"'All right, sir,' answered the man, as he raised the axe.

"By that time Mr. Horse began to suspect that his plan wasn't working as
he thought it would, so he pricked up his ears, kicked up his heels, and
tried to look as if there never had been anything the matter with him.

"'That horse has gone crazy,' the master cried.

"'He has indeed,' replied the man with the axe.

"'We'll have to kill him anyway,' said the master. 'Hit him quick before
he tears down the stable!'

"The man with the axe hit Mr. Horse one blow, and that settled the
question, of his ever hauling the farm-wagon again. Surely he made a
fool of himself while trying to deceive others, and if the Goose family
had been punished as hard, there wouldn't be one of us alive to-day."

"What do you mean by that?" your Aunt Amy asked in surprise, and Mrs.
Gray Goose replied softly, as if afraid others might hear her words:




WHEN THE GEESE CLAIMED TO BE CRANES.


"This is a story we geese don't often tell, and if Mr. Crow should get
hold of it everybody around here would know how foolish some of our
grandparents were. Our family prides itself on having saved Rome once