"Yes, Mr. Buckham," replied Neale.
"Ho, ho!" shouted the bushy-headed old man, spying Lycurgus and Sue coming from the edge of the woods. "I beat ye to it that time, Lycurgus. And what was little Sissy doing out there where the old eagle could git his eye on her? I swow! if it hadn't been for the dog, mebbe the eagle would ha' pecked her some—eh?"
"The eagle would have carried her off—the poor little thing," said Ruth, indignantly.
"No!" exclaimed Mr. Buckham.
"I believe it would, sir," Neale said.
"And that isn't the worst of it," went on the wrought up Corner House girl.
"What ain't the worst of it, miss?" asked the farmer.
"That poor little thing was sent out there by her father to attract the eagle."
"What?" roared Bob Buckham, his great face turning red with anger and his deep-set eyes flashing. "You mean to tell me he set little Sissy for eagle bait?"
He strode forward to meet Lycurgus Billet, leaving the dead bird behind him. The chagrined hunter smiled a sickly smile as big Bob Buckham approached.