Nils Holgerssons underbara resa. English

by Selma Lagerlöf

wanderedagain. Now he began thinking of all that he had seen when he flew overthe mining districts. It was strange that there should be so much lifeand activity and so much work back there in the wilderness.

  "Just think how poor and desolate this place would be had there been noiron here!

  "This very foundry gave employment to many, and had gathered around itmany homes filled with people, who, in turn, had attracted hitherrailways and telegraph wires and--"

  "Come, come!" growled the bear. "Will you or won't you?"

  The boy swept his hand across his forehead. No plan of escape had as yetcome to his mind, but this much he knew--he did not wish to do any harmto the iron, which was so useful to rich and poor alike, and which gavebread to so many people in this land.

  "I won't!" he said.

  Father Bear squeezed him a little harder, but said nothing.

  "You'll not get me to destroy the ironworks!" defied the boy. "The ironis so great a blessing that it will never do to harm it."

  "Then of course you don't expect to be allowed to live very long?" saidthe bear.

  "No, I don't expect it," returned the boy, looking the bear straight inthe eye.

  Father Bear gripped him still harder. It hurt so that the boy could notkeep the tears back, but he did not cry out or say a word.

  "Very well, then," said Father Bear, raising his paw very slowly, hopingthat the boy would give in at the last moment.

  But just then the boy heard something click very close to them, and sawthe muzzle of a rifle two paces away. Both he and Father Bear had beenso engrossed in their own affairs they had not observed that a man hadstolen right upon them.

  "Father Bear! Don't you hear the clicking of a trigger?" cried the boy."Run, or you'll be shot!"

  Father Bear grew terribly hurried. However, he allowed himself timeenough to pick up the boy and carry him along. As he ran, a couple ofshots sounded, and the bullets grazed his ears, but, luckily, heescaped.

  The boy thought, as he was dangling from the bear's mouth, that neverhad he been so stupid as he was to-night. If he had only kept still, thebear would have been shot, and he himself would have been freed. But hehad become so accustomed to helping the animals that he did itnaturally, and as a matter of course.

  When Father Bear had run some distance into the woods, he paused and setthe boy down on the ground.

  "Thank you, little one!" he said. "I dare say those bullets would havecaught me if you hadn't been there. And now I want to do you a servicein return. If you should ever meet with another bear, just say to himthis--which I shall whisper to you--and he won't touch you."

  Father Bear whispered a word or two into the boy's ear and hurried away,for he thought he heard hounds and hunters pursuing him.

  The boy stood in the forest, free and unharmed, and could hardlyunderstand how it was possible.

  The wild geese had been flying back and forth the whole evening, peeringand calling, but they had been unable to find Thumbietot. They searchedlong after the sun had set, and, finally, when it had grown so dark thatthey were forced to alight somewhere for the night, they were verydownhearted. There was not one among them but thought the boy had beenkilled by the fall and was lying dead in the forest, where they couldnot see him.

  But the next morning, when the sun peeped over the hills and awakenedthe wild geese, the boy lay sleeping, as usual, in their midst. When hewoke and heard them shrieking and cackling their astonishment, he couldnot help laughing.

  They were so eager to know what had happened to him that they did notcare to go to breakfast until he had told them the whole story. The boysoon narrated his entire adventure with the bears, but after that heseemed reluctant to continue.

  "How I got back to you perhaps you already know?" he said.

  "No, we know nothing. We thought you were killed."

  "That's curious!" remarked the boy. "Oh, yes!--when Father Bear left meI climbed up into a pine and fell asleep. At daybreak I was awakened byan eagle hovering over me. He picked me up with his talons and carriedme away. He didn't hurt me, but flew straight here to you and dropped medown among you."

  "Didn't he tell you who he was?" asked the big white gander.

  "He was gone before I had time even to thank him. I thought that MotherAkka had sent him after me."

  "How extraordinary!" exclaimed the white goosey-gander. "But are youcertain that it was an eagle?"

