Читать книгу Munchausen XX онлайн

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I ran to where she stood, wringing her hands and screaming.

“Do you want the child?” I asked.

She turned her tear-stained face upon me with a look of astonishment, undoubtedly produced by my question.

“Yes, yes!” she cried. “But he is lost!”

“No,” said I with the greatest calmness, “I will get him for you.”

The bird was now far up in the air. I slipped a pebble into my sling, whirled it about my head, and shot the missile upward.

It caught the eagle just behind the ear and stunned it so that it stiffened its wings and began to soar gently downward. I had intended merely to stun it, and now put another pebble in the sling, for use when I saw the bird was beginning to recover. I, of course, knew it would never do to kill the bird in the air, for then the force of the fall from that height would most certainly injure the child severely if it did not kill it outright.

As the eagle showed signs of returning to consciousness, I sent forth the other pebble upon its errand of mercy and hit him in exactly the same place, but upon the other side of his head. This changed his direction just sufficiently to bring him gradually back, until, at last, he settled softly down, leaving the child in the very spot from whence he had taken it. I rushed up and hit him a smart rap on the top of the head and victory was mine.