aming flames,
and in that moment the bird's wings were burnt, and he sank in
wretchedness to the earth. Neither he nor his species were ever
afterwards able to raise themselves up in the air. They fly
timidly--hurry along in a narrow space; they are a warning to mankind
in all our thoughts and all our enterprises to say, "God willing."

And Helga humbly bowed her head, looked at the ostriches rushing past,
saw their surprise and their simple joy at the sight of their own
large shadows on the white wall, and more serious thoughts took
possession of her mind, adding to her present happiness--inspiring
brighter hopes for the future. What was yet to happen? The best for
her, "God willing."

* * * * *

In the early spring, when the storks were about to go north again,
Helga took from her arm a golden bracelet, scratched her name upon it,
beckoned to the stork-father, hung the gold band round his neck, and
bade him carry it to the Viking's wife, who would thereby know that
her adopted daughter lived, was happy, and remembered her.

"It is heavy to carry," thought the stork, when it was hung round his
neck; "but gold and honour must not be flung away upon the high road.
The stork brings luck--they must admit that up yonder."

"Thou layest gold, and I lay eggs," said the stork-mother; "but thou
layest only once, and I lay every year. But neither of us gets any
thanks, which is very vexatious."

"One knows, however, that one has done one's duty," said the
stork-father.

"But that can't be hung up to be seen and lauded; and if it could be,
fine words butter no parsnips."

So they flew away.

The little nightingale that sang upon the tamarind tree would also
soon be going north, up yonder near "the wild morass." Helga had often
heard it--she would send a message by it; for, since she had flown in
the magical disguise of the swan, she had often spoken to the storks
and the swallows. The nightingale would therefore understand her, and
she prayed it to fly to the beech wood upon the Jutland peninsula,
where the tomb of stone and branches had been erected. She asked it
to beg all the little birds to protect the sacred spot, and frequently
to sing over it.

And the nightingale flew away, and time flew also.

* * * * *

And the eagle stood upon a pyramid, and looked in the autumn on a
stately procession with richly-laden camels, with armed and splendidly
equi