Slowly he rose from the old wishing-stone, and, with his hands thrust in his pockets, watched the flock until it was swallowed up in the distant haze. Long he stood gazing through unseeing eyes while the wild notes still came to him faintly, and the joy of them rang in his heart. But there was no longing there now, only a vast content. “It must be great to fly like that!” he murmured. “It must be great, but----” He drew a long breath as he looked over the meadows to the Old Pasture and heard and saw and felt the joy of the spring--“this is good enough for me!” he finished. “I don’t envy that old leader a bit. It may be glorious to be wild and free, to look down and see the Great World, and all that, but it’s more glorious to be safe and carefree, and--and just a boy. No, I don’t envy old Honker a little bit. But isn’t he wonderful! I--I don’t see what men want to hunt him for and try to kill him. They wouldn’t if they knew how wonderful he is. I never will. No, sir. I never will! I know how it feels to be hunted, and--and it’s dreadful. That’s what it is--dreadful! I know! And it’s all because of the old wishing-stone. I’m glad I know, and--and--gee, I’m glad it’s spring!” “_Honk, honk, honk, k’honk, honk, k’honk._” Another flock of geese were passing over, and Tommy knew that they, too, were glad, oh, so glad, that it was spring! Two of Tommy’s acquaintances, Reddy Fox and Jerry Muskrat, he thought he knew all about, but he found that there was much he didn’t know. And there were two who live deep in the Great Woods whom he had never seen, Paddy the Beaver and Buster Bear. So to the friendly old wishing-stone Tommy went and what he learned there you may learn from the next volume, Tommy’s Change of Heart. * * * * * TOMMY’S CHANGE OF HEART * * * * * TOMMY’S CHANGE OF HEART CHAPTER ONE HOW IT HAPPENED THAT REDDY FOX GAINED A FRIEND It was funny that Tommy never could pass that gray stone without sitting down on it for a few minutes. It seemed as if he just couldn’t, that was all. It had been a favorite seat ever since he was big enough to drive the cows to pasture and go after them at night. It was just far enough from home for him to think that he needed a rest when he reached it. You know a growing boy needs to rest often, except when he is playing. He used to take all his troubles there to think them over. The queer part of it is he left a great many of them there, though he didn’t seem to know it. If Tommy ever could have seen in one pile all the troubles he had left at that old gray stone, I am afraid that he would have called it the trouble-stone instead of the wishing-stone.