Nils Holgerssons underbara resa. English
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appeared to the boy that the witchwas beginning to sigh and tremble. Her snow mantle fell, and the threeferocious wolves howled less savagely.
Suddenly the Sun cried:
"Now my time is up!" and rolled out of the cave.
Then the Ice Witch let loose her three wolves. Instantly the North Wind,Cold, and Darkness rushed from the cave and began to chase the Sun.
"Drive him out! Drive him back!" shrieked the Ice Witch. "Chase him sofar that he can never come back! Teach him that Lapland is MINE!"
But Nils Holgersson felt so unhappy when he saw that the Sun was to bedriven from Lapland that he awakened with a cry. When he recovered hissenses, he found himself at the bottom of a ravine.
But where was Gorgo? How was he to find out where he himself was?
He arose and looked all around him. Then he happened to glance upwardand saw a peculiar structure of pine twigs and branches that stood on acliff-ledge.
"That must be one of those eagle nests that Gorgo--" But this was as faras he got. He tore off his cap, waved it in the air, and cheered.
Now he understood where Gorgo had brought him. This was the very glenwhere the wild geese lived in summer, and just above it was the eagles'cliff.
HE HAD ARRIVED!
He would meet Morten Goosey-Gander and Akka and all the other comradesin a few moments. Hurrah!
THE MEETING
All was still in the glen. The sun had not yet stepped above the cliffs,and Nils Holgersson knew that it was too early in the morning for thegeese to be awake.
The boy walked along leisurely and searched for his friends. Before hehad gone very far, he paused with a smile, for he saw such a prettysight. A wild goose was sleeping in a neat little nest, and beside herstood her goosey-gander. He too, slept, but it was obvious that he hadstationed himself thus near her that he might be on hand in the possibleevent of danger.
The boy went on without disturbing them and peeped into the willow brushthat covered the ground. It was not long before he spied another goosecouple. These were strangers, not of his flock, but he was so happy thathe began to hum--just because he had come across wild geese.
He peeped into another bit of brushwood. There at last he saw two thatwere familiar.
It was certainly Neljae that was nesting there, and the goosey-ganderwho stood beside her was surely Kolme. Why, of course! The boy had agood mind to awaken them, but he let them sleep on, and walked away.
In the next brush he saw Viisi and Kuusi, and not far from them he foundYksi and Kaksi. All four were asleep, and the boy passed by withoutdisturbing them. As he approached the next brush, he thought he sawsomething white shimmering among the bushes, and the heart of himthumped with joy. Yes, it was as he expected. In there sat the daintyDunfin on an egg-filled nest. Beside her stood her white goosey-gander.Although he slept, it was easy to see how proud he was to watch over hiswife up here among the Lapland mountains. The boy did not care to wakenthe goosey-gander, so he walked on.
He had to seek a long time before he came across any more wild geese.Finally, he saw on a little hillock something that resembled a small,gray moss tuft, and he knew that there was Akka from Kebnekaise. Shestood, wide awake, looking about as if she were keeping watch over thewhole glen.
"Good morning, Mother Akka!" said the boy. "Please don't waken the othergeese yet awhile, for I wish to speak with you in private."
The old leader-goose came rushing down the hill and up to the boy.
First she seized hold of him and shook him, then she stroked him withher bill before she shook him again. But she did not say a word, sincehe asked her not to waken the others.
Thumbietot kissed old Mother Akka on both cheeks, then he told her howhe had been carried off to Skansen and held captive there.
"Now I must tell you that Smirre Fox, short of an ear, sat imprisoned inthe foxes' cage at Skansen," said the boy. "Although he was very mean tous, I couldn't help feeling sorry for him. There were many other foxesin the cage; and they seemed quite contented there, but Smirre sat allthe while looking dejected, longing for liberty.
"I made many good friends at Skansen, and I learned one day from theLapp dog that a man had come to Skansen to buy foxes. He was from someisland far out in the ocean. All the foxes had been exterminated there,and the rats were about to get the better of the inhabitants, so theywished the foxes back again.
