Honker and Dippy Arrive 



spotted with white, and there are streaks of white 

 on his throat and the sides of his neck. On his 

 breast and below he is all white. You certainly 

 ought to get acquainted with Dippy, Peter, for 

 there isn't anybody quite like him." 



"I'd like to," replied Peter. "But if he never 

 comes to shore, how can I ? I guess I will have to 

 be content to know him just by his voice. I 

 certainly never will forget that. It's about as 

 crazy sounding as the voice of Old Man Coyote, 

 and that is saying a great deal." 



"There's one thing I forgot to tell you," said 

 Honker. " Dippy can't fly from the land ; he must 

 be on the water in order to get up in the air." 



"You can, can't you ?" asked Peter. 



"Of course I can," replied Honker. "Why, we 

 Geese get a lot of our food on land. When it is 

 safe to do so we visit the grain fields and pick up 

 the grain that has been shaken out during harvest. 

 Of course we couldn't do that if we couldn't fly 

 from the land. We can rise from either land or 

 water equally well. Now if you'll excuse me, 

 Peter, I'll take a nap. My, but I'm tired ! And 

 I've got a long journey to-morrow." 



So Peter politely bade Honker and his relatives 

 good-night and left them in peace on the sandy bar 

 in the Big River. 



[291] 



