stroke of his heavy bill knocked Young Grumpy far back into the hole
again.

"In a great rage, the gander darted his head into the hole. Chattering
with indignation, Young Grumpy set his long teeth into that intruding
bill, and tried to pull it further in. The gander, much taken aback at
this turn of affairs, tried to pull it out again. For perhaps half a
minute it was a very good tug-of-war. 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.