TOMMY AND THE GANDER. (2)

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TOMMY sometimes visits his old nurse. Nurse lives in a tiny house and keeps geese. Tommy is afraid of the geese. The gander hisses at him and Tommy does not like that.

One day Nurse went into the goose-house and brought out ten little goslings. Tommy took one of them in his hands. How pretty they were with their pink feet and fluffy white feathers!

“To-morrow, they will go out and eat the tender grass,” said Nurse.

“Then I shall catch them,” said Tommy.

“The old gander won’t let you,” said Nurse.

“Pooh! who’s afraid?” said Tommy very bravely.

So the next day Tommy tried to catch a gosling. Nurse had gone down cellar and the gander was in the goose-house. But the mother-goose hissed and the gander heard her and flew out of the goose-house after Tommy.

Tommy ran, but the gander caught hold of his clothes and began to beat Tommy’s legs with his wings. The old goose screamed, and Tommy ran and screamed, and the gander ran and screamed and whipped. What a noise they made! and Nurse ran up from the cellar to see what the matter was.

Just as Tommy went up the steps the gander bit both his red stockings. Nurse picked Tommy up and shut the door so the gander could not get in. Then she kissed Tommy, and cuddled him, and laughed, and said, “Who’s afraid?” “I am,” sobbed Tommy. “And I want that old gander shut up in the barn. He isn’t good for anything.”

“Oh, yes, he is,” said Nurse, “he takes care of the goslings.”

The next day Tommy saw something very pretty. He was looking over the gate. He did not dare to go out for fear the gander would bite him again. He heard a gosling cry “peep, peep.” The goose and gander heard it too, and ran and looked down into a deep hole.

Tommy used to play this hole was his “well.” Tommy saw the gander stretch his long neck down into the hole and lift out a little gosling, and put it carefully on the grass. Then the mother goose was so pleased that she screamed outright.

TOMMY’S NURSE.

And Tommy screamed too. “O Nurse, Nurse, that gander is good for something. He lifted a gosling right out of my well. I saw him!”

Tommy peeps over the gate at the geese

TOMMY DOES NOT DARE TO GO OUT.


A VAMPIRE BAT.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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