Page:The New-Year's Bargain (1884).djvu/17

"This afternoon, in spite of the cold, they are out gathering wood."

 

CHAPTER I.

THE BARGAIN WITH THE MONTHS.

It is a cold, wintry day. The Old Year is going to die to-night. All the winds have come to his funeral, and, while waiting, are sky-larking about the country. It is a very improper thing for mourners to do. Here they are in the Black Forest, going on like a parcel of school-boys,