e on the long ride, but her presence was enough. The three were
almost trembling for joy, for the Tree Mother's companionship is rare,
and one of the splendidest things that can happen to a Forest Person.

The minute they were in the boat, it shot up and away towards home.

"Where are the Blue Water Children?" Eric cried, suddenly remembering
their playmates of yesterday.

"Have you been playing with Blue Water Children?" asked Tree Mother.
"They are gypsy-folk and you never know where you will find them next.
They are probably miles away by now."

"Faster, faster, Tree Mother," begged Ivra, who was hanging over the
side of the boat and losing herself in joy with the motion and height.

"Faster?" said the Tree Mother. "Then take care! Hold on!"

The boat shot forward with a sudden rush. The spring air changed from
cool feathers to a sharp wing beating their faces. Eric and Ivra slipped
to the floor and lay on their backs. They dared not sit up for fear of
being swept overboard. They could see nothing but the sky from where
they lay, but they loved the speed, and clapped their hands, and Ivra
cried, "Faster, faster!"

The Tree Mother laughed. "These are brave children," she thought. "Shut
your eyes then," she said, "and don't try too hard to breathe."

They swept on more swiftly than a wild-goose, so swiftly that soon the
children could neither hear, speak nor see. And then at last they were
traveling so fast that it felt as though the boat were standing
perfectly still in a cold dark place.

Gradually light began to leak through their shut eyelids, the wing of
the wind beat away from them, and the boat rocked slower and slower in
warm, spring-scented air. But in that brief time, they had traveled
many, many miles.

Now when the children leaned over the side, they saw that they were
sailing slowly over their own Forest. The tree tops were like a restless
green sea just a little beneath them. They flew low enough to hear bird
calls and the voices of the streams.

It was then they suddenly noticed that the littlest of the Forest
Children was there curled up fast asleep at Tree Mother's feet. Ivra
cried to him in surprise, and he woke slowly, stretching his little
brown legs, shaking his curly head, and lifting a sleepy face. He was
puzzled at seeing others beside Tree Mother in the boat. He had been
riding and awake with her all night up near the stars, and had dropped
to sleep as the stars faded.

She bent n