r. But in this case the aggravation was
unprecedented. Never before had the "King of the Air" known what it was
to have his lawful prey and hard-won spoils snatched from him. With a
sudden sharp yelp of rage he whirled, shot upward, and swooped, with a
twang of stiff-set feathers, straight at his adversary's head. Totally
unprepared for such a daring assault, the bear could not ward it off.
Several sudden red gashes on his head showed where those knife-like
talons had struck. "_Wah!_" he bawled, half-rising on his haunches and
throwing up a great forearm in defence. The eagle, swooping upward out
of reach, swung round and hovered as if about to repeat the attack.

As the bear crouched, half-sitting, one paw on the mangled prey, the
other uplifted in readiness for stroke or parry, the furious bird
hesitated. He knew the full menace of that massive upraised paw, which,
clumsy though it looked, could strike as swiftly as the darting head of
a snake. For all his rage, he had no mind to risk a maimed wing. In a
second or two he swooped again, this time as if to catch the foe in the
back; but he took care not to come too close. The bear whirled on his
haunches, and struck viciously; but his claws met nothing but empty air,
while a stiff wing-tip brushed smartingly across his eyes.

Again, and yet again, the eagle swooped, never coming quite within
reach. Again and yet again the bear, boiling with embarrassed fury,
whirled and struck, but in vain. He struck nothing more tangible than
air. The sharp indignant yelps of the great bird flapping close above
him were a defiance which he could not answer. He had the prize, but he
could not enjoy it. For a few moments he hesitated. Then doggedly he
crouched down, with his head partly shielded between his fore paws, and
fell to eating hurriedly. Before he could fairly swallow one mouthful,
the air again hissed ominously in his ears, and those clutching talons
tore at his neck. With a roar of pain, and wrath, and discomfiture, he
snatched the prey up in his jaws, and plunged into the thicket with his
head well down between his legs. As he vanished the implacable talons
struck once more, ripping red furrows in the black fur of his rump.

Smarting, and grumbling heavily, the bear lay down in the heart of the
willow thicket, and finished devouring the great trout. Still yelping,
the eagle circled above the thicket. Through the leafy branches he could
see the black form of his adversary; b