together, holding hands--as if they never again wanted to part.

They were Jon Esserson and his daughter. Both were unlike what they had
been a few hours earlier.

The father looked less bent and weary and his eyes were clear and good,
as if at last he had found the answer to that which had troubled him so
long.

Osa, the goose girl, did not glance longingly about, for she had found
some one to care for her, and now she could be a child again.

HOMEWARD BOUND!

THE FIRST TRAVELLING DAY

_Saturday, October first_.

The boy sat on the goosey-gander's back and rode up amongst the clouds.
Some thirty geese, in regular order, flew rapidly southward. There was a
rustling of feathers and the many wings beat the air so noisily that one
could scarcely hear one's own voice. Akka from Kebnekaise flew in the
lead; after her came Yksi and Kaksi, Kolme and Neljae, Viisi and Kuusi,
Morten Goosey-Gander and Dunfin. The six goslings which had accompanied
the flock the autumn before had now left to look after themselves.
Instead, the old geese were taking with them twenty-two goslings that
had grown up in the glen that summer. Eleven flew to the right, eleven
to the left; and they did their best to fly at even distances, like the
big birds.

The poor youngsters had never before been on a long trip and at first
they had difficulty in keeping up with the rapid flight.

"Akka from Kebnekaise! Akka from Kebnekaise!" they cried in plaintive
tones.

"What's the matter?" said the leader-goose sharply.

"Our wings are tired of moving, our wings are tired of moving!" wailed
the young ones.

"The longer you keep it up, the better it will go," answered the
leader-goose, without slackening her speed. And she was quite right, for
when the goslings had flown two hours longer, they complained no more of
being tired.

But in the mountain glen they had been in the habit of eating all day
long, and very soon they began to feel hungry.

"Akka, Akka, Akka from Kebnekaise!" wailed the goslings pitifully.

"What's the trouble now?" asked the leader-goose.

"We're so hungry, we can't fly any more!" whimpered the goslings. "We're
so hungry, we can't fly any more!"

"Wild geese must learn to eat air and drink wind," said the
leader-goose, and kept right on flying.

It actually seemed as if the young ones were learning to live on wind
and air, for when they had flown a little longer, they said nothing more
about being hungry.

The go