could
do so it was more than a yard from the bank and drifting away faster
than ever.

Little Gerda was very much frightened. She began to cry, but no one
heard her except the sparrows, and they could not carry her to land, but
they flew along by the shore and sang as if to comfort her: "Here we
are! Here we are!"

The boat floated with the stream, and little Gerda sat quite still with
only her stockings on her feet; the red shoes floated after her, but she
could not reach them because the boat kept so much in advance.

[Illustration: There came a very old woman out of the house]

The banks on either side of the river were very pretty. There were
beautiful flowers, old trees, sloping fields in which cows and sheep
were grazing, but not a human being to be seen.

"Perhaps the river will carry me to little Kay," thought Gerda, and then
she became more cheerful, and raised her head and looked at the
beautiful green banks; and so the boat sailed on for hours. At length
she came to a large cherry orchard, in which stood a small house with
strange red and blue windows. It had also a thatched roof, and outside
were two wooden soldiers that presented arms to her as she sailed past.
Gerda called out to them, for she thought they were alive; but of course
they did not answer, and as the boat drifted nearer to the shore she saw
what they really were.

Then Gerda called still louder, and there came a very old woman out of
the house, leaning on a crutch. She wore a large hat to shade her from
the sun, and on it were painted all sorts of pretty flowers.

"You poor little child," said the old woman, "how did you manage to come
this long, long distance into the wide world on such a rapid, rolling
stream?" And then the old woman walked into the water, seized the boat
with her crutch, drew it to land, and lifted little Gerda out. And Gerda
was glad to feel herself again on dry ground, although she was rather
afraid of the strange old woman.

"Come and tell me who you are," said she, "and how you came here."

Then Gerda told her everything, while the old woman shook her head and
said, "Hem-hem"; and when Gerda had finished she asked the old woman if
she had not seen little Kay. She told her he had not passed that way,
but he very likely would come. She told Gerda not to be sorrowful, but
to taste the cherries and look at the flowers; they were better than any
picture book, for each of them could tell a story. Then she took Gerd