stub aud go ashore, lost instantly in the thick 

 swamp tangle. 



Or I would slip up and catch him half asleep, 

 when he should have been very wide awake, 

 for the one in the stub could not see out, and 

 he was on guard. Oe-eek! Oe-eek! he would 

 whistle low in alarm. Then, recognizing me, he 

 would calmly watch while I edged past. Or I 

 would come up and find no one about. I would 

 tap. There in the splintered top she would 

 stand, interested, but not disturbed, and with a 

 look of trust in her eyes that I never could 

 betray. 



Little Aix was the only one of the brood to 

 survive his motherless ducklinghood. But he 

 throve in the barn -yard, and came through the 

 winter to perfect and beautiful maturity. Up 

 to this time he had been content in the barn- 

 yard babel, but now a change came over him. 

 Ever since the first February wedge of wild 

 geese had passed honking through the skies, he 

 had been restless, and had fallen more and more 

 into the habit of flying over to the swale, where 

 he stayed until dusk. 



He was dressed for a wedding, but his bride 

 [228] 



