38 Clear Skies and Cloudy. 



an instant the spot where I lingered was well- 

 nigh robbed of all its charms ; would quite have 

 been had not, happily, the winter bells kept 

 ringing. 



Only very slowly is confidence restored in the 

 breasts of wild life. It seemed a long time be- 

 fore I could hear the chirp of any returning bird, 

 and the winter bells tolled rather than rang out 

 merrily. But the birds did come again. Chick- 

 adees, tree-sparrows, the brown creeper, and a 

 nuthatch came and chatted pleasantly among 

 themselves or to themselves ; it matters not 

 which. Enough that I heard them and that 

 they had forgotten my awkward blunder of 

 laughing aloud. Very different in their ways, 

 these birds, and the variety added interest to 

 the outlook, and again the winter bells struck 

 a livelier note and rang out so cheerfully, no 

 one worried about the time of year. Winter all 

 over the world, for aught we care, but nothing 

 of its dulness lingers here when the winter bells 

 are ringing. 



To know what the out-door world fully means, 

 we must enter into the spirit of the scenes, must 

 be enthusiastic, and then it is not impossible to 



