Waptonk turned to the shore and hurried to 

 his mate ahead of me. A moment he stood 

 over her reassuringly, bending to intertwine 

 his neck with hers and to rub his cheek softly 

 over her wings with a gesture that could mean 

 only a caress. His head bent lower still to 

 touch for an instant the goslings that were 

 hiding in the moss ; then he left them abruptly 

 and rushed to where I was standing watch- 

 ing the amazing scene, and drew up defiantly, 

 squarely across my path. 



An involuntary thrill of admiration ran 

 over me as I looked down at him standing 

 there so strong and confident, ready to de- 

 fend his own. " You splendid fellow ; you 

 brave knight, if ever there was one among 

 the feathered folk!" I kept saying to myself. 

 But I wanted to test him farther, and espe- 

 cially I wanted to see all that was hidden 



201 



In Quest of 

 tf&p/oz?A^~ 



in the gray moss; so I 

 started forward again 

 cautiously. 



At the first step a 

 lightning transforma- 

 tion swept over 





