Chapter 9: The King's Provider

Miss Turner is glad to see Sam and helps him research hawks and falcons. Before he leaves, she gives him a haircut. He does not return to his tree home that night, instead keeping an eye out for the falcon he had seen earlier. When he spots it, he traces it back to its nest by some cliffs near a stream. He settles there for the night and the next morning climbs the cliff ledge until he reached the nest. There he finds three baby falcons, and as he gets closer is attacked by the mother falcon. Scared for his life, he grabs the biggest of the nestlings, knowing it is female, and heads down the ledge; the mother falcon stops attacking him to tend to the remaining two infants. Sam decides during his escape to name the bird Frightful, based on the difficulties in getting her. Reaching the stream, he falls asleep; waking he finds himself already very attached to the bird, and sets for his tree home.

Notes:
Sam's desire to have a falcon springs from several things. First, there is the practical need for a hunting animal he can control. Second, there is a romanticized notion of the falcon as "the king's provider" as stated by the chapter title. Third, there is a need for companionship, perhaps even a desire to be a parental figure to another being. Certainly, the bond between Sam and Frightful is the most powerful in the book, and Sam's nurturing of the hawk, then fear of its finally leaving him, mirrors his own situation with his parents.

Chapter 10: What I Did About the First Man Who Was After Me

As Sam reaches the meadow where his tree home is located, he senses something amiss and finds a forester in his camp area. At first he is scared about being caught, then realizes he need not return to his tree. Instead, he checks a trap, finds a rabbit caught there, and then chooses a place where he could watch his tree from a distance. He feeds Frightful parts of the rabbit, who would eat until she fell asleep, then awaken to eat some more. Sam realizes the forester is a fire warden who probably noticed the smoke from his camp; he resolves to be more careful in the future so he won't be spotted. Sam makes a temporary bough bed for himself and Frightful, and sleeps there for the night.

Notes:
The parental aspect of caring for Frightful is made clear in this chapter, as Sam takes pleasure in watching the bird feed and sleep. The fire warden is later revealed in a newspaper account to be named Jim Handy.

Chapter 11: I Learn to Season My Food

With the fire warden setting up a fire and sleeping near his home, Sam decides to check some of the traps he had set. He is surprised to find he trapped a weasel who is absolutely unafraid of him ' the creature he eventually names The Baron. Spending the day in the marsh, Sam sees a deer and again tries to figure out how to trap one so he can have a door for his house. He returns home in the early evening to find the warden finally gone. He boils hickory sticks overnight to make a kind of salt, in order to season his food. In the days that follows, he finishes building his bed and sets a trap to catch deer.

Notes:
Though he sometimes compares The Baron Weasel to humans, Sam repeatedly stresses how he cannot fathom the animal's motivation or behavior, finally attributing it to a need for companionship ' which may be Sam reflecting his own attitudes to the animal, as the weasel's behavior is contradictory in such a light. He refuses food from Sam until Halloween, is not always around the camp to provide company, and is constantly aggressive towards Sam. While this may indeed reflect the behavior of some humans, that doesn't mean the weasel is behaving in a demonstrably human fashion.