r and land. They entirely obscured the lower portions of the houses:
only the upper stories and the roofs and gables were visible. Some of
the buildings appeared to be as high as the Tower of Babel. The boy no
doubt knew that they were built upon hills and mountains, but these he
did not see--only the houses that seemed to float among the white,
drifting clouds. In reality the buildings were dark and dingy, for the
sun in the east was not shining on them.

The boy knew that he was riding above a large city, for he saw spires
and house roofs rising from the clouds in every direction. Sometimes an
opening was made in the circling mists, and he looked down into a
running, tortuous stream; but no land could he see. All this was
beautiful to look upon, but he felt quite distraught--as one does when
happening upon something one cannot understand.

When he had gone beyond the city, he found that the ground was no longer
hidden by clouds, but that shores, streams, and islands were again
plainly visible. He turned to see the city better, but could not, for
now it looked quite enchanted. The mists had taken on colour from the
sunshine and were rolling forward in the most brilliant reds, blues, and
yellows. The houses were white, as if built of light, and the windows
and spires sparkled like fire. All things floated on the water as
before.

The geese were travelling straight east. They flew over factories and
workshops; then over mansions edging the shores. Steamboats and tugs
swarmed on the water; but now they came from the east and were steaming
westward toward the city.

The wild geese flew on, but instead of the narrow Maelar fiords and the
little islands, broader waters and larger islands spread under them. At
last the land was left behind and seen no more.

They flew still farther out, where they found no more large inhabited
islands--only numberless little rock islands were scattered on the
water. Now the fiords were not crowded by the land. The sea lay before
them, vast and limitless.

Here the wild geese alighted on a cliff island, and as soon as their
feet touched the ground the boy turned to Dunfin.

"What city did we fly over just now?" he asked.

"I don't know what human beings have named it," said Dunfin. "We gray
geese call it the 'City that Floats on the Water'."

THE SISTERS

Dunfin had two sisters, Prettywing and Goldeye. They were strong and
intelligent birds, but they did not have such a soft and sh