see the places where the gaps were
so wide that they could not possibly jump over them, nor did they know
where to find any floes that would hold them, so they wandered aimlessly
back and forth, going farther out on the lake instead of nearer land. At
last, confused and terrified, they stood still and wept.

Then a flock of wild geese in rapid flight came rushing by. They
shrieked loudly and sharply; but the strange thing was that above the
geese-cackle the little children heard these words:

"You must go to the right, the right, the right!" They began at once to
follow the advice; but before long they were again standing irresolute,
facing another broad gap.

Again they heard the geese shrieking above them, and again, amid the
geese-cackle, they distinguished a few words:

"Stand where you are! Stand where you are!"

The children did not say a word to each other, but obeyed and stood
still. Soon after that the ice-floes floated together, so that they
could cross the gap. Then they took hold of hands again and ran. They
were afraid not only of the peril, but of the mysterious help that had
come to them.

Soon they had to stop again, and immediately the sound of the voice
reached them.

"Straight ahead, straight ahead!" it said.

This leading continued for about half an hour; by that time they had
reached Ljunger Point, where they left the ice and waded to shore. They
were still terribly frightened, even though they were on firm land. They
did not stop to look back at the lake--where the waves were pitching the
ice-floes faster and faster--but ran on. When they had gone a short
distance along the point, Osa paused suddenly.

"Wait here, little Mats," she said; "I have forgotten something."

Osa, the goose girl, went down to the strand again, where she stopped to
rummage in her bag. Finally she fished out a little wooden shoe, which
she placed on a stone where it could be plainly seen. Then she ran to
little Mats without once looking back.

But the instant her back was turned, a big white goose shot down from
the sky, like a streak of lightning, snatched the wooden shoe, and flew
away with it.

THUMBIETOT AND THE BEARS

THE IRONWORKS

_Thursday, April twenty-eighth_.

When the wild geese and Thumbietot had helped Osa, the goose girl, and
little Mats across the ice, they flew into Westmanland, where they
alighted in a grain field to feed and rest.

A strong west wind blew almost the entire day on w