io Sporting Sketches 



be a pleasant change the children have never 

 been there, you know, dear, and " 



" For wheat's sake, shut up and don't meddle ! 

 You can honk faster than any goose I ever saw ! " 

 roared Wa-Wa, and the wife drifted a yard away, 

 for this was the first time he had showed real temper 

 to her. 



He was angry, too, for the old gander is lord of 

 the lot and never tolerates the slightest interference. 

 But back of it all lay an uneasy feeling an 

 indefinable dread, which, try as he would, he could 

 not entirely banish. By dawn, however, he was 

 himself again ; but this time he did lead to a spot 

 far to one side of the dangerous weeds, and where 

 there was no cover for hundreds of yards all about. 

 He had not troubled himself to see if the foe was in 

 the hide ; but as all hands swung lazily lakeward, he 

 looked back and distinctly saw the hated form erect 

 above the weeds. That very afternoon he gave the 



order for the North. 



****** 



The world was white white as the soul of a 

 child. Bells jingled unceasingly, rich robes swept 

 the snow, and big wood sleighs, laden with young 

 fir trees, went groaning along the streets. At the 

 window of a big house, almost buried among huge 

 snow-laden pines, stood a winsome wee lady, looking 

 down the straight path which led to a distant gate. 

 The glow from- a huge open fireplace played upon 

 crimson curtains and brought the dainty figure 

 into sharp relief. Almost childish in stature, it 

 required a second glance to "detect the tiny cap, 

 the silver strands in the wavy black hair, and certain 



