86 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
to-day will be the 27th; then you come here again. I 
should like every boy who can, to bring some bits of old 
weathered wood with him. Either a few mossy shingles, 
the hollow branch of a tree, a bundle of bark, — anything, 
in short, that will make the bird-houses that you build look 
natural to the birds, who dislike new boards and fresh 
paint so much that they will not use such houses until 
they are old and weathered.” 
Again Gray Lady consulted her calendar. ‘There 
will be eight Saturday meetings before the Christmas 
holidays, and we must all be very industrious so as to be 
ready for our fair.” 
“Where? what?” cried Sarah Barnes and three or 
four other girls together, for to these children on this 
remote hillside the word ‘fair’ meant visions of the 
County Agricultural Fair, and this stood for the very 
gayest of times that they knew. 
“A little fair of our own to be held in Goldilocks’ play- 
room and the workroom where the ‘Kind Hearts’ Club’ 
will offer its friends bird-houses, dolls, button-bags, 
cooking-aprons, and home-made cake and candy. Then, 
with the money thus earned, the Club will have a little 
fund for its winter work, and each member will, of course, 
have a vote as to how the money is to be spent.’ 
Gray Lady opened a small drawer in her desk, and 
took from it two packages of picture cards. The picture 
on the cards of the first pack was of a little boy releasing 
a rabbit that had been caught in a trap. The picture of 
the other cards was of a little girl standing in a doorway, 
and scattering grain sweepings to the hungry birds on 
the snow-covered ground. 
