THE CANADA GOOSE. 



Just a common Wild Goose of 

 North America. In the spring 

 and fall you will see great flocks 

 of us flying overhead, an old 

 Gander in the lead, crying Jionk^ 

 honk as loud as he can. Our 

 nests are only simple hollows in 

 the sand, on the shores of lakes 

 and rivers, around which are 

 placed a few sticks and twigs, 

 the five eggs laid on a layer of 

 gray down. 



'^ You're a Goose." 

 ■ That's a polite way some peo- 

 ple have of calling another stu- 

 pid, but there are Geese and 

 Geese as well as men and men. 

 I am going to tell you about one 

 Goose that dearly loved her 

 master, and considering the way 

 he treated her you may conclude 

 she was a stupid Goose after all. 



Well, this particular Goose 

 took such a fancy to her owner 

 that she would follow him about 

 like a dog, even to the village, 

 where she would wait outside 

 the barber's or other shop 

 which he might enter. 



People noticed this, and in- 

 stead of calling the farmer by 

 his proper name began to speak 

 of him as '' Mr. Goosey." This 

 angered the man and he ordered 

 the poor loving Goose to be 

 locked up in the poultry-yard. 

 Shortly after he went to an ad- 



joining town to attend a meet- 

 ing ; in the midst of the busi- 

 ness he felt something warm and 

 soft rubbing against his legs; 

 he looked down and there stood 

 his Goose, with protruding neck 

 and quivering wings, gazing up 

 at him with pleasure and fond- 

 ness unutterable. 



The people about shouted with 

 laughter, which so enraged her 

 master, that seizing his whip, he 

 twisted the thong of it about the 

 poor bird's neck, swung her 

 round and round, and supposing 

 her dead, angrily threw her body 

 out of the window. 



A few days after Mr. Goosey 

 was seized with a severe illness, 

 which brought him to the verge 

 of the grave. He recovered, 

 however, and was able at length 

 to sit beside the open window. 

 There on the grass sat the Goose 

 gazing up at him with the same 

 old look of affection in her eyes. 



^^^m I never to be rid of that 

 stupid thing ? " he cried,but when 

 he was told that through all his 

 illness the faithful bird had sat 

 there opposite his window, 

 scarcely touching food, his hard 

 heart melted, and from thence- 

 forth Mr. Goosey treated his 

 feathered friend with the great- 

 est kindness. 



