, "what river is this?"

The man stopped his work for a minute. "It's the East River of course.
Where do you come from, boy?"

"From Russia," said Boris, "so you see I didn't know. And please, is the
other river the West River then?"

"What other river, boy? What are you talking about?"

This made Boris feel very uncomfortable, but he knew there was another
river in the west for hadn't he just walked there? So he said bravely,
"If you keep walking west you _do_ come to another river. I know you do!
For I've done it. And it's a bigger river than this, too!"

The man laughed out loud. "Right you are, boy!" he said. "You're a great
walker, you are. Did you walk all the way from Russia?" Now Boris
thought the man couldn't know very much to ask him such a question. But,
then, he didn't know much either. He was asking questions too! So he
answered, "Oh! no! I came on an enormous boat. But please you haven't
told me the name of the other river?"

The man laughed louder than ever. "It's a funny thing, boy, that we call
it the North River. But you are right: it _is_ west! It's really the
Hudson River, boy, that's what it is. And a mighty big river it is too.
Want to know anything more?" And the man turned back to his work.

"Well," thought Boris. "I can't get to my grass today if I strike rivers
everywhere I go." And he turned and walked home slowly, because he was
sorry. And he was very, very tired too. For you see he had walked all
the way across the city twice and that is a pretty long walk even for a
boy the size of Boris.

Boris, he went out to walk
To find the country wide.
And he walked west and west he walked
But found the Hudson wide!
And so he turned himself about
And walked the other way
And he walked east and east he walked
And there East River lay!

PART 2

The next morning at breakfast, Boris suddenly thought again of the wide
green country around his old home in Russia. I don't know why he thought
of it again. He just did! And then he thought of the Hudson River he had
found by walking west and of the East River he had found by walking
east. "I might try walking north this time," he thought. And so he said
to his mother, "I think I'll go on another hunt for grass,--grass that's
everywhere!" and again he waved his arms.

"All right," answered his mother. "But I'm afraid you'll have to walk a
long way to find grass everywhere!"

Out on the street he began t