"
A general movement followed, each of the competitors got ready,
and the girls stood in eager expectation of the result. The eagle
had made a wide circuit after his low swoop, and fanning his way
upward, once more hovered nearly over the hut, at a distance even
greater than before. Chingachgook gazed at him, and then expressed
his opinion of the impossibility of striking a bird at that great
height, and while he was so nearly perpendicular, as to the range.
But a low murmur from Hist produced a sudden impulse and he fired.
The result showed how well he had calculated, the eagle not even
varying his flight, sailing round and round in his airy circle,
and looking down, as if in contempt, at his foes.
"Now, Judith," cried Deerslayer, laughing, with glistening and
delighted eyes, "we'll see if Killdeer isn't Killeagle, too! Give
me room Sarpent, and watch the reason of the aim, for by reason
any thing may be l'arned."
A careful sight followed, and was repeated again and again, the bird
continuing to rise higher and higher. Then followed the flash and
the report. The swift messenger sped upward, and, at the next
instant, the bird turned on its side, and came swooping down,
now struggling with one wing and then with the other, sometimes
whirling in a circuit, next fanning desperately as if conscious of
its injury, until, having described several complete circles around
the spot, it fell heavily into the end of the Ark.
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