How cold it was!

The wind sang in the pine trees.

The snow was very deep.

A little girl stood at the window.
She saw some birds.

The birds were looking for seeds.

The snow had covered all the seeds.
It had covered the nuts.

A squirrel was sitting on the snow.
He could not find any nuts.

He was hungry.

This is what the little girl said: "The squirrel lifts his little legs, Because he has no hands, and begs. He is asking for my nuts, I know. May I not feed them on the snow?" "Yes, dear, you may feed them," said

her mamma.

The little girl put on her boots.

She put on her red coat.

Her hood was red, too.

She went out to feed the birds.

The wind tried to blow her away.

She did not care for the wind.

She dropped nuts and corn on the snow. "Come squirrel, come birds.

Don't be afraid. We are all good.
I am mamma's Red Riding Hood."
The birds were glad to have the corn.
The squirrel took his nuts to the tree.
Dear Little Red Riding Hood, I am glad

you fed the birds and squirrels.

RED RIDING HOOD.

On the wide lawn the snow lay deep,
Ridged o'er with many a drifted heap.
We saw the sombre crow flap by,

The hawk's

gray fleck along the sky,
The crested blue-jay, flitting swift,
The squirrel poising on the drift,
Erect, alert, his broad gray tail

Set to the north wind like a sail.
It came to pass, our little lass,

With flattened face against the glass,

Stood gazing through the narrow space her rosy lips Had melted from the frost's eclipse.

"Oh, see," she cried, "the poor blue-jays!

What is it that the black crow says?

The squirrel lifts his little legs
Because he has no hands, and begs.
He's asking for my nuts, I know.
May I not feed them on the snow?"

-Whittier.

The rats bit the babies.

The rats killed the cats.

They ate the cheese.

They made nests in people's hats.

There were rats in the houses and rats

in the barns.

There were rats everywhere.