142 STORIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



the Christ Child, the cattle, the shepherds, in the 

 manger at Bethlehem, and at that meeting the 

 password Brotherhood was born ! " 



Again the winds called and wrung strange 

 music from the leafless branches. The dry snow 

 scurried and settled on the window ledges, where 

 Jack Frost was perching, clad in an invisible 

 cloak, while he traced upon the panes outlines 

 of the forest ferns and greenery that his touch 

 had withered. 



The fire crackled and blazed, and Tommy-Anne 

 sat in silence ; at last she whispered softly, "Yes, 

 I understand," and then added with a sigh, "But 

 the Magic Spectacles I shall not wear them to- 

 morrow. Please tell me of what they are made?" 



" You have used them well, Diana, and so you 

 may keep them as my Christmas gift, and by and 

 by you will share them with the brother, when in- 

 stead of calling you Tommy- Anne, people will say 

 Tommy and Anne. As to these spectacles, the 

 glasses are made of TRUTH, but the settings are 

 fashioned of a strange and precious metal that 

 House People, for lack of a better word, call 

 IMAGINATION ! " 



" Mistress," said Waddles, " before I go to bed, 

 I'm going up stairs to see the other fellow who 

 owns my back legs. I think we shall be chums I " 



