The tree was bare and barked. Its lower branches had long since rotted and now lay on the ground crumbling. Rough knots remained, however, here and there, and by grasping these Tom was able to make the ascent. The old birds whirled round the tree in giant spirals. First one and then the other would suddenly swerve from the circle and sweep past the boy’s head so close that he would involuntarily throw up his arm in defence. When Tom was about thirty feet from the ground all thought of the infuriated birds was suddenly driven from his mind. At a distance of perhaps one hundred yards stood an unusually thick clump of cactus. In the midst of this, peering intently at him, was a dark, bronzed face--that of an Apache Indian. A wave of terror swept over the boy, and in his fright he imagined he could even discern the triumphant expression upon the swarthy visage, as it sank behind the dark barrier. Then all of a sudden he became cool. He looked for his horse. To his dismay he discovered that the animal had wandered some little distance from the tree. Then he realized his danger. If he descended at once it would be to certain death. His only hope lay in strategy. Immediately he again began the struggle upward. All the suppressed energy of the moment went into the grip of his hands as they took hold of the rough knots. The eagles became more demonstrative, and more than once the swish of a powerful wing caused him to duck his head. But of this he was hardly conscious. When at length he bent over the nest, under pretense of examining it, Tom’s eyes were in reality strained in an attempt to locate the enemy. He never knew whether the nest contained one or two eaglets. His mustang and the Indian were about the same distance from the tree. But how was he to reach the animal? A too sudden descent would arouse suspicion. At length, with every nerve on edge for the trial to come, he began to work his way down. The eagles, their courage increased with apparent victory, gave even freer utterance to their rage, and their shrieks as they swooped past his head rang in the boy’s ears for many a day afterward. On a sudden thought, as if in mockery, he took up the cries of the birds, imitating them by long, piercing whistles. Presently the sound varied, yet to such a slight degree that a listener might not have noted it. Tip, the pony, however, did seem to notice it, and at each call would lift his head impatiently and look in the direction of the tree. Finally, as if by a familiar impulse, he tossed his head in air, and walked slowly toward the well-known call. All the while Tom had kept his face in such a direction that the Indian could not have left his ambush without being discovered. The pony was now within twenty paces of the tree. By way of distracting the Indian’s attention, the boy waved his hat and shouted to an imaginary comrade.