Poor little Arthur looked terribly ashamed, and East exploded in laughter which made the wood ring.

“I’ve hardly ever seen any trees,” faltered Arthur.

“What a shame to hoax him, Scud!” cried Martin. “Never mind, Arthur, you shall know more about trees than he does in a week or two.”

“And isn’t that the kestrel’s nest then?” asked Arthur.

“That! why, that’s a piece of mistletoe. There’s the nest, that lump of sticks up this fir.”

“Don’t believe him, Arthur,” struck in the incorrigible East; “I just saw an old magpie go out of it.”

Martin did not deign to reply to this sally, except by a grunt, as he buckled the last buckle of his climbing- irons; and Arthur looked reproachfully at East without speaking.

Climbing the Fir-tree after the Kestrel’s Nest

But now came the tug of war. It was a very difficult tree to climb until the branches were reached, the first of which was some fourteen feet up, for the trunk was too large at the bottom to be swarmed; in fact, neither of the boys could reach more than half round it with their arms. Martin and Tom, both of whom had irons on, tried it without success at first; the fir bark broke away where they stuck the irons in as soon as they leant any weight on their feet, and the grip of their arms wasn’t enough to keep them up; so, after getting up three or four feet, down they came slithering to the ground, barking their arms and faces. They were furious, and East sat by laughing and shouting at each failure, “Two to one on the old magpie!”

“We must try a pyramid,” said Tom at last. “Now, Scud, you lazy rascal, stick yourself against the tree!”

“I dare say! and have you standing on my shoulders with the irons on: what do you think my skin’s made of?” However, up he got, and leant against the tree, putting his head down and clasping it with his arms as far as he could.

“Now then, Madman,” said Tom, “you next.”

“No, I’m lighter than you; you go next.” So Tom got on East’s shoulders, and grasped the tree above, and then Martin scrambled up on to Tom’s shoulders, amidst the totterings and groanings of the pyramid, and, with a spring which sent his supporters howling to the ground, clasped the stem some ten feet up, and remained clinging. For a moment or two they thought he couldn’t get up, but then holding on with arms and teeth, he worked first one iron, then the other, firmly into the bark, got another grip with his arms, and in another minute had hold of the lowest branch.

“All up with the old magpie now,” said East; and, after a minute’s rest, up went Martin, hand over hand, watched by Arthur with fearful eagerness.

“Isn’t it very dangerous?” said he.

“Not a bit,” answered Tom; “you can’t hurt if you only get good hand-hold. Try every branch with a good pull before you trust it, and then up you go.”

Martin was now amongst the small branches close to the nest, and away dashed the old bird, and soared up above the trees, watching the intruder.

“All right—four eggs!” shouted he.

“Take ’em all!” shouted East; “that’ll be one a-piece.”