150 FOREST FANCIES 



Cho-koh-tung smiled a little, knowing she 

 would never return. 



Then the men cut down the balsam-fir, 

 wrapped her ruffled skirts with twine, and 

 bound her with several other evergreen trees 

 of her own height that they had taken from 

 the forest. These were piled on a hay-rack and 

 hauled away and loaded upon a platform car. 

 After a swift, astonishing ride, they found 

 themselves in a place where there were hard 

 pavements instead of grass and moss, and tall 

 buildings instead of trees. 



The sounds of the city frightened the little 

 trees. They clung close together and whis- 

 pered of home, until one by one they were 

 taken away. 



At last it was Cho-koh-tung 's turn. She was 

 hoisted into a wagon and driven to a brick 

 house and set up in a tub in a darkened room. 



'^Will it always be night?" she asked, but 

 no one made reply. 



She now observed upon the walls festoons of 

 hemlock and holly wreaths, though these re- 

 minders of the forest only made her more 



