From this high post of
observation he presently caught sight of an eagle, winging his way up
from the swamp at the lower end of the valley. With a sharp signal cry
for volunteers, he dashed off in pursuit. He was joined by two other
crows who happened to be at leisure; and the three, quickly overtaking
the majestic voyager, began to load him with impertinence and abuse.
With their comparatively short but very broad wings the crows could
dodge so nimbly in the air that if was quite impossible for their great
enemy to catch them. He made no attempt to do so. Indignantly he
changed the direction of his flight, and began to soar, climbing
gradually into the blue in splendid, sweeping circles; while the crows,
croaking mockery and triumph, kept flapping above him and below,
darting at his eyes, and dashing with open beaks at the shining
whiteness of his crown. They dared not come near enough to actually
touch him, but they succeeded in making themselves most unpleasant.
The eagle glared at them steadily with his fierce, black-and-yellow
eyes, but otherwise seemed to pay them no attention whatever. Only he
kept mounting higher and higher, till at last his impish
tormentors--_impish_, I said--dared follow him no farther.
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