owing to the oil which they contain. 

 Thus you see we Hght the hut which 

 we have helped to make. There also 

 our inner bark is used as food, but it is 

 ground into flour and then made into 

 bread." 



'The Laplander must indeed be proud 

 of you!" 



'Tt is but a small journey from there 

 to down-trodden Finland where you 

 will see that the people virtually live on 

 wood; but there it is the shavings of 

 our wood with which they thatch their 

 roofs. The women of Finland use us 

 as brooms." 



"As brooms, how very strange! Pray 

 tell me how." 



'The simplest thing in the world. 

 A bundle of fresh green leaves are tied 

 together and with this she sweeps her 

 floors; it is the best kind of a broom 

 too, for it does not raise the dust only 

 to let it settle again, but the natural 

 dampness licks it up. The broom is 

 then burnt and next day another is 

 used. The Finnish woman is very par- 

 ticular about sweeping, for be it known 

 she sweeps her entire house every day." 



The Tree ceased, and Mabel sat 

 looking up at its beautiful foliage. 

 How she loved to be out among the 

 trees! She loved the wild freedom of 

 the woods and often said to herself 

 that there surely must be some Indian 

 in her. She could think of no more 

 delightful an outing than roaming 

 through woods or listlessly floating 

 down the river in her canoe. 



"From Finland to Russia is but a 

 step," seemed to come from the Tree. 

 "You have heard of Russian leather?" 



"Yes indeed; I own a pocket-book 

 of it. It has a pleasant though a 

 peculiar smell." 



"That odor is due to an oil which 

 is distilled from our leaves and young 

 branches, and is used in the manufac- 

 ture of Russian leather. Perhaps you 

 have heard of its ptarmigan, that white 

 bird of the north?" 



"Yes, and often longed to see it. The 

 poor thing ! . Why does it not migrate 

 like other birds " 



"I'm sure I do not know unless it is 

 that it is so well provided with food 

 where it is." 



"Food, I should think its food would 

 be all covered over with the deep 

 snows !" 



"Not so, for the bird feeds chiefly on 

 the seeds of the birch." 



"What are your seeds like?" 



"Like the pussy willows. In some 

 parts of the world country lore tells us 

 that evil spirits seek and greedily de- 

 vour the seeds of the Sweet Birch." 



"How pretty the pussy willows are ! 

 I love to rub them against my cheek. 

 Then too, the sight of them is always 

 so gladdening, for it speaks of the joy- 

 ous spring-time when all nature is 

 awakening from her long sleep. Have 

 you no legends in connection with your 

 family. Birch Tree ?" 

 ^ "No; but I can tell you an odd freak 

 of nature in connection with us, which 

 has only recently been discovered. It 

 seems that a quantity of Canadian 

 Birch timber was purchased for a cer- 

 tain chair factory. Now in the center 

 of one of these pieces, which was thirty- 

 six inches in thickness, there was found 

 a young birch tree two and a half 

 inches in diameter. Fortunately the 

 saw had not severed it, and it is to be 

 preserved." 



"How did it get there?" 



"Well, as it enjoyed an independent 

 existence, it is supposed that years ago 

 a seed fell into the hollow part of the 

 old tree and developed into a sapling 

 which forced its way up through the 

 trunk of the parent. This hollow was 

 completely filled for the distance of 

 several yards." 



"That is odd." 



"Another strange story almost equal 

 to a legend, comes from the head 

 waters of the Stewart River in the 

 frozen north. At the first outbreak of 

 the Klondyke excitement, a widower, 

 the father of two daughters, went north 

 from Spokane, Washington, to seek 

 his fortune in the gold fields. He lost 

 his life in a snowslide which occurred 

 as he was trying to cross one of the 

 passes. Now the brother of his dead 

 wife was also in the north, but he spent 

 toilsome years in prospecting and min- 

 ing; in company with a friend, he had 

 just begun to work some promising 

 claims when he was taken ill. They 



103 



