It had snowed very hard. Ralph and Edward, who were visiting Grandma in the country, had to stay in the house all day.
When they went to bed it was still snowing, and every time they woke up during the night, they could hear the wind sighing and whistling around the house, and through he branches of the old pine tres.
But the next morning the sun was shining brightly. Such a glorious day! How the branches of the pine trees did sparkle.
"It looks as if they had been sprinkled with gold dust and diamonds," exclaimed Ralph.
"Oh Grandma! Please do hurry breakfast. We are going out to build a fort," cried the boys, bursting into the dining-room.
Grandma smiled and told them to eat a good breakfast, for building a fort was hard work.
They were soon out in the snow, and what a splendid time they did have.
The fort did not grow very fast, for they had to stop so often to snow-ball each other.
When Grandma called them in to dinner they wondered where the time had gone since breakfast.
After dinner, Ralph was looking out of the window, when he spied two little birds cuddled up on a branch of a pine-tree.
"Oh, Edward! come here," he called. "See those poor little birds. They look half frozen and so hungry."
"Poor little things," replied Edward. "Doesn't it make you feel mean to think what a jolly time we had this morning out of the snow which has covered up the places where they get their food?"
"Let us get some food from Grandma and throw it out to them," said Ralph. "Perhaps they will find it."
The little birds were soon chirpping and flying about merrily and Ralph said it sounded as if they kept saying, "thank you."
Will not other little children be as kind as Ralph and Edward?