"It's all the same," answered the gander.
"Who is the little girl? She is coming to speak to us."
"THE LILY-BELLS SWAYED."
"Little girl, indeed," returned the gander contemptuously; "it's the Pine Queen; she has been asking you to come for weeks, but you took no notice of her. She sent messages by the swallows and the blackbirds, and the butterflies, and the grasshopper, but you did not heed them."
"I never heard them," said Felix, somewhat bewildered.
"Of course not; boys never do; they are always thinking of toys and games, and tarts and plum-cake, and the birds and butterflies speak to them in vain."
"I don't understand," said Felix.
"Of course not, but now," said the gander, suddenly rising in the water and flapping his wings; "having done my duty in bringing you here, I leave you to take care of yourself."
So saying he tossed Felix off his back to the bank, at the feet of the Pine Queen.