"Well, no, I can't see.

Where's yer pear-tree blossoms ?" "Why, there--out of the window--everywhere," urged the boy.
"THERE! By ginger! boy--ye don't mean--ye CAN'T mean the SNOW!" "Of course I do! Now, can't you see it?
Why, the whole tree was just a great big cloud of snowflakes.

Don't you remember?
Well, now it's gone away and got a whole lot more trees, and all the little white petals have come dancing down to celebrate, and to tell you they sure are coming back next year." "Well, by ginger!" exclaimed the man again.

Then, suddenly, he threw back his head with a hearty laugh.

David did not quite like the laugh, neither did he care for the five-cent piece that the man thrust into his fingers a little later; though--had David but known it--both the laugh and the five-cent piece gift were--for the uncomprehending man who gave them--white milestones along an unfamiliar way.
It was soon after this that there came to David the great surprise--his beloved Lady of the Roses and his no less beloved Mr.Jack were to be married at the beginning of the New Year.