and on--his
steps becoming more and more uncertain and faltering. He gasped for
breath. Not only did he suffer intense pain, but he was also exhausted
from wading through the deep snowdrifts.

"At last he lost all patience. He paused to let poachers and dogs come
upon him, and was ready to fight them. As he stood there waiting, he
glanced upward. When he saw us wild geese circling above him, he cried
out:

"'Stay here, wild geese, until all is over! And the next time you fly
over Kolmarden, look up Karr, and ask him if he doesn't think that his
friend Grayskin has met with a happy end?'"

When Akka had gone so far in her story the old dog rose and walked
nearer to her.

"Grayskin led a good life," he said. "He understands me. He knows that
I'm a brave dog, and that I shall be glad to hear that he had a happy
end. Now tell me how--"

He raised his tail and threw back his head, as if to give himself a bold
and proud bearing--then he collapsed.

"Karr! Karr!" called a man's voice from the forest.

The old dog rose obediently.

"My master is calling me," he said, "and I must not tarry longer. I just
saw him load his gun. Now we two are going into the forest for the last
time.

"Many thanks, wild goose! I know everything that I need know to die
content!"

THE WIND WITCH

IN NAeRKE

In bygone days there was something in Naerke the like of which was not to
be found elsewhere: it was a witch, named Ysaetter-Kaisa.

The name Kaisa had been given her because she had a good deal to do with
wind and storm--and these wind witches are always so called. The surname
was added because she was supposed to have come from Ysaetter swamp in
Asker parish.

It seemed as though her real abode must have been at Asker; but she used
also to appear at other places. Nowhere in all Naerke could one be sure
of not meeting her.

She was no dark, mournful witch, but gay and frolicsome; and what she
loved most of all was a gale of wind. As soon as there was wind enough,
off she would fly to the Naerke plain for a good dance. On days when a
whirlwind swept the plain, Ysaetter-Kaisa had fun! She would stand right
in the wind and spin round, her long hair flying up among the clouds and
the long trail of her robe sweeping the ground, like a dust cloud, while
the whole plain lay spread out under her, like a ballroom floor.

Of a morning Ysaetter-Kaisa would sit up in some tall pine at the top of
a precipice, and look across the pla