CHAPTER V 



CHRISTMAS IN THE WOODS 



" 'T was the night before Christmas, and all through the house 

 Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." 



BUT on the night before this particular Christ- 

 mas every creature of the woods that could 

 stir was up and stirring; for over the old snow 

 was falling swiftly, silently, a soft, fresh covering that 

 might mean a hungry Christmas unless the dinner 

 were had before morning. 



Yet, when the morning dawned, a cheery Christ- 

 mas sun broke across the great gum swamp, lighting 

 the snowy boles and soft-piled limbs of the giant 

 trees with indescribable glory, and pouring, a golden 

 flood, into the deep, spongy bottom of the swamp be- 

 low. It would be a perfect Christmas in the woods, 

 clear, mild, stirless, with silent footing for me, and 

 everywhere the telltale snow. 



And everywhere in the woods would be the Christ- 

 mas spirit, too. As I paused among the pointed ce- 

 dars of the pasture, looking down into the tangle at 

 the head of the swamp, a clear, wild whistle rang in 

 the thicket, followed by a flash through the alders 

 like a tongue of fire, as a cardinal grosbeak shot down 

 to the tangle of greenbrier and magnolia under the 



