us that thou art said ned how did thy foolish find that out didn t i hear you last night when you were so that could hardly stand into s ear that you would neither take rest nor food until you restored her favorite te her fist did i say that exclaimed ned was l ridiculous � i can t pretend to do justice to your on the occasion it would require higher poetical powers than i boast of to imitate even in a small degree the of your speech the common of the dictionary would make but poor for my use if i attempted it � i you now said hazard is not this deplorable that i i knight e a man should hare a who hates a fool all worldly and yet be so by his evil genius that he may never appear any thing else to her i am not a miserable merry by nature and yet by wherever is i am ever the v y crown piece of folly and do you think said i that this little girl so instinct as she is with the animal impulses � a laughing � is such a in as to be noting down your nonsense in her for rebuke why sir that is the very point upon which you must hope to win her i am afraid i wasn t respectful said ned i assure you i replied that so far from not being respectful you were the most observant and ass � considering that you were in your cups � i ever saw was i so exclaimed ned then i am content for on that score is as great a fool as i am or any other now if i can only bring her back her bird he said � and i have some that i shall get tidings of him � i shall rise to the very top of her saying this ned forward to a gallop and flourished his whip in the air as he called to me to follow at the same speed mark watch every thing that flies he cried out you may see the harness about his legs and listen for the bells for the can t move without � i live in my lady s grace � remember the motto now by our lady � i mean our lady said i for henceforth i will swear by none but her � i am as keen upon this quest as yourself i vow not to sleep until i hear something of this ungrateful bird my reader would perhaps deem it a hopeless venture to at the recovery of a bird under the of this ease but it will occur to him if he be read in romance that it was not an to regain a stray hawk as he might at first imagine a bird will seldom wander far from his accustomed haunt and being alien to the wild habits of hi species will almost invariably resort to the dwellings of man having been known to direct his flight up the river we had good reason to hope that the inhabitants of this quarter might put our search upon a successful track for a good half mile therefore we rode at speed the highway leading to the the of our motion with the extravagant nature of the enterprise and the agreeable temperature of the morning and cool had raised our spirits to a high pitch in this mood we soon arrived at sandy s little inn upon the river all that we could learn here was that the hawk had been seen in the neighborhood the day before and had probably continued his flight further up the river with this intimation we proceeded rapidly upon our pursuit it was near noon when through many paths visiting every habitation that fell in our way we had gained a point about five miles distant from swallow barn some doubtful tidings of were obtained at one or two houses on the road for the last hour our journey had been without encouragement and we began to feel oppressed with the mid day of the season it was therefore somewhat that we halted to hold a consultation whether or not we should push our expedition farther not far distant from the road we could perceive the ridge pole of a log cabin showing itself above a patch of luxuriant indian corn this little dwelling stood upon the bank of the river and as a last essay we resolved to visit it and its inmates knight e in the of our enterprise it was with some we made our way through a breach in the high worm fence that bounded the road and after struggling along a path beset with and we at length found ourselves by the corn immediately around the hut at this moment wilful sprang from the path and ran eagerly towards the yard in the rear of the dwelling he did not halt until he arrived at an apple tree where hung a rude cage under this he continued to bark with quick and earnestness until ned called him back with a threat that brought him crouching beneath the feet of our horses where he remained restless and every now and then making a short bound in the direction of the tree and looking up wistfully in hazard s face in the mean time an old negro woman had come to the door and as ned engaged her in conversation wilful stole off unobserved a second time to the tree where he fell to jumping up against the trunk uttering at the same time a short half subdued howl is something in the branches above the cage i exclaimed as i followed the movements of the dog with my eye it is himself i see the silver rings upon his legs glittering through the leaves i for heaven s sake mark keep quiet 