THE WISE GOOSE. nar

bird stopped and said ‘‘ Bo-bo-bo!”’ till she was in the right way
again, so that at last they reached the spot where the six precious
eggs were shining in the hay. Then the farmer’s wife knew the
meaning of the young goose—that she had forgotten her mother
and grandmother’s ways, and wanted to be told what to do next.

“Why, sit
on them, to be
sure, there’s a
good maid!”
said the far-
mer’s wife, and
she took up
the goose kind-
ly and cleverly
and popped her
on to the eggs.
And the wise
goose —under-
Seb O1O.Cap ieiieg nel
moment how it
Wasmtowben ton
she sat there as
patiently and as
still as if she
had been accus-
tomed to hatch-
ing eggs all her |
life, and nestled ©

her head fondly
against the hand of the farmer's wife as she stroked the long,
smooth neck of the bird before she went back to her dairy

work.