too late, that his voice
sounded exactly like the cry of a Hawk!

"Away and away he flew, over mountains, and valleys, and rivers, and
lakes, until at last, as I looked down, I saw a man pointing a gun at
us. A moment later he shot, and the black chick gave a scream of pain,
at the same time releasing his hold of me; so that I fell over and over
and finally fluttered to the ground.

"Then I found I had escaped one danger only to encounter another, for
as I reached the ground the man seized me and carried me under his arm
to his home. Entering the house, he said to his wife:

"'Here is a nice, fat hen for our breakfast.'

"'Put her in the coop,' replied the woman. 'After supper I will cut off
her head and pick the feathers from her body.'

"This frightened me greatly, as you may suppose, and when the man
placed me in the coop I nearly gave way to despair. But, finding myself
alone, I plucked up courage and began looking for a way to escape. To
my great joy I soon discovered that one of the slats of the coop was
loose, and, having pushed it aside, I was not long in gaining my
liberty.

"Once free, I ran away from the place as fast as possible, but did not
know in which direction to go, the country being so strange to me. So I
fluttered on, half running and half flying, until I reached the place
where an army of soldiers was encamped. If these men saw me I feared
they would also wish to eat me for breakfast; so I crept into the mouth
of a big cannon, thinking I should escape attention and be safe until
morning. Soon I fell asleep, and so sound was my slumber that the next
thing I heard was the conversation of some soldiers who stood beside
the cannon.

"'It is nearly sunrise,' said one. 'You must fire the salute. Is the
cannon loaded?'

"'Oh, yes,' answered the other. 'What shall I shoot at?'

"' Fire into the air, for then you will not hurt any one,' said the
first soldier.

"By this time I was trembling with fear, and had decided to creep out
of the cannon and take the chances of being caught, when, suddenly,
'Bang!' went the big gun, and I shot into the air with a rush like that
of a whirlwind.

"The noise nearly deafened me, and my nerves were so shattered that for
a time I was helpless. I felt myself go up and up into the air, until
soon I was far above the clouds. Then I recovered my wits, and when I
began to come down again I tried to fly. I knew the Valley of Mo must
be somewhere to the west; so I f