"As soon as I learned of this, I went to Smirre's cage and said to him:
"'To-morrow some men are coming here to get a pair of foxes. Don't hide,Smirre, but keep well in the foreground and see to it that you arechosen. Then you'll be free again.'
"He followed my suggestion, and now he is running at large on theisland. What say you to this, Mother Akka? If you had been in my place,would you not have done likewise?"
"You have acted in a way that makes me wish I had done that myself,"said the leader-goose proudly.
"It's a relief to know that you approve," said the boy. "Now there isone thing more I wish to ask you about:
"One day I happened to see Gorgo, the eagle--the one that fought withMorten Goosey-Gander--a prisoner at Skansen. He was in the eagles' cageand looked pitifully forlorn. I was thinking of filing down the wireroof over him and letting him out, but I also thought of his being adangerous robber and bird-eater, and wondered if I should be doing rightin letting loose such a plunderer, and if it were not better, perhaps,to let him stay where he was. What say you, Mother Akka? Was it rightto think thus?"
"No, it was not right!" retorted Akka. "Say what you will about theeagles, they are proud birds and greater lovers of freedom than allothers. It is not right to keep them in captivity. Do you know what Iwould suggest? This: that, as soon as you are well rested, we two makethe trip together to the big bird prison, and liberate Gorgo."
"That is just the word I was expecting from you, Mother Akka," returnedthe boy eagerly.
"There are those who say that you no longer have any love in your heartfor the one you reared so tenderly, because he lives as eagles mustlive. But I know now that it isn't true. And now I want to see ifMorten Goosey-Gander is awake.
"Meanwhile, if you wish to say a 'thank you' to the one who brought mehere to you, I think you'll find him up there on the cliff ledge, whereonce you found a helpless eaglet."
OSA, THE GOOSE GIRL, AND LITTLE MATS
The year that Nils Holgersson travelled with the wild geese everybodywas talking about two little children, a boy and a girl, who trampedthrough the country. They were from Sunnerbo township, in Smaland, andhad once lived with their parents and four brothers and sisters in alittle cabin on the heath.
While the two children, Osa and Mats, were still small, a poor, homelesswoman came to their cabin one night and begged for shelter. Although theplace could hardly hold the family, she was taken in and the motherspread a bed for her on the floor. In the night she coughed so hard thatthe children fancied the house shook. By morning she was too ill tocontinue her wanderings. The children's father and mother were as kindto her as could be. They gave up their bed to her and slept on thefloor, while the father went to the doctor and brought her medicine.
The first few days the sick woman behaved like a savage; she demandedconstant attention and never uttered a word of thanks. Later she becamemore subdued and finally begged to be carried out to the heath and leftthere to die.
When her hosts would not hear of this, she told them that the last fewyears she had roamed about with a band of gipsies. She herself was notof gipsy blood, but was the daughter of a well-to-do farmer. She had runaway from home and gone with the nomads. She believed that a gipsy womanwho was angry at her had brought this sickness upon her. Nor was thatall: The gipsy woman had also cursed her, saying that all who took herunder their roof or were kind to her should suffer a like fate. Shebelieved this, and therefore begged them to cast her out of the houseand never to see her again. She did not want to bring misfortune downupon such good people. But the peasants refused to do her bidding. Itwas quite possible that they were a
larmed, but they were not the kind offolk who could turn out a poor, sick person.
Soon after that she died, and then along came the misfortunes. Before,there had never been anything but happiness in that cabin. Its inmateswere poor, yet not so very poor. The father was a maker of weavers'combs, and mother and children helped him with the work. Father made theframes, mother and the older children did the binding, while the smallerones planed the teeth and cut them out. They worked from morning untilnight, but the time passed pleasantly, especially when father talked ofthe days when he travelled about in foreign lands and sold weavers'combs. Father was so jolly that sometimes mother and the children wouldlaugh until their sides ached at his funny quips and jokes.
The weeks following the death of the poor vagabond woman lingered in theminds of the children like a horrible nightmare. They knew not if thetime had been long or short,