Peter and Polly in Winter

  Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Matthew Wheaton and theOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

  PETER AND POLLY IN WINTER

  BY

  ROSE LUCIA

  Formerly Principal of the Primary School Montpelier, Vermont

  _Author of "Peter and Polly in Spring," "Peter and Polly in Summer," and "Peter and Polly in Autumn."_

  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

  NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO

  BOSTON ATLANTA

  COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY ROSE LUCIA.

  COPYRIGHT, 1914, IN GREAT BRITAIN.

  PETER AND POLLY IN WINTER.

  E. P. 21

  To C. M. G.

  _Frontispiece_ MAP]

  CONTENTS

  PETER AND POLLY THE BIRDS' GAME OF TAG THE STONE-WALL POST OFFICE PLAYING IN THE LEAVES "HOW THE LEAVES COME DOWN" THE BONFIRE THE HEN THAT HELPED PETER THE FIRST ICE THE THREE GUESSES THE FIRST SNOWSTORM THE STAR SNOWFLAKE HOW PETER HELPED GRANDMOTHER THE SNOW MAN PETER'S DREAM CUTTING THE CHRISTMAS TREE THE GIVE-AWAY BOX CHRISTMAS MORNING THE SNOW HOUSE THE FALL OF THE IGLOO PULLING PETER'S TOOTH DRIVING WITH FATHER THE STAG POLLY'S BIRD PARTY THE NEW SLED BROWNIE DISH-PAN SLEDS CAT AND COPY-CAT POLLY'S SNOWSHOES THE WOODS IN WINTER THE WINTER PICNIC THE SEWING LESSON FISHING THROUGH THE ICE MAKING MOLASSES CANDY GRANDMOTHER'S BIRTHDAY PARTY AROUND THE OPEN FIRE

  PETER AND POLLY IN WINTER

  PETER AND POLLY

  Peter Howe is a little boy. Polly is his sister. She is older thanPeter.

  They live in a white house. The house is on a hill. It is not in thecity. It is in the country.

  There are no houses close about it. But there are trees and fieldsaround it.

  In summer these fields are green. In winter the snow covers them.

  The fields and the hills are as white as the house. Then there is funplaying in the snow.

  Peter likes to watch the snowflakes. He calls them "white butterflies."But he knows what they are.

  His friend, the Story Lady, told him. They are just frozen clouds.

  Peter said to her, "I think they are prettier than raindrops. They cansail about in the air, too. Raindrops cannot. I like winter better thansummer."

  "It will be winter soon, Peter," said the Story Lady. "But many thingsmust happen first.

  "The birds must fly away. The leaves must turn red and yellow. Then theywill fall and you can rake them into heaps. We will go to the woods fornuts.

  "All these things will happen before winter comes."

  "Yes," said Peter. "And my grandmother must knit me some thickstockings. And my father must buy me a winter coat. Grandmother mustknit some stockings for Wag-wag, too."

  "But Wag-wag is a dog, Peter. Dogs do not need stockings."

  "My dog does," said Peter. "He needs a coat, too. His hair is short. Itwill not keep him warm. I shall ask father to buy him a coat."

  "Do, Peter," said the Story Lady. "It is good to be kind to dogs. Andwhen Wag-wag wears his coat and stockings, bring him to see me. I willtake his picture."

  THE BIRDS' GAME OF TAG

  It is fall. Summer is really over. But it is still warm. Jack Frost hasnot yet begun his work.

  Peter and Polly have been watching the birds. For days they have seengreat flocks of them. In the summer there were not so many together.

  One day they saw several robins. These were flying from tree to tree.

  Peter said, "I know they are having a party. They are playing tag."

  "Perhaps they are," said his father. "Perhaps each bird is tellingsomething to the bird he tags."

  "What is he telling?" asked Peter.

  "I think he is saying, 'Brother bird, don't you know that winter iscoming? Soon the snow will be here. What shall we do then?

  "'We cannot get food. We shall freeze. Come, let us fly away to theSouth. It is warm there.'"

  "What does brother bird say?" asked Peter.

  "I think brother bird says, 'It is a long way to the South. It will takemany days and nights to fly there.

  "'Are our children's wings yet strong enough? I do not like to go. ButI know that we must.'"

  "Doesn't he like to go, truly?" asked Peter.

  "We do not know, Peter. The robins make their nests here. They lay theirblue eggs here. They hatch their little birds here. They never do thisin the South.

  "Besides, they sing their beautiful songs here. They never sing them inthe South. We like to think that they love the North better. But, ofcourse, we do not know."

  "How can they find their way back?" asked Polly.

  "We do not know that, either, Polly. Many birds fly in the nighttime.Then they rest a part of the day."

  "I couldn't find my way in the dark," said Polly.

  "But the birds can," said father. "We do not know how. The winter homeof some of our birds is thousands of miles from here."

  "I like to watch the swallows," said Polly. "They sit in a line on atelephone wire. Then one flies to another wire. In a minute they allfly, too.

  "I think that they are talking about going away soon. I hope they willnot get lost."

