augh.

The bird heard him, and, with a flap of his wings, he was up on the
rock. The boy rose quickly and walked toward him.

"Are you not the one who is called Bataki, the raven? and are you not a
friend of Akka from Kebnekaise?" asked the boy.

The bird regarded him intently; then nodded three times.

"Surely, you're not the little chap who flies around with the wild
geese, and whom they call Thumbietot?"

"Oh, you're not so far out of the way," said the boy.

"What luck that I should have run across you! Perhaps you can tell me
who killed this water-snake?"

"The stone which I rolled down on him killed him," replied the boy, and
related how the whole thing happened.

"That was cleverly done for one who is as tiny as you are!" said the
raven. "I have a friend in these parts who will be glad to know that
this snake has been killed, and I should like to render you a service in
return."

"Then tell me why you are glad the water-snake is dead," responded the
boy.

"It's a long story," said the raven; "you wouldn't have the patience to
listen to it."

But the boy insisted that he had, and then the raven told him the whole
story about Karr and Grayskin and Helpless, the water-snake. When he had
finished, the boy sat quietly for a moment, looking straight ahead. Then
he spoke:

"I seem to like the forest better since hearing this. I wonder if there
is anything left of the old Liberty Forest."'

"Most of it has been destroyed," said Bataki. "The trees look as if they
had passed through a fire. They'll have to be cleared away, and it will
take many years before the forest will be what it once was."

"That snake deserved his death!" declared the boy. "But I wonder if it
could be possible that he was so wise he could send sickness to the
caterpillars?"

"Perhaps he knew that they frequently became sick in that way,"
intimated Bataki.

"Yes, that may be; but all the same, I must say that he was a very wily
snake."

The boy stopped talking because he saw the raven was not listening to
him, but sitting with gaze averted. "Hark!" he said. "Karr is in the
vicinity. Won't he be happy when he sees that Helpless is dead!"

The boy turned his head in the direction of the sound.

"He's talking with the wild geese," he said.

"Oh, you may be sure that he has dragged himself down to the strand to
get the latest news about Grayskin!"

Both the boy and the raven jumped to the ground, and hastened down to
the shore