hes as those under
which he now lay.

Where was the eagle? The boy could see no sign of him. Gorgo must have
deserted him. Well, here was another adventure!

The boy lay down again, closed his eyes, and tried to recall the
circumstances under which he had dropped to sleep.

He remembered that as long as he was travelling over Westbottom he had
fancied that the eagle and he were at a standstill in the air, and that
the land under them was moving southward. As the eagle turned northwest,
the wind had come from that side, and again he had felt a current of
air, so that the land below had stopped moving and he had noticed that
the eagle was bearing him onward with terrific speed.

"Now we are flying into Lapland," Gorgo had said, and the boy had bent
forward, so that he might see the country of which he had heard so much.

But he had felt rather disappointed at not seeing anything but great
tracts of forest land and wide marshes. Forest followed marsh and marsh
followed forest. The monotony of the whole finally made him so sleepy
that he had nearly dropped to the ground.

He said to the eagle that he could not stay on his back another minute,
but must sleep awhile. Gorgo had promptly swooped to the ground, where
the boy had dropped down on a moss tuft. Then Gorgo put a talon around
him and soared into the air with him again.

"Go to sleep, Thumbietot!" he cried. "The sunshine keeps me awake and I
want to continue the journey."

Although the boy hung in this uncomfortable position, he actually dozed
and dreamed.

He dreamed that he was on a broad road in southern Sweden, hurrying
along as fast as his little legs could carry him. He was not alone, many
wayfarers were tramping in the same direction. Close beside him marched
grain-filled rye blades, blossoming corn flowers, and yellow daisies.
Heavily laden apple trees went puffing along, followed by vine-covered
bean stalks, big clusters of white daisies, and masses of berry bushes.
Tall beeches and oaks and lindens strolled leisurely in the middle of
the road, their branches swaying, and they stepped aside for none.
Between the boy's tiny feet darted the little flowers--wild strawberry
blossoms, white anemones, clover, and forget-me-nots. At first he
thought that only the vegetable family was on the march, but presently
he saw that animals and people accompanied them. The insects were
buzzing around advancing bushes, the fishes were swimming in moving
ditches, the