  "Yes," said father. "They will soon be gone. But perhaps some of thesevery birds will come back here next summer."

  "I wish we could know them," said Polly.

  "We shall have a few birds left this winter," said father. "You knowsome of them. You know the chick-a-dees and the woodpeckers. And thiswinter I shall show you others."

  "May we hunt for nests and eggs, father?" asked Peter.

  "We may hunt, Peter, but we won't find any eggs in winter. We shall findother things. Perhaps we shall find the white-footed mouse. He sometimesmakes his home in an old bird's nest."

  "Can a mouse climb trees, father? If he lives in a bird's nest, does helay bird's eggs?"

  "He can climb trees, Peter. But he cannot lay eggs. We will see if wecan find Mr. White-foot some day.

  "But first we will watch the birds fly away and the snow come."

  THE STONE-WALL POST OFFICE

  Around Peter's house is a beautiful field. This is Mr. Howe's hayfield.You can find it on the map in the front of this book.

  The children like this field. All the year round, it is a pleasantplace.

  In the spring they find blue violets here. In the summer they watch thebirds that make nests in the tall grass. In the winter they slide hereon the crust.

  At the farther side of the field, there are some trees. These arebutternut trees. In front of the trees is a stone wall.

  Peter and Polly like to play by this wall. Sometimes they play that itis a post office.

  The holes in the wall are the boxes. There is a box for every one in thevillage. Peter has more than one box; so has Polly.

  The children take turns being the postmaster. If Peter is thepostmaster, Polly calls for the mail.

  The real post office is in their father's store. So they have often seenMr. Howe put the mail into the boxes.

  They use little sticks for the post cards. Leaves are the letters.Stones are the packages. Sometimes the boxes are full ofmail--especially Peter's and Polly's.

  Often they play that it is Christmas time. Then the boxes are full ofpackages. It is fun to guess what is in each package.

  One day Peter said, "There is a knife in this package. I like it. Thereis a hammer in this package. I will build a house with it.

  "There is a game in this package. Will you play it with me, Polly? And,O Polly! There is a pony in this package! That is what I wish for mostof all."

  "But, Peter, a pony is too big to be in your post-offi
ce box. It wouldnot come by mail."

  "Then Santa Claus will bring it," said Peter. "If I get it, I do notcare how it comes."

  One day the children saw that the butternuts were falling.

  Polly said, "Let's pick up all we can. We will put them in ourpost-office boxes. When they are full, we will bring your cart. Then wecan take the nuts home. We will crack them next winter."

  So they filled the boxes with nuts. The nuts were still green. Thechildren stained their hands with them.

  While they were playing with the nuts, they saw two squirrels. These satin the trees above them. They watched Peter and Polly with their brighteyes, and scolded them a great deal.

  "They want our nuts," said Polly. "But we have put them into ourpost-office boxes. We will keep them."

  The next day the children went for their nuts. They took Peter's cartwith them. What do you think they found?

  Why, they found their boxes empty! The nuts were all gone!

  "Some one bad has been here," said Peter.

  Polly laughed. "You always say that, Peter. I think it was thosesquirrels. And I don't care, because they need the nuts to eat thiswinter."

  "I don't care, either," said Peter. "I think we forgot to lock ourboxes."

  "Perhaps we did," said Polly. "But I guess the squirrels thought theboxes were theirs. When they called for their mail, they found the boxesfull. How pleased they must have been! Let's pick up more nuts forthem."

  So the children again filled the post-office boxes with nuts. Then theywent home and left them for the squirrels.

  PLAYING IN THE LEAVES

  One day Peter saw something that pleased him. It was a branch of redleaves on a maple tree.

  He said to mother, "It will be winter soon."

  "Why do you think so, Peter?"

  "I have seen red leaves," said Peter.

  "But, Peter, a few red leaves do not count. There are red leaves in thesummer. You must watch until you see many red, yellow, and brownleaves."

  "What makes the leaves red and yellow, mother? Is it magic?" askedPeter. "Can you do it?"

  "Perhaps it is a kind of magic, Peter. It is like the clouds turninginto snow. I cannot do that."

  Then Peter watched for all the trees to turn. At last they were brightwith colors.

  The maples were red and yellow; the oaks a deep red. The beeches were abright yellow.

  Even the elm trees in front of the house were yellow. Now Polly likedmore than ever to swing. The swing took her way up among the yellowleaves.

  Then, one day, the leaves began to fall. Down they came, a few at atime. The next day more fell, and the next and the next.

  Polly said, "They are prettier than the snowflakes. The snow is white.These have lovely colors. See them flying through the air."

  At last most of the trees were bare. The leaves lay on the ground.

  Then Peter said, "Oh, the poor trees! They haven't any clothes on. I amso sorry."

  Polly said, "The leaves are not clothes. They are children. Now theyhave gone to bed. The snow is their blanket. When it comes, it will keepthem warm. If we leave them alone, they will sleep all winter. I learnedit in a poem."

  "They cannot go to sleep yet," said Peter. "I shall not let them. Ishall wake them up."

  "How will you do that?" asked Polly.

