CROSS-CUT VIEWS OF WINTER. 25 1 



suddenly the wind from another quarter draws 

 aside the dark curtains overhead, unveils the stars, 

 and the morning sun shines again on the fair white 

 landscape. There is a calm, peaceful rest pervad- 

 ing the face of Nature. A wide stretch of immacu- 

 late splendor. Every line and angle covered with 

 white robes, arranged in the most graceful curves 

 and folds, beset with glittering spangles and orna- 

 mented with embroidery of evergreens and the 

 various figures of the hard wood spray. Stories 

 as entertaining as the Arabian Nights or GuUiver's 

 Travels are printed on the white plastic page after 

 the storm, if the stroller will read the mystic letters. 



I note the tracks of various prowlers in the 

 woods, A rabbit has lately passed along, making 

 indentations in the snow at regular intervals, as if 

 he had been surveying or pacing off a certain por- 

 tion of this lot for himself. Further on the lines 

 appear more numerous ; cross and re-cross each 

 other, and are tangled in such a knot that it would 

 be a hopeless task to find the creatures' homes. 

 They seem to have gone everywhere, and arrived 

 at no particular place. 



Here a mouse has crocheted its way to a half- 

 buried branch, dug several feet under the snow, 

 and come out again to continue its meshing across 



