The geese stood sleeping on a little rock islet just beyond Fjällbacka.
When it drew on toward midnight, and the moon hung high in the heavens,
old Akka shook the sleepiness out of her eyes. After that she walked
around and awakened Yksi and Kaksi, Kolme and Neljä, Viisi and Kuusi,
and, last of all, she gave Thumbietot a nudge with her bill that
startled him.
"What is it, Mother Akka?" he asked, springing up in alarm.
"Nothing serious," assured the leader-goose. "It's just this: we seven
who have been long together want to fly a short distance out to sea
to-night, and we wondered if you would care to come with us."
The boy knew that Akka would not have proposed this move had there not
been something important on foot, so he promptly seated himself on her
back. The flight was straight west. The wild geese first flew over a
belt of large and small islands near the coast, then over a broad
expanse of open sea, till they reached the large cluster known as the
Väder Islands. All of them were low and rocky, and in the moonlight one
could see that they were rather large.
Akka looked at one of the smallest islands and alighted there. It
consisted of a round, gray stone hill, with a wide cleft across it, into
which the sea had cast fine, white sea sand and a few shells.
As the boy slid from the goose's back he noticed something quite close
to him that looked like a jagged stone. But almost at once he saw that
it was a big vulture which had chosen the rock island for a night
harbour. Before the boy had time to wonder at the geese recklessly
alighting so near a dangerous enemy, the bird flew up to them and the
boy recognized Gorgo, the eagle.
Evidently Akka and Gorgo had arranged the meeting, for neither of them
was taken by surprise.
"This was good of you, Gorgo," said Akka. "I didn't expect that you
would be at the meeting place ahead of us. Have you been here long?"
"I came early in the evening," replied Gorgo. "But I fear that the only
praise I deserve is for keeping my appointment with you. I've not been
very successful in carrying out the orders you gave me."
"I'm sure, Gorgo, that you have done more than you care to admit,"
assured Akka. "But before you relate your experiences on the trip, I
shall ask Thumbietot to help me find something which is supposed to be
buried on this island."
The boy stood gazing admiringly at two beautiful shells, but when Akka
spoke his name, he glanced up.
"You must have wondered, Thumbietot, why we turned out of our course to
fly here to the West Sea," said Akka.
"To be frank, I did think it strange," answered the boy. "But I knew, of
course, that you always have some good reason for whatever you do."
"You have a good opinion of me," returned Akka, "but I almost fear you
will lose it now, for it's very probable that we have made this journey
in vain.
"Many years ago it happened that two of the other old geese and myself
encountered frightful storms during a spring flight and were wind-driven
to this island. When we discovered that there was only open sea before
us, we feared we should be swept so far out that we should never find
our way back to land, so we lay down on the waves between these bare
cliffs, where the storm compelled us to remain for several days.
"We suffered terribly from hunger; once we ventured up to the cleft on
this island in search of food. We couldn't find a green blade, but we
saw a number of securely tied bags half buried in the sand. We hoped to
find grain in the bags and pulled and tugged at them till we tore the
cloth. However, no grain poured out, but shining gold pieces. For such
things we wild geese had no use, so we left them where they were. We
haven't thought of the find in all these years; but this autumn
something has come up to make us wish for gold.
"We do not know that the treasure is still here, but we have travelled
all this way to ask you to look into the matter."
With a shell in either hand the boy jumped down into the cleft and began
to scoop up the sand. He found no bags, but when he had made a deep hole
he heard the clink of metal and saw that he had come upon a gold piece.
Then he dug with his fingers and felt many coins in the sand. So he
hurried back to Akka.
"The bags have rotted and fallen apart," he exclaimed, "and the money
lies scattered all through the sand."
"That's well!" said Akka. "Now fill in the hole and smooth it over so no
one will notice the sand has been disturbed."
The boy did as he was told, but when he came up from the cleft he was
astonished to see that the wild geese were lined up, with Akka in the
lead, and were marching toward him with great solemnity.
The geese paused in front of him, and all bowed their heads many times,
looking so grave that he had to doff his cap and make an obeisance to
them.
"The fact is," said Akka, "we old geese have been thinking that if
Thumbietot had been in the service of human beings and had done as much
for them as he has for us they would not let him go without rewarding
him well."
"I haven't helped you; it is you who have taken good care of me,"
returned the boy.
"We think also," continued Akka, "that when a human being has attended
us on a whole journey he shouldn't be allowed to leave us as poor as
when he came."
"I know that what I have learned this year with you is worth more to me
than gold or lands," said the boy.
"Since these gold coins have been lying unclaimed in the cleft all these
years, I think that you ought to have them," declared the wild goose.
"I thought you said something about needing this money yourselves,"
reminded the boy.
"We do need it, so as to be able to give you such recompense as will
make your mother and father think you have been working as a goose boy
with worthy people."
The boy turned half round and cast a glance toward the sea, then faced
about and looked straight into Akka's bright eyes.
"I think it strange, Mother Akka, that you turn me away from your
service like this and pay me off before I have given you notice," he
said.
"As long as we wild geese remain in Sweden, I trust that you will stay
with us," said Akka. "I only wanted to show you where the treasure was
while we could get to it without going too far out of our course."
"All the same it looks as if you wished to be rid of me before I want to
go," argued Thumbietot. "After all the good times we have had together,
I think you ought to let me go abroad with you."
When the boy said this, Akka and the other wild geese stretched their
long necks straight up and stood a moment, with bills half open,
drinking in air.
"That is something I haven't thought about," said Akka, when she
recovered herself. "Before you decide to come with us, we had better
hear what Gorgo has to say. You may as well know that when we left
Lapland the agreement between Gorgo and myself was that he should travel
to your home down in Skåne to try to make better terms for you with the
elf."
"That is true," affirmed Gorgo, "but as I have already told you, luck
was against me. I soon hunted up Holger Nilsson's croft and after
circling up and down over the place a couple of hours, I caught sight of
the elf, skulking along between the sheds.
"Immediately I swooped down upon him and flew off with him to a meadow
where we could talk together without interruption.
"I told him that I had been sent by Akka from Kebnekaise to ask if he
couldn't give Nils Holgersson easier terms.
"'I only wish I could!' he answered, 'for I have heard that he has
conducted himself well on the trip; but it is not in my power to do so.'
"Then I was wrathy and said that I would bore out his eyes unless he
gave in.
"'You may do as you like,' he retorted, 'but as to Nils Holgersson, it
will turn out exactly as I have said. You can tell him from me that he
would do well to return soon with his goose, for matters on the farm are
in a bad shape. His father has had to forfeit a bond for his brother,
whom he trusted. He has bought a horse with borrowed money, and the
beast went lame the first time he drove it. Since then it has been of no
earthly use to him. Tell Nils Holgersson that his parents have had to
sell two of the cows and that they must give up the croft unless they
receive help from somewhere."
When the boy heard this he frowned and clenched his fists so hard that
the nails dug into his flesh.
"It is cruel of the elf to make the conditions so hard for me that I can
not go home and relieve my parents, but he sha'n't turn me into a
traitor to a friend! My father and mother are square and upright folk. I
know they would rather forfeit my help than have me come back to them
with a guilty conscience."