LESSON IX.

WHAT GEESE CAN DO.

1. To show that the goose has a great deal of good sense, this story is told:

2. At a small country church a poor blind woman used to come in every Sunday morning, as regular as the clock, a minute or two behind the pastor.

3. She was always alone, came in the last and went away the first of any. The pastor, who was a new-comer, was puzzled to know how she got about so well.

4. One day he set out to visit her, and found that she lived in a small cottage, more than a mile away.

5. On his way to her home, he crossed a stream on a narrow rustic bridge, with a railing on only one side.

6. He rapped at the door, and asked of the woman who opened it, "Does the blind woman who comes to church every Sunday live here?" "Yes, that she does! but she's out in the field now."

7. "Why do you let the poor creature come all the way by herself, and across the bridge, too? She will fall into the water some day and be drowned!"

8. The woman laughed softly. "Sure, she doesn't go alone—the goose takes her!" said she.

9. "What do you mean by the goose taking her?" said the pastor.

10. "Sure," said the woman, "it is the goose whose life she saved when it was a little gosling. And now it comes every Sunday at the same minute to take her to church.

11. "It gets her skirt into its mouth, and leads her along quite safely. When it comes to the bridge it puts her next the rail, and keeps between her and the water.

12. "It stays about the church-door till the service is out, and then it takes her by the gown and brings her home just the same."

13. The pastor was greatly pleased with this story, and soon after he preached a sermon on kindness to animals.