The Elbert County tribune., 1904-01-21
The First
Snowfall

part OF every country boys work
Is to keep the wood-box full. Night
and morning he must fill the big one
by the kitchen stove and the little one
by the air-tight Franklin in the sit
ung-room. But once upon a time"
there was a boy Il knew him) who
thought that he had them both full
enough" before supper. Yet along
about eight O'Clock his Aunt Rachel
went to the window. She breathed
on the frosty pane and looked through
the bare spot, and said: My how
1t is showing! This is none OF your
squalls. Howard. 1t is going to be
deep, even If 1t Is the first one OF the
season. And. with twinkle in her
kindly old eyes. Il think you ought TO
bring in little more wood. And
you'd better pile it up pretty nigh,
too"
Il don't care much II it is going TO
be deep said Howard to himself. as
he hung the lantern on the wood-shed
beam and loaded his arm with the
newly split. fragrant sticks OF hickory
and birch. The lights shone cheer
fully out the windows and the open
door of the l.. Il can stard It to bring
all the wood can pile back Of the
stovepipe II there is only good sliding
down our hill tomorrow, aud rather
think there will be-
1t was good the next day. There
had been no wind. and the snow was
smooth and even-oh. just perfectl
no bare spots. it seemed, in all the
world. Wasn't it beautiful when the
sun shone on it? 1t made your eyes
blink, it was so bright. The chores
must be attended to in the forenoon,
but after lunch was the play time.
Down the cart path. around the
barn, across lots to the hill by the
pond. See. the COWS are waiting to
have the haystack opened. They
think that winter has really come"
Never mind the cows" said Mel
vile. See how old Santa Claus has
made that spruce into a Christmas
tree, and stuck all the ornaments on
it, too. There is nothing slow about
that old fellow" What wonders fol
low n first storml Autumn goes by
with rush. Mldwinter arrives in a
single night. and the face OF nature
wears another and different express
sion. The birds are even ahead OF
the boys. Amid a bunch of withered
goldenrod. under the fence, is an open
spot where the snow has spread its
white cloth. and the happy birds are
having feast of seeds. There is not
a single creature to which the first
SNOWFALL brings anything but Joy.
For the rabbits and the mice 1t
turns n new page on which they write
learned essays with paws and claws.
Up and down, back and forth, in queer
hieroglyphics, the writing runs. They
are not always seeking food. Like the
boys. they are ''just having fun" with
the first SNOWFALL And every boy
knows how well he likes to do that.
Go out on any day after light fall of
snow, and LOOK at the tracks between
stumps and brush-heaps.
Country boys make paths in the
snow. but they are not the only path
makers. One can easily fancy that
the squirrel, looking along his zigzag
highway on the top rail, says: What
a task have, to get over all these
rails this morning!" or, What fun /
shall have when | come to that mar
row ridge yonderi Chuck-er-r.r-"
and away he goes. II 1t is task, 1t
is an easy one, and a light heart
makes 1t easier. Down through the
woods the boys went. Said Howard:
ut looks as If white blanket had
been spread over all the ground and
the brook" Yes" agreed Melville;
"and 1t looks as IL the wool that made
the blanket were growing on the
branches and twigs of the trees"
The boy who remembers such ex.
periences. and looks forward to others
of similar kind, has no words to ex-
press his enjoyment of It ALL He is
never alone at such times. The frolic
OF the afternoon was so delightful that
these special boys whom | knSyy for
got even their suppertime, and thought
of home only when twilight fell around
them and the moon sailed up into the
steely blue sky. Then, indeed. the
snow looked like a blanket, and the
snow-crowned boulders in the hillside
pasture resembled a flock of slumber-
inc ghaan