“Oh, Lola and I were just dabbling our hands and arms while we waited for you to fasten the boats,” answered Ted’s sister, “and Trouble was throwing little stones into the water, when, all of a sudden, this big, white bird came flying down out of the sky. He made a terrible splash in the water.
“Trouble went up to it, and held out his red rubber ball. The swan bit at it, and then it bit his bloomers and tried to pull Trouble into the lake.”
“And I ran to get you,” said Lola, “while Jan held on to Trouble.”
“Oh, I guess the swan didn’t really try to pull Trouble into the lake,” said Uncle Ben. “Perhaps the swan isn’t as wild as I thought. It may have lived once on a lake near people’s houses. They get quite tame, and children feed them. The swans will take bits of bread from your hand.
“Maybe this swan thought Trouble’s red ball was a new kind of bread, but when he nibbled it with its yellow bill he thought he had been fooled. Then he may have pulled on Trouble’s bloomers to show that he was angry, or maybe that was his way of asking for something to eat.”
“Well, he scared me, ’Cause I thought he wanted Trouble!” exclaimed Jan.
“Bird scared Trouble,” added Trouble.
“And me, too,” said Lola. “I thought he’d fly away with Trouble.”
“No, he couldn’t do that,” explained Uncle Ben. “A swan is quite a large and heavy bird. They have to run along the top of the water for a little distance, to get a start so they can fly, just as an airship has to run along on the ground before it can rise up. But a swan couldn’t carry off even a little baby, to say nothing of a boy as big as Trouble.”
“Well, I’m glad it didn’t take him,” said Jan, as she held her small brother by the hand.