“I’ll bet he did!  You don’t know what a good sport Whalen is when he strikes any thing out of the ordinary in that line.  If I were you, Ralph”—–­here the doctor leaned over the side of his car, and spoke earnestly—–­“I’d try to locate their eyrie and capture them, dead or alive, Or, it might be worth your while even to lead the professor up to a place where he could get a safe shot at the birds.  He talked of coming up here some day this week.  I tell you what I’ll do; I’ll send him here to you, and you can guide him.”

“No, no!” protested the lad, eagerly.  “Just give me his address, and I’ll do my best to get the pair for him and bring them to him in the village.”

“You can ride over with me and see him, the next time I come up here,” said the doctor.  “Good luck, Ralph!”

“Thank you, sir!  Good bye!”

When the automobile skidded out of sight, leaving a cloud of dust, Ralph remained standing by the gate, warmed by a new hope which the doctor’s suggestion had kindled in his mind.  No longer did the hundred and twenty-five dollars seem unattainable, no longer did clouds of gloom and anxiety hide their silver lining!  Here was another way of earning money for his mother’s desperate need:  an uncertain, difficult, even dangerous way, to be sure, but one well worth trying.  Yes, he would make the attempt, even though he hated to take the lives of those splendid creatures of the air.  He determined to get those eagles for the professor.

Full of this plan, he led Keno to the stable, unsaddled and fed him, and then, while waiting for his mother to call him in to dinner, skinned the mink he had trapped.  His active mind was busy devising the best way of securing the prize.

In the house, he found his mother less dejected than usual; doubtless the doctor’s visit had had a cheering effect upon her.  However, Ralph said nothing to her of his new hopes, because, after all, they might prove too slender to build upon; they might lead only to disappointment.  He plunged at once into a lively account of his morning’s hunt, and from that he went on to discuss with her the first steps to take in the early planting.

The next morning Ralph was up before sunrise.  Instead of bringing his trapping to an abrupt end, he decided to get up at an earlier hour than before, in order to have time for his daily rounds of visiting the traps.  He did not know which day the professor might choose for coming in quest of the golden eagles, and he was determined that no one should get ahead of him.

“After all, he can’t come hunting up here on our land without my permission, for that would be trespassing,” reflected Ralph.  “And if he should turn up, I can tell him that I’m on the job, myself.”

Two busy days passed.  While attending to his traps, in the early hours, Ralph never once allowed his rifle to lie beyond his reach; yet a third day went by, and he had no chance for a shot at the coveted birds of prey.  Several times he caught sight of them hovering above the gray cliffs where he knew they were preparing to build a nest, but each time they were too far away to risk a shot.