THE WOODEN SWALLOW

One wooden swallow does not make a story is our conclusion about this migration into modern Greece. Peter and Linda George accompany their parents to Lindos, in Rhodes, which Mr. George picked as the perfect place to stay and paint. They found that they could live in the one vacant house there--totally vacant since the swallows, good luck symbols, had left for the coming winter. Their friend is Nikos, a poor, lame, pathetic but eager type, who explains some of the specialties of the island, especially the swallows. A carved, wooden swallow is found in the house, and is recognized by a neighbor as having been made for the defunct Procession of the Swallow. The children spend the rest of the winter finding out what was supposed to take place during the Procession and in reenacting it. The children are balsa models, and the descriptions of Lindos don't go much beyond the ""see beautiful, unspoiled Greece"" travelogue.