128 
OUR BIRDS IN WINTER. 
CHAPTER Y. 
SPINNETTE, THE FAIRY. 
Many years ago there lived in the great 
pine forest of Sweden, an old woodchopper, 
named, from the great integrity of his char- 
acter, ‘ Honest Tobin.’ He was very poor, 
and, from the unprofitable nature of his trade, 
had to labor very hard to support himself, his 
wife, and two sons. He could barely furnish 
the necessaries of life for them, and found it 
impossible to provide his boys with books, and 
pay for their education ; for there were no free 
schools, and those who wished to learn had 
to pay a considerable fee for the privilege of 
attending the small schools kept by the priests 
in the monastery, a few miles distant. Tobin 
often regretted his inability to provide his boys 
with even a year’s schooling; for he well 
knew and appreciated the value of an educa- 
tion. But, as there was no prospect of his 
condition being improved, he very wisely re- 
