The Gray Goose's Story
On pleasant afternoons your Aunt Amy dearly loves to wander down by the side of the pond, which lies just beyond the apple orchard, and there meet her bird or animal friends, of whom she has many, and all of them are ready to tell her stories.
There it is she sees Mr. Frisky Squirrel, old Mr. Plodding Turtle, Mr. Bunny Rabbit, and many others; but never until yesterday did she make the acquaintance of the gray goose, and then it was owing to Master Teddy's mischief that she found a new friend among the dwellers on the farm.
Your Aunt Amy was walking slowly along on the lookout for some bird or animal who might be in the mood for story-telling, when she heard an angry hissing, which caused her to start in alarm, thinking a snake was in her path, and, to her surprise, she saw two geese who were scolding violently in their own peculiar fashion.
One was the gray goose, who afterward became very friendly, and the other, a white gander from the farm on the opposite side of the road.
What is the matter? your Aunt Amy asked, as the geese continued to hiss angrily without giving any heed to her, and Mrs. Gray Goose ceased her scolding sufficiently long to say sharply:
It's that Mr. Man's boy Teddy; he never comes into the farm-yard without raising a disturbance of some kind, and I for one am sick of so much nonsense.
Your Aunt Amy looked quickly around; but without seeing any signs of the boy who had tried Mrs. Goose's temper so sadly, and, quite naturally, she asked:
What has he been doing now, and where is he?
Down in the meadow, or, he was there when Mr. Gander and I were driven out by his foolish actions, and Mrs. Goose continued to hiss at the full strength of her lungs.
If he is so far away your scolding will do no good, because he can't hear it, your Aunt Amy said, finding it difficult to prevent herself from actually laughing in the angry bird's face.
Some of the other people on this farm can hear me, and thus know that I do not approve of such actions, Mrs. Goose replied sharply. Since Mr. Crow began to write poetry about Young Teddy, the boy thinks he can chase us around whenever he pleases. He'll kill Mrs. Cow's baby, if he isn't careful.
Amy Prentice
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Aunt Amy's Animal Stories
THE GRAY GOOSE'S STORY
With Thirty-Two Illustrations and a Frontispiece in Colors By J. WATSON DAVIS
THE GRAY GOOSE'S STORY.
TEDDY AND THE CALF.
WHEN SAMMY TEASED THE CALF.
WHERE MR. CROW HID HIS APPLES.
THE SECOND TRAGEDY IN THE FROG FAMILY.
SEARCHING FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE.
A SUSPICIOUS-LOOKING VISITOR.
WHEN MR. BOOSTER WAS SUSPICIOUS.
WHEN THE ROOSTER FOUND THE MOON.
WHEN MRS. MONKEY WAS DISSATISFIED.
HOW BUNNY RABBIT FOOLED GRANDFATHER STORK.
MRS. WILD GOOSE'S VISIT.
WHEN MRS. PEA-HEN ABANDONED THE ORPHANS.
ALICE QUESTIONS MR. TURTLE.
THE LAZY MR. HORSE.
WHEN THE GEESE CLAIMED TO BE CRANES.
WHEN MR. PIG DIDN'T GO TO MARKET.
THE DISOBEDIENT RAT.
THE TRUE STORY OF THE GOLDEN EGGS.
THE RACE BETWEEN MR. FIDO AND MR. SHANGHAI.
WHEN MRS. GOOSE'S BABY WASN'T WELCOME.
THE END.