There the boy saw another
outlying stock farm under him. The people and the cattle had arrived.
The men were splitting wood, and the dairymaids were milking the cows.
"Look there!" said Gorgo. "I think we've got him."
He sank, and, to his great astonishment, the boy saw that the eagle was
right. There indeed stood little Clement Larsson chopping wood.
Gorgo alighted on a pine tree in the thick woods a little away from the
house.
"I have fulfilled my obligation," said the eagle, with a proud toss of
his head. "Now you must try and have a word with the man. I'll perch
here at the top of the thick pine and wait for you."
THE ANIMALS' NEW YEAR'S EVE
The day's work was done at the forest ranches, supper was over, and the
peasants sat about and chatted. It was a long time since they had been
in the forest of a summer's night, and they seemed reluctant to go to
bed and sleep. It was as light as day, and the dairymaids were busy with
their needle-work. Ever and anon they raised their heads, looked toward
the forest and smiled. "Now we are here again!" they said. The town,
with its unrest, faded from their minds, and the forest, with its
peaceful stillness, enfolded them. When at home they had wondered how
they should ever be able to endure the loneliness of the woods; but
once there, they felt that they were having their best time.
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