HOW THE LEAVES CAME DOWN. I'll tell you how the leaves came down. It is quite time you went to bed." "Ah!" begged each silly, pouting leaf, "Let us a little longer stay; Dear Father Tree, behold our grief, "Tis such a very pleasant day, We do not want to go away.' ; Come, children, all to bed," he cried I saw them; on the ground they lay, White bedclothes heaped upon her arm, Copyright by Roberts Bros. Norway is a land far away. Bread is made from the grain. Sometimes they do not gather all the grain. A few stalks are left in the field. The children run out to the field. They gather all the stalks that are left. It is very cold at Christmas time. On Christmas morning the children get the grain. Sometimes they put it on the roof. Sometimes they hang it over the door. They come from the north and the south. It is their Christmas dinner, too. That is the way they say thank you. That is the way they show their happi ness. "And which are the happiest, truly, It would be hard to tell; The sparrows who share in the Christ mas cheer, Or the children who love them well?" THE SPARROWS. Through all the land the children Till their busy little hands have gleaned All the stalks, by the reapers forgotten, And save till the cold December, Of a sudden, the day before Christmas, And the bitter wintry air at once, On the joyous Christmas morning, In front of every door, A tall pole, crowned with clustering grain, Is set the birds before. And which are the happiest, truly, It would be hard to tell; The sparrows who share in the Christmas cheer, Or the children who love them well. -Celia Thaxter. |