  "I shall run in them. That will keep them awake. I shall do it now. Comeon! See if you can make as much noise as I can."

  After a while the children raked the leaves into large heaps. Then theyjumped in the heaps. This scattered the leaves. But the children did notcare. They raked them up again.

  Once Peter jumped where the leaves were not very deep. He came to theground with a bang. He was surprised. But he was not much hurt.

  He said to mother, "My teeth shut with a noise when I went down."

  Mother said, "It is lucky that your tongue was not in the way. You wouldhave bitten it badly."

  "Come in now, both of you. You must wash your hands and faces. Fatherwill be home soon. You may play in the leaves to-morrow."

  HOW THE LEAVES CAME DOWN[1]

  I'll tell you how the leaves came down. The great Tree to his children said, "You're getting sleepy, Yellow and Brown, Yes, very sleepy, little Red; 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."

  So, just for one more merry day To the great Tree the leaflets clung, Frolicked and danced and had their way, Upon the autumn breezes swung, Whispering all their sports among,--

  "Perhaps the great Tree will forget, And let us stay until the spring, If we all beg and coax and fret." But the great Tree did no such thing; He smiled to hear their whispering.

  "Come, children, all to bed," he cried; And ere the leaves could urge their prayer He shook his head, and far and wide, Fluttering and rustling everywhere, Down sped the leaflets through the air.

  I saw them; on the ground they lay, Golden and red, a huddled swarm, Waiting till one from far away, White bedclothes heaped upon her arm, Should come to wrap them safe and warm.

  The great bare Tree looked down and smiled, "Good night, dear little leaves," he said. And from below, each sleepy child Replied, "Good night," and murmured, "It is so nice to go to bed!"

  --SUSAN COOLIDGE.

  [1] Copyright, 1889, by Roberts Brothers.

  THE BONFIRE

  The next day father said, "Peter and Polly, will you work for me? I wishto buy your leaves. I will give you a cent for three loads."

  "Oh, goody, goody!" said Polly.

  "Oh, goody, goody!" said Peter.

  "You must put the leaves in a pile in the garden. I will show youwhere."

  "What will you do with them, father?" asked Polly.

  "You will see to-night, if you are good workmen."

  In the night the wind had blown the leaves about. So the children rakedthem up once more.

  Then they filled the big basket full. They packed in the leaves as hardas they could.

  "That is to give good measure," said Polly. "Father always gives goodmeasure at his store. So you and I must, too."

  Every time they took a basketful to the garden, Polly made a mark on apiece of paper.

  At last the yard was raked clean. They had taken to the gardentwenty-nine loads. They had worked nearly all day.

  At supper father said, "You are good workmen, chicks. Our yard looksvery clean. It is ready for winter.

  "You piled the leaves carefully in the garden, too. Now, how much do Iowe you?"

  "We took twenty-nine loads, father," said Polly. "I wish there had beenone more to make thirty."

  "Why do you wish that, Polly?"

  "Because three goes in thirty better than in twenty-nine."

  "Well," said father, "we will call it thirty loads, Polly. I saw youpacking the leaves into the basket very hard.

  "You are honest workmen to give me such good measure. Now, Polly, threegoes in thirty how many times?"

  "Ten times, father. So you owe us ten cents. We shall each have fivecents."

  "Very good, Polly. Here is your money. I have a surprise for you. Put onyour coats and come to the garden. Mother will come, too."

  In the garden they found father beside the pile of leaves. He had thrownmany things upon it.

  He said, "I came home early and cleaned up the garden. Now, what shallwe do with all this stuff?"

  "Burn it, burn it!" shouted both children at once. "A bonfire, abonfire!"

  "Very well," said father. "You may burn it. Here is a match for you,Polly. And here is one for you, Peter. Light your fire."

  Polly and Peter lighted the great heap. Soon the red flames were leapingup. They made the garden bright. Farther away from the fire it was verydark.

  "Oh, see, see, m
other!" cried Polly. "The flames are as pretty as thered and yellow leaves. Have they taken the color from the leaves? Howhot they are!"

  The children danced around the fire until it died down.Then mother took them into the house. It was bedtime.]

  THE HEN THAT HELPED PETER

  Peter is a nice little boy. But he can be very naughty. Mother andfather know this. Grandmother Howe and Polly know it, too.

  You see, Peter always wishes his own way. And you know this is not goodfor little boys and little girls.

  Peter cannot have cake between his meals. He may always have milk todrink. Sometimes he may have bread and jelly, or bread and sugar.

  He likes this very much. But he does not like the crusts of the bread.So he used to eat only the soft part. The crusts he threw away.

  But at the table he could not throw them away.

  Then he put them under the edge of his plate. You know how.

  When mother took the plate, there would be a crust on the table. It didnot look very well.

  One day father said, "Peter, you are a big boy now. You are nearly fiveyears old. You are old enough to eat your crusts.

  "I will give you a week in which to learn how. After that, I shall notexpect to see any more crusts on the table."

  Peter knew that, when his father spoke so, he meant what he said. Butthe little boy thought he would not eat his crusts until he had to doso.