MOTHER NATURE’S PARTY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 258, 21 January 1928, Page 27

MOTHER NATURE’S PARTY

Mother Nature was very busy; she had decided to give an autumn party in honour of her youngest daughter. Silver Birch, and to ask The Man in the Moon himself to come. Sweet Silver Birch was the loveliest of all the forest trees. She stood alone in the middle of a clearing. “This will make a splendid b- 'room ” said Mother Nature. “Shall we have dresses for the parcy, mother?” asked the trees. “Certainly, my dears,” said their mother, and she began to dress them in beautiful frocks of red and brown and gold and yellow. Then she decorated the ballroom with long trails of scarlet creeper, and bunches of berries, and put couches of golden bracken • and purple heather round the sides. “Now,” said she, when all was ready, “I must go and send off the invitations.” While Mother Nature was away, the North Wind came romping along. “Oh, my I” said he. “Aren’t we smart!” “Don’t be rude,” said Silver Birch. “These are our best dresses.” But North Wind only laughed. He was not a bad fellow, but he was apt to be rather rude and rough. So what must he do but begin to romp all round the clearing. “Oh! Oh! He’s spoiling the decorations! He’s tearing our frocks!” cried the trees. “Mother Nature, come quickly; North Wind is upsetting everything!” “You naughty boy,” said Mother Nature, when she saw what North Wind had done. “What a mess there is! ” The decorations were all torn down and scattered about anyhow; all the trees had lost their beautiful frocks and stood shivering in their old brown petticoats, while the frocks lay in rags and tatters all over the ground. “Did you do this?” asked Mother Nature severely. “I only meant it for a lark,” muttered North Wind, hanging his head. “Lark, indeed!” scolded the old dame. “Now you just put everything straight again ready for the party.” “Party?” gasped North Wind. “Yes. lam giving a party to-night; but you shall not come,” and off she went. North Wind looked round helplessly. “I don’t see what I can do, except just tidy up a bit,” he said. So he set to work and blew all the tattered pieces of the trees' frocks, the torn creepers and berries and bits of bracken out of the clearing. Just as he finished Jack Frost came by. “Hullo!” said he. “You’re looking rather down in the dumps. What’s the matter?” “Well,” explained North Wind. “Mother Nature got everything ready for a party here, and I was just playing round a little, and I spoilt it all. She told me to put it right again, and I’ve done the best I could, but it doesn’t look much like a party, does it?” “It looks,” said Jack Frost, “much more like a spring cleaning. But, look here, I’ll help you make it look splendid if you like.” “Oh, how, how?” cried North Wind. “You’ll see presently,” answered Jack. “Just go and fetch some snow clouds, will you—fetch a lot —big ones? I’ll tell you everything when you come back.” When Mother Nature came back to see what her ballroom looked like, she had the surprise of her life. On the ground lay a carpet of snow, nicely frozen to make it firm for dancing; bunches of icicles hung from every bush; strings of frost diamonds hung wherever there was a creeper t hold them. The trees had each a frock of silver frost, edged with snow ermine; the bushes had cloaks of ermine; and even the ferns had a diamond ring on every finger. “Will it do?” asked North Wind. “Do?” cried Mother Nature. “It’s splendid! You shall both come to the party.” And then the guests began to arrive. Besides the trees, there were all the birds and beasts; the North Wind and Jack Frost, and the Man in the Moon himself. 'There was also an old, old man, who came in quietly and sat down in a corner. “Mother, who’s that?” asked Silver Birch. “That’s all right, my dear,” replied Mother Nature. “I know him; he is expected.” What a party that was! Quite the best that even th-e Man in the Moon had seen, but at last it was all over. When day dawned there was nothing left of Mother Nature’s party. Only the old, old man, sat alone in the midst of the clearing. His name was Winter.