THE SNOW OWL'S CHRISTMAS PARTY 131 



the hearth and snapping up a luckless mouse, who 

 had ventured too far from his hole. " It is always 

 well to have an eye to business ! Comfortable 

 room this, nice fire ! Bless me ! if I stayed 

 here long, I should fall asleep. Good-bye until 

 to-morrow, Tommy-Anne, and don't forget to 

 have some comfortable seats for my friends." 

 And he disappeared through the window. 



" Seats for birds ! I wonder what will be best. 

 Now I have it," thought Tommy- Anne ; " the 

 clothes-rack in my room is the very thing, the 

 one with the wooden pegs ! " And immediately 

 she began bumping it along until it reached the 

 corner opposite the Christmas tree, where it 

 stood, looking rather like a leafless tree itself. 



The day before Christmas, Tommy- Anne could 

 hardly keep still. She saw Obi and the Miller's 

 children coasting down the long hill back of the 

 barn, while Waddles raced beside them, barking 

 frantically ; there were troops of strange birds, 

 with bent beaks, picking the seed from the spruce 

 cones in the trees near the house, and there was a 

 great deal of running to and fro about the house, 

 knocks on the side door, and many whisperings. 



" They must be bringing in presents," she said 

 vaguely. Then a strange sound came from up 



