o, for
she could no longer endure the insinuations which were circulated about
her. Lest there should be any mistake she enclosed a copy of a note she
had sent to the other gentleman, telling him that she should never
speak to him again. Finally, she put the address of the village in
France to which she was going, and begged and prayed him to write to
her.

When the poor old man had read these words, and saw that after all the
playful magpie must have taken the glittering locket and placed it, not
in his nest, but a chink of the tree; when he learned that all these
years and years the girl he had so dearly loved must have been waiting
with aching heart for a letter of forgiveness from him, the orchard swam
round, as it were, before his eyes, he heard a rushing sound like a
waterfall in his ears, the returning light of the sun went out again,
and he fainted. Had it not been for the young gentleman, who caught him,
he would have fallen to the ground, and it was just at this moment that
Bevis and his papa arrived at the spot.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE GREAT BATTLE.

Early the same morning when Kapchack awoke, he was so much refreshed by
the sound slumber he had enjoyed, that much of his depression--the sharp
edge of his pain as it were--had passed away. The natural vivacity of
his disposition asserted itself, and seemed to respond to the glory of
the sunshine. Hungry from his long fast, away he flew to well-known
places reserved for his own especial feeding-ground, and having
satisfied his appetite went up into a hawthorn, trimmed his feathers,
and began to think things over.

He at once decided that something of an exceptional character must be
attempted in order to regain his authority. Half measures, delays, and
intrigues were now in vain; some grand blow must be struck, such as
would fill all hearts with admiration or dismay. Another treaty with
Choo Hoo was out of the question, for the overbearing rebel would throw
in his face the assassination of the envoy, and even could it be thought
of, who could he entrust with the mission? His throne was completely
surrounded with traitors. He ground his beak as he thought of them, and
resolved that terrible indeed should be the vengeance he would take if
once he got them again into his power. The hope of revenge was the
keenest spur of all to him to adventure something bold and unexpected;
the hope of revenge, and the determination that the house of Kapchack
should not