has
conducted himself well on the trip; but it is not in my power to do so.'

"Then I was wrathy and said that I would bore out his eyes unless he
gave in.

"'You may do as you like,' he retorted, 'but as to Nils Holgersson, it
will turn out exactly as I have said. You can tell him from me that he
would do well to return soon with his goose, for matters on the farm are
in a bad shape. His father has had to forfeit a bond for his brother,
whom he trusted. He has bought a horse with borrowed money, and the
beast went lame the first time he drove it. Since then it has been of no
earthly use to him. Tell Nils Holgersson that his parents have had to
sell two of the cows and that they must give up the croft unless they
receive help from somewhere."

When the boy heard this he frowned and clenched his fists so hard that
the nails dug into his flesh.

"It is cruel of the elf to make the conditions so hard for me that I can
not go home and relieve my parents, but he sha'n't turn me into a
traitor to a friend! My father and mother are square and upright folk. I
know they would rather forfeit my help than have me come back to them
with a guilty conscience."

THE JOURNEY TO VEMMINGHOeG

_Thursday, November third_.

One day in the beginning of November the wild geese flew over Halland
Ridge and into Skane. For several weeks they had been resting on the
wide plains around Falkoeping. As many other wild goose flocks also
stopped there, the grown geese had had a pleasant time visiting with old
friends, and there had been all kinds of games and races between the
younger birds.

Nils Holgersson had not been happy over the delay in Westergoetland. He
had tried to keep a stout heart; but it was hard for him to reconcile
himself to his fate.

"If I were only well out of Skane and in some foreign land," he had
thought, "I should know for certain that I had nothing to hope for, and
would feel easier in my mind."

Finally, one morning, the geese started out and flew toward Halland.

In the beginning the boy took very little interest in that province. He
thought there was nothing new to be seen there. But when the wild geese
continued the journey farther south, along the narrow coast-lands, the
boy leaned over the goose's neck and did not take his glance from the
ground.

He saw the hills gradually disappear and the plain spread under him, at
the same time he noticed that the coast became less rugged, while the
group of is