Then what must his feelings be now, when he was so tiny that two
or three of them could overpower him? One shudder after another
travelled down his spinal column as he stood and stared at them.
But strangely enough, the wild geese seemed to feel the same aversion
toward the rats that he did. They did not speak to them; and when they
were gone, they shook themselves as if their feathers had been
mud-spattered.
"Such a lot of gray rats abroad!" said Iksi from Vassipaure. "That's not
a good omen."
The boy intended to take advantage of this opportunity to say to Akka
that he thought she ought to let him go with them to Kullaberg, but he
was prevented anew, for all of a sudden a big bird came down in the
midst of the geese.
One could believe, when one looked at this bird, that he had borrowed
body, neck and head from a little white goose. But in addition to this,
he had procured for himself large black wings, long red legs, and a
thick bill, which was too large for the little head, and weighed it down
until it gave him a sad and worried look.
Akka at once straightened out the folds of her wings, and curtsied many
times as she approached the stork. She wasn't specially surprised to see
him in Skane so early in the spring, because she knew that the male
storks are in the habit of coming in good season to take a look at the
nest, and see that it hasn't been damaged during the winter, before the
female storks go to the trouble of flying over the East sea.
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