into the air; but he was so
unaccustomed to flying, that he fell to the ground again.

At any rate, the wild geese must have heard his call, for they turned
and flew back slowly to see if he was coming.

"Wait, wait!" he cried, and made another attempt to fly.

All this the boy heard, where he lay on the hedge. "It would be a great
pity," thought he, "if the big goosey-gander should go away. It would be
a big loss to father and mother if he was gone when they came home from
church."

When he thought of this, once again he entirely forgot that he was
little and helpless. He took one leap right down into the goose-flock,
and threw his arms around the neck of the goosey-gander. "Oh, no! You
don't fly away this time, sir!" cried he.

But just about then, the gander was considering how he should go to
work to raise himself from the ground. He couldn't stop to shake the boy
off, hence he had to go along with him--up in the air.

They bore on toward the heights so rapidly, that the boy fairly gasped.
Before he had time to think that he ought to let go his hold around the
gander's neck, he was so high up that he would have been killed
instantly, if he had fallen to the ground.

The only thing that he could do to make himself a little more
comfortable, was to try and get upon the gander's back. And there he
wriggled himself forthwith; but not without considerable trouble. And it
was not an easy matter, either, to hold himself secure on the slippery
back, between two swaying wings. He had to dig deep into feathers and
down with both hands, to keep from tumbling to the ground.

THE BIG CHECKED CLOTH

The boy had grown so giddy that it was a long while before he came to
himself. The winds howled and beat against him, and the rustle of
feathers and swaying of wings sounded like a whole storm. Thirteen geese
flew around him, flapping their wings and honking. They danced before
his eyes and they buzzed in his ears. He didn't know whether they flew
high or low, or in what direction they were travelling.

After a bit, he regained just enough sense to understand that he ought
to find out where the geese were taking him. But this was not so easy,
for he didn't know how he should ever muster up courage enough to look
down. He was sure he'd faint if he attempted it.

The wild geese were not flying very high because the new travelling
companion could not breathe in the very thinnest air. For his sake they
also flew a little slo