All the geese had come out of the lake, and stood talking
with an old dog, who was so weak and decrepit that it seemed as if he
might drop dead at any moment.
"There's Karr," said Bataki to the boy. "Let him hear first what the
wild geese have to say to him; later we shall tell him that the
water-snake is dead."
Presently they heard Akka talking to Karr.
"It happened last year while we were making our usual spring trip,"
remarked the leader-goose. "We started out one morning--Yksi, Kaksi, and
I, and we flew over the great boundary forests between Dalecarlia and
Haelsingland. Under us we, saw only thick pine forests. The snow was
still deep among the trees, and the creeks were mostly frozen.
"Suddenly we noticed three poachers down in the forest! They were on
skis, had dogs in leash, carried knives in their belts, but had no guns.
"As there was a hard crust on the snow, they did not bother to take the
winding forest paths, but skied straight ahead. Apparently they knew
very well where they must go to find what they were seeking.
"We wild geese flew on, high up in the air, so that the whole forest
under us was visible. When we sighted the poachers we wanted to find out
where the game was, so we circled up and down, peering through the
trees. Then, in a dense thicket, we saw something that looked like big,
moss-covered rocks, but couldn't be rocks, for there was no snow on
them.
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