Then Sammy went to his store-house in the stone wall or in some old stump.

At last it became very cold.

North Wind blew through the woods.

The water in the little brook was covered with ice.

The birds tried to keep warm among the branches of the evergreen trees.

The rabbits slept in their warm home and did not come out very often.

The squirrels slept in their nests, and did not come out for days and days.

Blacky Crow stayed in the deep woods where the largest trees helped to keep him warm.

The ground had been covered with snow for two or three weeks.

And the squirrels and rabbits had taken long, long naps.

II

A few days before Christmas, Mr. Sun came up from behind the hills and shone brightly all day long.

He melted the snow in the warm hollows, and softened the ice on the brooks.

Bunny Rabbit and his brothers came out and hopped around to find roots to eat.

The squirrels ran up and down the trees, and all around everywhere to find hidden nuts.

All at once Bunny Rabbit heard a noise.

He sat up on his hind legs and held up his long ears.

The other rabbits listened, too.

Sammy and Bobby heard the noise and scampered up into the little pine tree.

"Bow-wow-wow!" barked Jip, as he ran through the woods.

"It's the dog!" cried Bunny. "Let's run and hide."

The little rabbits whirled around and hopped back to their house.

Sammy and Bobby were safe in the tree, so they did not try to run away.

They heard some one talking and they looked to see who it was.

They saw two children and a man.

The man had an axe in his hand.

The two children ran along the path, talking and laughing.

They were looking at all the evergreen trees.

"This is a good one," said the little boy.

"This is a better one," said the girl, and she pointed right at the little pine tree where Sammy and Bobby were hiding.

"They are going to cut down this tree," whispered Sammy. "What shall we do? What shall we do?"

But the man did not cut down the tree.

He looked at it and said, "That is too large for our Christmas tree.

"We must find one that is much smaller."

So the man and the two children went along the path into the woods.

And before long the sound of the axe rang out through the stillness.

"I never was so frightened in my life," said Sammy. "I thought they were going to cut down this tree."

"I thought so, too," said Bobby. "But I was not frightened. I could jump to that next tree. It is not very far."

"I know that," said Sammy. "But I have a store-house in this tree."

"Where is it?" asked Bobby. "I wish you would show it to me. I am as hungry as a bear."

"So am I," said Sammy. "Let's have dinner now."

"We will call it a Christmas dinner. The children said this would make a good Christmas tree," said Bobby.

"I wonder what a Christmas tree is like," said Sammy, as he ran along the branch to find the store-house.

Bobby followed Sammy and peeped into the hole where the ten acorns were hidden.

Sammy took out a nut, and Bobby took out a nut.

They sat up on their hind legs and nibbled away happily.

And as they nibbled, the man and the two children and the dog came back through the woods.

They were dragging a little tree over the snow.

The dog ran along beside them barking loudly.