Page 18 - Fairbrass

they said, for a goodly number of years ;

they had been fanned by many a summer
zephyr, and threatened by many a winter's

whirlwind—and sometimes the summers and
the winters, the zephyrs and the whirlwinds,

got so hopelessly mixed that they hardly
knew where they were—but they took the

rough with the smooth ; they were will mg to

sway just as it was willed, to the north, south,
east, or west ; they were content to unfurl

their leaves to the welcome sun, or to drop
them at the command of King Jack

Frost ; and, living* in this spirit, and being
likely to live and die old maids, they knew

all the gossip of the neighbourhood.

4 You are the first human being,’ they
said to Fairbrass, as they introduced them­

selves, by softly brushing against the window-
panes, ( to whom we have ever been able to

talk, ’
At the moment Fairbrass marvelled at

this, but afterwards, as will be seen pres­

ently, he knew why it was that he had the
gift of comprehending dumb tongues.