II 
Christmas in (he 
Woods 
y ou On the night before this particular Christ- 
t ie 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 cover- 
ing that might mean a hungry Christmas unless the 
dinner were had before morning. 
But 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 bottoms below. It would 
be a perfect Christmas in the woods, clear, mild, stir- 
less, with silent footing for me, and everywhere the 
telltale snow. 
19 
