eckled with brown; brown bird, small, nest of fine twigs, on
river-bank;" slipped it in her pocket again, and rowed on, feeling
better. After all, it was so _very_ much better to know that one had
been a goose, than not to know it! Now that her eyes were once open, was
she not learning something new every day, almost every hour?

She rowed on now with long strokes, for the bank was steep and rocky
again, and there were no more fairy coves. Soon, however, she came to an
island,--a little round island in the middle of the river, thickly
covered with trees. This was a good place to turn back at, for Rose
would be awake by this time and looking for her. First, however, she
would row around the island, and consider it from all sides.

The farther side showed an opening in the trees, and a pretty little
dell, shaded by silver birches,--a perfect place for a picnic, thought
Hildegarde. She would bring Rose here some day, if good Martha would
make them another chicken-pie; perhaps Cousin Wealthy would come too.
Dear Cousin Wealthy! how good and kind and pretty she was! One would not
mind growing old, if one could be sure of being good and pretty, and
having everybody love one.

At this moment, as Hildegarde turned her boat up river, something very
astonishing happened. Not ten yards away from her, a huge body shot up
out of the water, described a glittering arc, and fell again,
disappearing with a splash which sent the spray flying in all directions
and made the rocks echo. Hildegarde sat quite still for several minutes,
petrified with amazement, and, it must be confessed, with fear. Who ever
heard of such a thing as this? A fish? Why, it was as big as a young
whale! Only whales didn't come up rivers, and she had never heard of
their jumping out of water in this insane way. Suppose the creature
should take it into his head to leap again, and should fall into the
boat? At this thought our heroine began to row as fast as she could,
taking long strokes, and making the boat fairly fly through the water;
though, as she said to herself, it would not make any difference, if her
enemy were swimming in the same direction.

Presently, however, she heard a second splash behind her, and turning,
saw the huge fish just disappearing, at some distance down river. She
recovered her composure, and in a few minutes was ready to laugh at her
own terrors.

Homeward now, following the west bank, as she had gone down along the
east. This side w