THE CHICKADEE. 



A POET was once walking in the Concord woods 

 in winter. The snow was deep ; it was bitterly 

 cold ; his home was a long way off. He stumbled 

 so dis- 



along, 



feeling 





-^ 



couraged and so help- 

 less that it seemed as 

 though he must give 

 up the struggle. 



Just then he heard a 

 bright, cheerful note, 

 and in the twigs above 

 him he saw a Chicka- 

 dee hopping about as 

 gaily as if it were 

 spring, and calling such 

 a brisk greeting that it 

 seemed he must be 

 really glad to see a fellow-traveler. 



The poet felt ashamed that such a "little scrap of 

 valor " could face the storm all day and all night, with- 

 out ever losing his courage or even his cheerfulness ; 

 he determined to take the bird for his model, and like 

 him be merry and brave, no matter how discouraging 

 life might sometimes seem. 



Fig. 



Chickadee. 



