"It can't be possible that it is she! How did she manage to get in with
people of that class? Why, we left her at Oeland to freeze and starve."
"The worse of it is she will tattle to father and mother that we flew
so close to her that we knocked her wing out of joint," said Goldeye.
"You'll see that it will end in our being driven from the island!"
"We have nothing but trouble in store for us, now that that young one
has come back!" snapped Prettywing. "Still I think it would be best for
us to appear as pleased as possible over her return. She is so stupid
that perhaps she didn't even notice that we gave her a push on purpose."
While Prettywing and Goldeye were talking in this strain, the wild geese
had been standing on the strand, pluming their feathers after the
flight. Now they marched in a long line up the rocky shore to the cleft
where Dunfin's parents usually stopped.
Dunfin's parents were good folk. They had lived on the island longer
than any one else, and it was their habit to counsel and aid all
newcomers. They too had seen the geese approach, but they had not
recognized Dunfin in the flock.
"It is strange to see wild geese land on this island," remarked the
goose-master. "It is a fine flock--that one can see by their flight."
"But it won't be easy to find pasturage for so many," said the
goose-wife, who was gentle and sweet-tempered, like Dunfin.
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