THE MERRY GREENWOOD 125 



Next a lumberman came by, carrying his axe 

 and his saw. 



''Have you come to save the forest ?'' she in- 

 quired. 



/'The world wants wood," he replied, "and 

 there is plenty." And he pushed on his way, 

 sweeping the hills of trees. 



"'Waste not, want not!'" chorused the 

 wood-nymphs ; but the bark of the axe and the 

 snarl of the saw were so loud that he could not 

 hear, and taking only one log from each tree, 

 he threw the rest away. 



" 'Waste not, want not!' " they repeated; 

 but the slash that he left behind, dried in the 

 sun. Here a careless spark found its home, 

 and fire went roaring over the mountain. 



And so the forest was conquered. The hills 

 lost their beauty and the ground its bond of 

 roots; the deer lost its covert, the wild bird 

 its shelter, and little rills laughed no more 

 among the mountains. 



The spring rains fell and snow melted on the 

 peaks. Where there were no trees to hold the 

 water back, the swollen streams rolled brawl- 



