THE SNOW IMAGE
One afternoon of a cold winter's day, two children asked leave of
their mother to run out and play in the new-fallen snow. The older
child was a little girl, so tender and modest that every one called
her Violet. The boy was called Peony because of his fat, round face
which made everybody think of sunshine and scarlet flowers.
The children lived in the city and had no wider play place than a
little garden before the house, divided from the street by a white
fence. The pear and plum trees, and the rose bushes in front of the
parlor window were covered with white, with here and there an icicle
for the fruit. It was a pleasant place to play. Their mother bundled
them up in woolen jackets and wadded sacks, and a pair of striped
gaiters on each little pair of legs, and worsted mittens on their
hands. Out they ran, with a hop-skip-and-jump, into the heart of a
huge snowdrift. When they had frosted one another all over with
handfuls of snow, Violet had a new idea.
"Let us make an image out of snow," she said. "It shall be our little
sister and shall run about and play with us all winter long!"
"Oh, yes!" cried Peony. "And mother shall see it."
"Yes," Violet answered. "Mother shall see the new little girl. But she
must not make her come into the warm parlor, for our little snow
sister will not love the warmth.
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