What had she ever seen so beautiful as this,--the shifting, twinkling myriads of leaves, blazing with every imaginable shade of color above the black, straight trunks; the deep, translucent blue of the sky bending above; the golden light which transfused the whole scene; the crisp freshness of the afternoon air?
She wanted to sing, to dance, to do everything that was joyous and free.

But now she had work to do.

She visited all her favorite trees,--the purple ash, the vivid, passionate maples, the oaks in their sober richness of murrey and crimson.

On each and all she levied contributions, cutting armful after armful, and carried them to the house, piling them in splendid heaps on the shed-floor.

Then, after carefully laying aside a few specially perfect branches, she began the work of decoration.