88 



THE COUNTRY BOY 



gether, but finally spring was approaching and 

 I had noticed how he could fly around the 

 barnyard. Father came to me one day and 

 warned me that if I wanted to keep that goose 

 I had better clij^ his wings, but he said, "I 

 hope you won't. You say that you love ani- 

 mals ; now show it by letting this goose alone, 

 then when his kind come by in a few weeks 

 going north for the breeding season, he will 

 join them and be hai^pier than he is here." 



I replied that "of course an outsider might 

 think he would leave, but in reality he 

 would not. The goose and I have talked it 

 over and he don't care for anything better than 

 I am, so he ain't goin' away.'* 



"Well," said father, "when I see you two 



together I think as 

 much, but when you 

 go downtown loitering 

 around with people 

 that aren't half as 

 smart a s this goose, 

 it's then that he misses 

 you, and it's on that 

 account that I wish 

 you would leave h i s 



