mother and son to part,
after they have been true to each other, and shared their feelings in
common, it seems hard, it seems hard--though I do not like to murmur or
complain at anything allotted to me.

"I saw him go over the hill. On the top he stopped and held up the
gander. He disappeared; yes, my own Nathaniel disappeared. I think of
him now as one who disappeared.

"November came--it was a terrible month on the coast that year. Storm
followed storm; the sea-faring people talked constantly of wrecks and
losses. I could not sleep on the nights of those high winds. I used to
lie awake thinking over all the happy hours I had lived with Nathaniel.

"Thanksgiving week came.

"It was full of an Indian-summer brightness after the long storms. The
nights were frosty, bright, and calm.

"I could sleep on those calm nights.

"One morning, I thought I heard a strange sound in the woodland pasture.
It was like a wild goose. I listened; it was repeated. I was lying in
bed. I started up--I thought I had been dreaming.

"On the night before Thanksgiving I went to bed early, being very tired.
The moon was full; the air was calm and still. I was thinking of
Nathaniel, and I wondered if he would indeed have the gander for his
Thanksgiving dinner: if it would be cooked as well as I would have
cooked it, and if he would think of me that day.

"I was just going to sleep, when suddenly I heard a sound that made me
start up and hold my breath.

"'_Honk_!'

"I thought it was a dream followed by a nervous shock.

"'_Honk! honk_!'

"There it was again, in the yard. I was surely awake and in my senses.

"I heard the geese cackle.

"'_Honk! honk! honk_!'

"I got out of bed and lifted the curtain. It was almost as light as day.
Instead of two geese there were three. Had one of the neighbors' geese
stolen away?

"I should have thought so, and should not have felt disturbed, but for
the reason that none of the neighbors' geese had that peculiar
call--that hornlike tone that I had noticed in mine.

"I went out of the door.

"The third goose looked like the very gander I had given Nathaniel.
Could it be?

"I did not sleep. I rose early and went to the crib for some corn.

"It was a gander--a 'wild' gander--that had come in the night. He seemed
to know me.

"I trembled all over as though I had seen a ghost. I was so faint that I
sat down on the meal-chest.

"As I was in that place, a bill pecked against the door. The d