As the two boys made their way toward the foot of this cliff, a great bird came soaring over the top of it, and sailed in lofty circles over the valley.

“Look at that hawk!” cried Lew.  “Isn’t he a whopper?  Look at the spread of his wings.  And see how he soars, without ever moving a muscle.  I wonder if he can see us.”

Evidently the bird saw something, for suddenly it tilted downward, shot toward the earth like a flash, and was lost to sight behind the trees.

“Whew!” cried Charley.  “Did you see that drop?  It almost took my breath away to watch him.”

A moment later the bird rose into sight again, bearing in its talons a dark-colored animal of some sort.  Though the animal was not large, it must have weighed many pounds.  Yet the bird flew upward swiftly, lifting himself rapidly with strong strokes of its wings.

“Gee whiz!” exclaimed Charley, after watching the bird a moment.  “That’s no hawk!  That’s an eagle.  It’s a bald eagle, too.  See his white tail and head and the bare shanks?”

“Are you sure?” demanded Lew.  “I’ve always wanted to see a bald eagle.  It’s our national emblem, you know.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s one,” replied Charley.  “I’ve read about them and seen pictures of them, and that bird’s exactly like the pictures.  We can see his legs well because he’s holding them straight down.  They’re bare.  The golden eagle has feathers all the way to his toes.”

“Gee!  I’m glad we saw him,” exclaimed Lew.  “Look where he’s going.”

The bird flew straight toward the cliff, climbing upward with tremendous speed.  He flew directly to a ledge far up the precipice, where he vanished from sight.

“That’s where the nest is.  I’ll bet anything on it,” said Charley.  “We’ll keep an eye on this place and see if there are any little eagles later in the season.”

For some time they watched the ledge to which the eagle had flown, but the bird did not again come into sight.  Evidently the ledge was much wider than it appeared to be from the bottom of the valley, and perhaps the face of the cliff was worn away, cave like, at that point, affording a secure retreat.  At any rate, the eagle was seen no more.

“Well,” said Lew, after a time, “if we can’t see the eagle again, perhaps we can find out what sort of an animal it was he got.  I think I can pretty nearly point out the spot where he landed.”

They started toward the point at which the eagle had come to earth.  When they thought they were near the place they began to search the ground carefully for some signs of the tragedy that had occurred.  They looked in vain.  Nowhere could they find any telltale marks.

“I suspect it must have been a coon,” suggested Charley.  “It looked like it to me.  We know there are lots of them in this forest.”

Just then the excited chattering of squirrels attracted them.  They began to examine the trees about them.  Presently they came to one around which were scattered innumerable shells of nuts that had been gnawed into and eaten.