About twelve years before Nils Holgersson started on his travels with the wild geese there was a manufacturer at Kolmården who wanted to be rid of one of his dogs. He sent for his game-keeper and said to him that it was impossible to keep the dog because he could not be broken of the habit of chasing all the sheep and he set eyes on, and he asked the man to take the dog into the forest and shoot him.  
The game-keeper slipped the on the dog to lead him to a spot in the forest where all the dogs from the were shot and buried. He was not a cruel man, but he was very glad to shoot that dog, for he knew that sheep and chickens were not the only creatures he hunted. Times without number he had gone into the forest and helped himself to a hare or a grouse-chick.
 
The dog was a little black-and-tan setter. His name was Karr, and he was so wise he understood all that was said.
 
As the game-keeper was leading him through the , Karr knew only too well what was in store for him. But this no one could have guessed by his behaviour, for he neither hung his head nor dragged his tail, but seemed as unconcerned as ever.
 
It was because they were in the forest that the dog was so careful not to appear the least bit anxious.
 
There were great stretches of woodland on every side of the factory, and this forest was famed both among animals and human beings because for many, many years the owners had been so careful of it that they had themselves even the trees needed for firewood. Nor had they had the heart to thin or train them. The trees had been allowed to grow as they pleased. Naturally a forest thus protected was a beloved refuge for wild animals, which were to be found there in great numbers. Among themselves they called it Liberty Forest, and regarded it as the best retreat in the whole country.
 
As the dog was being led through the woods he thought of what a bugaboo he had been to all the small animals and birds that lived there.
 
"Now, Karr, wouldn't they be happy in their if they only knew what was awaiting you?" he thought, but at the same time he wagged his tail and barked cheerfully, so that no one should think that he was worried or .
 
"What fun would there have been in living had I not hunted occasionally?" he reasoned. "Let him who will, regret; it's not going to be Karr!"
 
But the instant the dog said this, a singular change came over him. He stretched his neck as though he had a mind to howl. He no longer alongside the game-keeper, but walked behind him. It was plain that he had begun to think of something unpleasant.
 
It was early summer; the cows had just given birth to their young, and, the night before, the dog had succeeded in parting from its mother an elk not more than five days old, and had driven it down into the . There he had chased it back and over the knolls—not with the idea of capturing it, but merely for the sport of seeing how he could scare it. The elk cow knew that the marsh was bottomless so soon after the , and that it could not as yet hold up so large an animal as herself, so she stood on the solid earth for the longest time, watching! But when Karr kept chasing the calf farther and farther away, she rushed out on the marsh, drove the dog off, took the calf with her, and turned back toward firm land. Elk are more skilled than other animals in traversing dangerous, ground, and it seemed as if she would reach solid land in safety; but when she was almost there a which she had stepped upon sank into the , and she went down with it. She tried to rise, but could get no secure foothold, so she sank and sank. Karr stood and looked on, not daring to move. When he saw that the elk could not save herself, he ran away as fast as he could, for he had begun to think of the beating he would get if it were discovered that he ha............