A boat containing three hunters now approached the beach. The men were Mr. Peterman and two friends of his, and it was they who had shot the birds. They stepped ashore in good humor to gather up their booty.
"Why, there is Knut!" said Mr. Peterman. "How in the world did you get so many birds together here at Perlebank?"
"I was playing on my pipe for the fish and the birds came to the party," answered Knut, jokingly.
"Then you must certainly be a wonderfully clever player," said Mr. Peterman. "And hereafter, your name shall be Knut Spelevink."[2]
"All right," said Knut. He had had no surname before and thought he might as well have Spelevink as Anderson, Söderlund or Mattsson.
"But listen, Knut Spelevink; why do you look so poorly to-day? You are as thin as a rail," said Mr. Peterman.
"Why shouldn't I look poorly, who see all this food and have not eaten anything since yesterday noon?" replied Knut, in his cheerful fashion.
"H'm," said Mr. Peterman. "Well, come to The Ridge to dinner to-day, since you have provided us with such a good catch. But don't come until four o'clock because the birds won't be plucked and roasted before that."
"Thank you most humbly," answered Knut; but he thought to himself that four o'clock was rather late for any one who had eaten nothing since yesterday!
Mr. Peterman and his friends rowed away and Knut went home to his grandmother.