repeated the boat; and when the little boy had unfastened it, he sprang in, and began to row himself over the dark water.
As he rowed, he saw a tiny bird flying above him. The bird needed no boat or bridge, for its wings were strong; and when the little boy saw it, he cried:—
"Little bird, little bird, flying so gay!
Carry a message for me to-day:
My love to my mother, wherever she be;
I know she is always thinking of me."
The little bird flew swiftly back to carry the message, and the boy rowed on till he reached the opposite shore. After he had thanked the boat with its helping oar, he tied it to a tree as he had found it, and then hastened away, singing his happy song again.
By and by he heard an answer to his song, and he knew that it was the great sea, calling "Come! Come! Come!" And when he reached the shore where the blue waves were dancing up to the yellow sands, he clapped his hands with delight; for there, rocking on the billows, was a beautiful ship with sails as white as a lady's hands.
"I knew there would be a way!" said the little boy, as he sprang on deck and went sailing over the deep blue sea,—sailing, sailing, sailing, day after day, night after night, over the beautiful sea.
At night the stars would look down, twinkling and blinking; and as the little boy watched them, he would say:—
"Little stars, little stars, shining so bright!
Carry a message for me to-night:
My love to my mother, wherever she be;
I know she is always thinking of me."
The little boy went on sailing, sailing, day and night, until he came to a land beyond the sea,—a land so full of delight that the little boy felt that his journey was ended, until one day when a great storm came.
The wind blew, the thunder crashed, the lightning flashed, the rain came pouring down, and the little boy wanted to go home.