THE GALLIC WAR 31 



pleasures I experience is to sit and see others 

 work. 



The air was brisk and full of oxygen, the snow 

 was dazzling in the bright sunshine, the jolly 

 tinkle of the sleigh-bells filled the air, while a 

 flock of juncos sported in the tall dry weeds and 

 grasses that in the fence-corners barely showed 

 their drooping heads above their white mantle. 



I felt the beauty of the country and country life 

 as never before, and how petty seemed my disap- 

 pointments in life, in the great peace that seemed 

 to spread over the face of Nature ! As I went down 

 to the office that morning, leaving my stock warm 

 and well fed and my modest farm half buried in 

 fleecy clouds of snow, I thought how much of life 

 and beauty is now hidden safe and warm under 

 Nature's blankets, only awaiting that magic 

 summons to spring up into active and beneficent 

 fruition. 



All that day sleighs dashed about town, and 

 wood-sleds drawn by single teams, pairs, and 

 fours thronged the streets. The farmers had 

 been waiting for the snow. This set me thinking. 

 What cleaner, better, fresher farm-work could 

 there be than chopping in the winter woods. 

 That's it! I would do it. Business was not very 

 brisk in the office, and if it w r ere, there was no 

 particular need of a man being a slave to his 

 profession. I had known instances of men actu- 



