ould be quite
friendly with them. They wished he were a swimmer, but of course they
could tell with one look that he was not. He did not have the trim,
boat-shaped body that swimmers have, and then, his feet were not webbed.
The Gander noticed that they were remarkably homely feet. He thought he
would remember this and speak of it to the Geese some time when they
were praising the Peacock's train.

The Drake was the first to speak politely to the Peacock. "We are glad
to meet you, sir," he said. "Will you be with us long?"

"Thank you," answered the Peacock. "I have come to stay."

"We hope you will like it here. I'm sorry to see you do not swim. We
should be very glad of your company if you did. You will excuse us if we
go on to the brook. We are late already." He and all of his family
waddled away to the water. "A fine-looking fellow," said he heartily.
"Even my cousins, the Mallard Ducks, have not such a beautiful sheen on
their neck feathers." The Drake was a kind, warm-hearted fellow, and it
never troubled him to know that other people were handsomer than he.

The Geese were eager to reach the water, too, but they could not leave
without asking one question. First they told the Gander to ask it, but
he replied that if they wanted to know, they should ask it for
themselves. Then they hung back and said to each other, "You ask him. I
can't." At last the Gray Goose stepped forward, saying, "Excuse us,
sir. You said that you were to stay with us, and we wish to know if you
work for your living."

"I work!" cried he. "Paon! Never. The farmer invited me here to be
beautiful, that is all."

"We are so glad," cackled the Geese, and the Gander joined with them.
"So many of the people here work. They are very good, but not at all
genteel, you understand."

"And don't you do anything?" asked the Peacock. "I thought Geese grew
feathers for beds and pillows. It seems to me you look rather ragged.
Haven't you been plucked?"

This was very embarrassing to the Geese. "Why, yes," they said, "we do
let the farmer's wife have some feathers once in a while, when the
weather is warm, but that is very different from really working, you
know."

"Perhaps," said the Peacock. "If they want any of my feathers, they can
wait until I moult. Then you will see how much they think of me, for
whenever they find one of my train feathers (not tail, if you please;
every bird has a tail, but I have a train) they carry it carefully into
the