"Oh! say, can't we, keep him for a pet?" ejaculated Bumpus, who could
hardly take his eyes off the bird, for its plumage was certainly
beautiful, being a combination of creamy yellows and nut browns, while
two bunches stuck up like horns from the region of his ears.

"I've got a nice little chain we might put around one of his legs, and
what fun we'd have with the thing while we were afloat on the raging
lake," Step Hen went on to say.

"Allan, get on that thick pair of gloves we brought, and see if you
could fasten the chain to his leg. It would be worth while to have some
sort of pet along with us; because Bumpus has kicked over the traces
long ago, and won't let us make a baby out of him any more," Thad went
on to remark.

When he had protected his hands in this way, Allan had little difficulty
in adjusting the slender but strong steel chain which Step Hen had
brought with him, intending to use in case he managed to capture a
raccoon, or some other small beast, for he was especially found of pets.

When they had fastened the other end of the chain to something, the owl
sat on the limb of a tree, and gazed at them with blinking eyes. There
was still enough of daylight, with all that glow in the western heavens
to interfere with his sight more or less, and he simply ruffled up his
feathers in high dudgeon, and kept trying to pick at the chain that held
his leg.

"Now, that's what I call a pretty good start," argued Step Hen, as he
stood in front of the chained owl, and admired his plumage; "perhaps
later on I might happen to land a 'coon or a mink, who knows. I've