VI 



THE SNOW OWL'S CHRISTMAS PAETY 



TOMMY- ANNE thought the "Moon of Snow- 

 Shoes" a very deceitful name for November, as 

 there was no snow, not even so much as a flurry : 

 but instead, the winds played a hundred pranks 

 and sang snatches of all their tunes, and the 

 weather danced to the music and brought March 

 gusts, May softness, that swelled the buds dan- 

 gerously, and bits of coppery August haze, as if 

 the Old Year had shaken its scrap-bag over the 

 earth, before beginning housekeeping anew. 



Finally December and Peboan arrived together, 

 124 



