ough I didn't fire it off, but I should
have been doing no more than my duty, and that's more than you can say,
seeing that this wood is strictly preserved.'

Ralph laughed, and they sauntered off together, and the kestrel sailed
back to her despoiled nest. If only she had known it, she had reason to
be grateful to Ralph, for if he had not been in the act of robbing the
nest, she might have been shot herself, and at any rate her eggs would
have been destroyed. As it was she had in time two little downy
fledglings to console her, and this fact was a comfort to
Marjorie, though perhaps Ralph thought more of the fun of the little
adventure than of the bird's feelings.

THE GIANT OF THE TREASURE CAVES.

(_Continued from page 187._)

Having seen Mrs. Wright and her son about her from the earliest moment
of consciousness, and after the first feeling of strangeness in her
surroundings had worn off, Estelle took everything quite naturally, as
if she had never known any other life. With the experience of the
child's terrible illness to frighten her, Mrs. Wright dared not perplex
her mind with questions, or attempt to rouse her memory. Till she had
strength to think and realise under what altered conditions she was
living, the child had better be treated with simple love and care. Being
naturally healthy, Estelle soon began to gain in strength steadily. The
headaches from which she suffered gradually grew less distressing, and
as soon as she was able to sit up, she was carried in Jack's strong arms
into another room, and laid upon a great soft couch.

Estelle looked about her with a growing wonder and delight. She was in
the queerest and quaintest room she had ever seen. It appeared to be a
little of everything: a sitting-room and a kitchen and a cave. There was
a big fireplace, in which huge logs of wood were burning on the floor,
partly supported by iron dogs; the floor of the room was of sand, with a
rug here and there. The ceiling and walls were of rock, the light being
admitted through an opening at a great height above the ground. Very
large, high, airy, and beautifully clean, it was yet very marvellous. A
long dresser covered with plates and jugs stood against the end wall; an
old-fashioned oak settle occupied one side of the fireplace, and the
couch on which she lay the other side, thus forming a sort of cosy
encampment in the great cave. A big round table stood in the centre,
decorated with a bowl of wild fl