or" WOODMYTH & FABLE 



which were very long. Though idle, he 

 was yet a busybody, which often hap- 

 pens. He had just peeped into the nest 

 of the Skandal-bird to see if any young 

 were hatched; but it was empty, so he 

 sat yawning. Just then the Star-girl came 

 tumbling down from the sky to be the 

 first of the Red Race. She came, not 

 like an arrow, head first, nor like a Duck, 

 feet first, but skating and sliding this way 

 and back, like a big Basswood leaf, till 

 she dropped on a mossy bank, and there 

 she sat very still, holding her little finger 

 where a Berry-brier had scratched it, and 

 gazing through her black hair, back to the 

 sky, with a sad and wistful look. 



When the little Rumor asked her 

 whence she came, she made no answer, 

 but gazed up at the sky, and a tear stood 

 in her eye. 



