THE NORTH WIND DOTH BLOW 73 



not cut, cure, and store away, in the depths of the 

 stony hillside, clover hay enough to last him through 

 the winter. The beaver cans his fresh food in cold 

 water ; the chipmunk selects long-keeping things and 

 buries them ; but the woodchuck simply fattens him- 

 self, then buries himself, and sleeps and lives! 



" The north wind doth blow, 

 And we shall have snow," 



but what good reason is there for our being daunted 

 at the prospect? Robin and all the others are well 

 prepared. Even the wingless frog, who is also with- 

 out fur or feathers or fat, even he has no fear at 

 the sound of the cold winds. Nature provides for 

 him, too, in her own motherly way. All he has to 

 do is to dig into the mud at the bottom of the ditch 

 and sleep and sometimes freeze ! 



No matter. If the cold works down and freezes 

 him into the mud, he never knows. He will thaw 

 out as good as new ; he will sing again for joy and 

 love as soon as his heart warms up enough to beat. 

 I have seen frogs frozen into the middle of solid 

 lumps of ice. Drop the lump on the floor, and the 

 frog would break out like a fragment of the ice 

 itself. And this has happened more than once to the 

 same frog without causing him the least ache or pain. 

 He would gradually limber up, and croak, and look 

 as wise as ever. 



The north wind may blow, for it is by no means 

 a cheerless prospect, this wood-and-meadow world of 



