ather and mother one of these
days if you keep on," said Grannie. "And no one in the whole clan can
do better than they can. My, my, I can remember when your father was a
boy, how he used to hunt eggs! That's how he got the name of Hawk-Eye.
He could find eggs, and other things too, where nobody else could find
anything at all. How he could swing along through the trees! No wild
creatures could ever get the start of him. And then your mother! She
could run faster than the wind could blow. She wasn't easily scared, I
can tell you. She had always her legs to depend upon! I've seen her
run from a mad buck so fast that she made just a streak of light through
the forest. And when the buck got too near, she swung herself into a
tree and then hung by her legs safe above his head and teased the buck
crazy because he could not reach her. Ah! She was a wild one in those
days, and well she earned her name of Limberleg!"

"I'm sure the eggs must be done by this time," said Firetop.

Grannie reached down and poked the ashes away from the eggs. They were
very hot, but her hands were so tough and horny that she could even
handle live coals. She gave one egg to Firefly. Firefly took it in her
hand, but her hands were not quite so tough as Grannie's and it burned
her like everything! She dropped it on the ground, squealing with pain.
It was cooked so hard that it did not spill, though the shell was
broken. Grannie laughed.

"Aha," she said, "I'm even with you now for giving me such a scare."

"Ho," boasted Firetop, "that's nothing. Watch me! I guess if you can
handle them I can." He reached down and picked up an egg and held it in
his hand. It was just as hot as a coal of fire, but he pretended it
didn't hurt him. He cracked and ate it in two bites, and though I'm
sure it must have burned a red path all the way to his stomach, he never
said a word. But when Firefly wasn't looking he did suck the air into
his mouth to cool his tongue!

"Grannie can have the other egg, can't she, Firetop, because we scared
her so," said Firefly, when they had each eaten one.

"You may scare me every day that you bring me bird's eggs," said
Grannie.

Grannie took the last egg from the ashes and was just cracking it when
suddenly there was a shout which made them all jump. Those were pretty
jumpy times, I can tell you, for a new sound might mean almost any kind
of danger. There were so many wild beasts in the forest that no