  "I had never before seen an eagle," said the boy, "but he was so bigand splendid that I can't give him a lowlier name!"

  Morten Goosey-Gander turned to the wild geese to hear what they thoughtof this; but they stood gazing into the air, as though they werethinking of something else.

  "We must not forget entirely to eat breakfast today," said Akka, quicklyspreading her wings.

  THE FLOOD

  THE SWANS

  _May first to fourth_.

  There was a terrible storm raging in the district north of Lake Maelar,which lasted several days. The sky was a dull gray, the wind whistled,and the rain beat. Both people and animals knew the spring could not beushered in with anything short of this; nevertheless they thought itunbearable.

  After it had been raining for a whole day, the snowdrifts in the pineforests began to melt in earnest, and the spring brooks grew lively. Allthe pools on the farms, the standing water in the ditches, the waterthat oozed between the tufts in marshes and swamps--all were in motionand tried to find their way to creeks, that they might be borne along tothe sea.

  The creeks rushed as fast as possible down to the rivers, and the riversdid their utmost to carry the water to Lake Maelar.

  All the lakes and rivers in Uppland and the mining district quicklythrew off their ice covers on one and the same day, so that the creeksfilled with ice-floes which rose clear up to their banks.

  Swollen as they were, they emptied into Lake Maelar, and it was not longbefore the lake had taken in as much water as it could well hold. Downby the outlet was a raging torrent. Norrstroem is a narrow channel, andit could not let out the water quickly enough. Besides, there was astrong easterly wind that lashed against the land, obstructing thestream when it tried to carry the fresh water into the East Sea. Sincethe rivers kept running to Maelaren with more water than it could disposeof, there was nothing for the big lake to do but overflow its banks.

  It rose very slowly, as if reluctant to injure its beautiful shores; butas they were mostly low and gradually sloping, it was not long beforethe water had flooded several acres of land, and that was enough tocreate the greatest alarm.

  Lake Maelar is unique in its way, being made up of a succession of narrowfiords, bays, and inlets. In no place does it spread into a stormcentre, but seems to have been created only for pleasure trips, yachtingtours, and fishing. Nowhere does it present barren, desolate, wind-sweptshores. It looks as if it never thought that its shores could holdanything but country seats, summer villas, manors, and amusementresorts. But, because it usually presents a very agreeable and friendlyappearance, there is all the more havoc whenever it happens to drop itssmiling expression in the spring, and show that it can be serious.

  At that critical time Smirre Fox happened to come sneaking through abirch grove just north of Lake Maelar. As usual, he was thinking ofThumbietot and the wild geese, and wondering how he should ever findthem again. He had lost all track of them.

  As he stole cautiously along, more discouraged than usual, he caughtsight of Agar, the carrier-pigeon, who had perched herself on a birchbranch.

  "My, but I'm in luck to run across you, Agar!" exclaimed Smirre. "Maybeyou can tell me where Akka from Kebnekaise and her flock hold forthnowadays?"

  "It's quite possible that I know where they are," Agar hinted, "but I'mnot likely to tell you!"

  "Please yourself!" retorted Smirre. "Nevertheless, you can take amessage that I have for them. You probably know the present condition ofLake Maelar? There's a great overflow down there and all the swans wholive in Hjaelsta Bay are about to see their nests, with all their eggs
,destroyed. Daylight, the swan-king, has heard of the midget who travelswith the wild geese and knows a remedy for every ill. He has sent me toask Akka if she will bring Thumbietot down to Hjaelsta Bay."

  "I dare say I can convey your message," Agar replied, "but I can'tunderstand how the little boy will be able to help the swans."

  "Nor do I," said Smirre, "but he can do almost everything, it seems."

  "It's surprising to me that Daylight should send his messages by a fox,"Agar remarked.

  "Well, we're not exactly what you'd call good friends," said Smirresmoothly, "but in an emergency like this we must help each other.Perhaps it would be just as well not to tell Akka that you got themessage from a fox. Between you and me, she's