oh Nancy!” Cicely grabbed her cousin with trembling hands. “I was so frightened!”
“It was a silly thing to do,” Nancy confessed rather shamefacedly. “Mother will certainly have the right to scold me. Since I wouldn’t keep together, I was very nearly taken apart! I’ll not forget our motto in a hurry, girls!”
“Let’s get away from here,” suggested Beverly. And the others were eager to do as she said. Tripping and breathless they made their way through the woods back to the main path up the mountain. The old eagles followed them for some distance, high up above the trees, screaming their anger at the meddling humans. But finally they gave up the pursuit, deciding perhaps to go back and hear what their youngsters had to tell about it. The girls breathed more freely when the sound of those most unregal voices ceased screaming overhead. But they did not pause for rest or for lunch, till they had the swamp and another small mountain between them and the eagle’s nest; till, in fact, they were on top of the highest mountain, where they chose a nice shady spot out of the wind and sank down to eat and enjoy the view.