newoods."

And a goose in the distance cried out--

"Make haste then."

Felix dropped the switch, put his hands in his pockets, and stared at
both the birds.

"Come," said the gander, spreading out his wings; "get on my back, and

Away we'll sail
Down the river in the vale,
Away to the pinewoods, away, away."

Splash, splash, such a spluttering in the water, and Felix, holding on
by the gander's neck, shivered as the water touched him, for it was very
cold; which much surprised him, as the day was hot, and the sun was
shining.

[Illustration: IT HISSED LOUDLY.]

How large the gander had grown! he had seemed a large gander before, but
now he seemed quite monstrous. And the river grew wider, and the trees
appeared to reach the sky, and the flags and bulrushes were like young
palm-trees, and the flowers shot up to a great size. There was one clump
of lilies of the valley much taller than Felix, and quite overshadowing
a girl in a large cap with a blue ribbon in it, who seemed to be
gathering some flowers growing in the water.

As Felix approached the bank the lily bells swayed to and fro with a
melodious sound as if bells of the purest silver were ringing.

"Welcoming us to Elfland," observed the gander.

"Isn't it the Pinewood?" asked Felix.

"It's all the same," answered the gander.

"Who is the little girl? She is coming to speak to us."

[Illustration: "THE LILY-BELLS SWAYED."]

"Little girl, indeed," returned the gander contemptuously; "it's the
Pine Queen; she has been asking you to come for weeks, but you took no
notice of her. She sent messages by the swallows and the blackbirds, and
the butterflies, and the grasshopper, but you did not heed them."

"I never heard them," said Felix, somewhat bewildered.

"Of course not; boys never do; they are always thinking of toys and
games, and tarts and plum-cake, and the birds and butterflies speak to
them in vain."

"I don't understand," said Felix.

"Of course not, but now," said the gander, suddenly rising in the water
and flapping his wings; "having done my duty in bringing you here, I
leave you to take care of yourself."

So saying he tossed Felix off his back to the bank, at the feet of the
Pine Queen.

As Felix looked at the Pine Queen he noticed that she was dressed in
silk and satin, and that her cap had turned into a crown of diamonds,
and that she had diamond buckles on her shoes, and that she seemed very
glittering an