THE LADY OF SNOW.

NE day, the poor bare, brown earth awoke
() and looked sadly up into the sky. The
green grass, the pretty, bright flowers,
and tender leaves had left him long ago, and he
knew he was no longer beautiful. The sky saw
this, and moved by pity, threw over him a soft,
white mantle. First she sent down a few feathery
stars. Then, well pleased at the effect, more and
more, and faster and faster they came, till the
trees, the bare fields, and houses were hidden by
the pure, white covering, till surely no one could
have suspected the hard ugliness beneath. At
last, when all was done, the clouds rested, and
the big sun shone out, glad that he had something
so beautiful to look upon.
In one of the houses, a little girl stood at the

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