A JANUARY THAW. 



shot, and breaking their necks afterward to end their sufferings. Nathan 

 had kept very quiet about his little game. There really was a very sly 

 fox in the neighborhood ; but boys make good foxes too, sometimes. 



Nathan's house was a typical New England home, with slanting roof 

 on one side, and embowered in maples, and it had the most picturesque 

 barn in the neighborhood. Oh you good people far off in the country 

 everywhere, how I envy you these dear old barns ! How much you ought 

 to appreciate their homely rustic beauty ! But you never will, until, like 

 me, you are forced to live away from them, and to see them only through 

 the golden haze of memory. Then you will learn how great a part they 

 took in influencing your daily life and happiness. 



Was ever perfume sweeter than that all-pervading fragrance of the 

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