Then the superior weight and
strength of the great bird, with all the advantage of his beating wings,
suddenly triumphed, and Young Grumpy, too pig-headed to let go his hold,
was jerked forth once more into the open.
"The next moment another blow from one of those mighty wing elbows all
but stunned him, and his grip relaxed. He made a groping rush for the
burrow, but in that same instant the gander's great bill seized him by
the back of the neck and lifted him high into the air.
"This was very near being the end of Young Grumpy, for the one-eyed
gander would have bitten and banged and hammered at him till he was as
dead as a last year's June bug. But happily the Boy and the white dog
came running up in the nick of time. The gander dropped his victim and
stalked off haughtily. And poor Young Grumpy, after turning twice around
in a confused way, crawled back into his hole.
"The white dog opened his mouth from ear to ear, and looked up at the Boy
with an unmistakable grin. The Boy, half laughing, half sympathetic,
went and peered into the hole.
"'I guess you'd better keep out of Old Wall-Eye's way after this!' said
he.
"And Young Grumpy did. Whenever the one-eyed gander was in the yard,
then Young Grumpy stayed in the garden.
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