The Swan
The Swan is about two boys named Ernie and Raymond who like to bully a boy named
Peter Watson. They give Peter a hard time and put him through many dangerous ordeals.

Characters
There are three main characters in The Swan: Ernie, Raymond, and Peter. Ernie is portrayed as an evil and cruel boy who treats everyone badly and as an extremely violent person. Raymond is portrayed as cruel, like Ernie. Peter is portrayed as a boy who does well in school, and enjoys nature. Peter is also quiet and polite, loves music, and plays the piano well. He is also brave.

Plot
The Swan is a short story about Ernie and his friend Raymond who like to bully Peter
Watson. Ernie gethis fifteenth birthday. His dad tells him to go kill some rabbits for supper. Ernie agrees, goes outside, and whistles for his friend Raymond to come outside.
Raymond comes and they both shoot birds while heading to the rabbit field. When they get to the railway line they see Peter Watson, a boy whom they often bully.
As a joke, Ernie and Raymond go over to Peter and point the gun at him and say, “Hands up!” Then, Raymond decides to tie Peter up on the railway tracks. Miraculously, Peter survives when the train comes over him by sinking into the ballast just barely enough so the train won’t hit him.
Next, the two boys decide to throw Peter in the lake with his hands still tied. When they get to the lake, Ernie spots a duck on the lake and decides to shoot it instead. After he kills it, he orders Peter to go and fetch it. Peter does this unwillingly because he didn’t like to see Ernie shoot the beautiful duck, but he also doesn’t want to aggravate him.
Next, Ernie sees a beautiful swan that is sitting on her nest and decides to shoot her also.
Peter begs and pleads with him not to shoot the swan, but Ernie shoots the swan anyway.
He tells Peter to go retrieve the swan. Peter