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Read Ebook: Peter and Polly in Winter by Lucia Rose
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Ebook has 1111 lines and 24302 words, and 23 pages
In the spring they find blue violets here. In the summer they watch the birds that make nests in the tall grass. In the winter they slide here on the crust.
At the farther side of the field, there are some trees. These are butternut trees. In front of the trees is a stone wall.
Peter and Polly like to play by this wall. Sometimes they play that it is a post office.
The holes in the wall are the boxes. There is a box for every one in the village. Peter has more than one box; so has Polly.
The children take turns being the postmaster. If Peter is the postmaster, Polly calls for the mail.
The real post office is in their father's store. So they have often seen Mr. 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 of mail--especially Peter's and Polly's.
Often they play that it is Christmas time. Then the boxes are full of packages. It is fun to guess what is in each package.
One day Peter said, "There is a knife in this package. I like it. There is 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 most of all."
"But, Peter, a pony is too big to be in your post-office box. It would not come by mail."
"Then Santa Claus will bring it," said Peter. "If I get it, I do not care 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 our post-office boxes. When they are full, we will bring your cart. Then we can take the nuts home. We will crack them next winter."
So they filled the boxes with nuts. The nuts were still green. The children stained their hands with them.
While they were playing with the nuts, they saw two squirrels. These sat in the trees above them. They watched Peter and Polly with their bright eyes, and scolded them a great deal.
"They want our nuts," said Polly. "But we have put them into our post-office boxes. We will keep them."
The next day the children went for their nuts. They took Peter's cart with 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 those squirrels. And I don't care, because they need the nuts to eat this winter."
"I don't care, either," said Peter. "I think we forgot to lock our boxes."
"Perhaps we did," said Polly. "But I guess the squirrels thought the boxes were theirs. When they called for their mail, they found the boxes full. How pleased they must have been! Let's pick up more nuts for them."
So the children again filled the post-office boxes with nuts. Then they went home and left them for the squirrels.
PLAYING IN THE LEAVES
One day Peter saw something that pleased him. It was a branch of red leaves 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 the summer. You must watch until you see many red, yellow, and brown leaves."
"What makes the leaves red and yellow, mother? Is it magic?" asked Peter. "Can you do it?"
"Perhaps it is a kind of magic, Peter. It is like the clouds turning into snow. I cannot do that."
Then Peter watched for all the trees to turn. At last they were bright with colors.
The maples were red and yellow; the oaks a deep red. The beeches were a bright yellow.
Even the elm trees in front of the house were yellow. Now Polly liked more than ever to swing. The swing took her way up among the yellow leaves.
Then, one day, the leaves began to fall. Down they came, a few at a time. 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 am so sorry."
Polly said, "The leaves are not clothes. They are children. Now they have gone to bed. The snow is their blanket. When it comes, it will keep them warm. If we leave them alone, they will sleep all winter. I learned it in a poem."
"They cannot go to sleep yet," said Peter. "I shall not let them. I shall 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. Come on! See if you can make as much noise as I can."
After a while the children raked the leaves into large heaps. Then they jumped in the heaps. This scattered the leaves. But the children did not care. They raked them up again.
Once Peter jumped where the leaves were not very deep. He came to the ground 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 would have bitten it badly."
"Come in now, both of you. You must wash your hands and faces. Father will be home soon. You may play in the leaves to-morrow."
HOW THE LEAVES CAME DOWN
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."
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