When Mr. Jeminy had sung as much as he liked, he went on to say: "In
autumn the birds go south by easy stages; to-day their songs are
departed from these woods, where there is none left but the catbird, to
creak upon the bough. Soon snow will cover the earth, in which nothing
is growing. But you, happy song birds, will build your nests far away,
in green and windy trees, and your quarrels will fill distant valleys
with music."
When Mr. Jeminy was nearly home he looked behind him and saw Thomas
Frye and Anna Barly returning from the fair. He drew aside to let them
pass, and with the sun shining in his eyes, he thought to himself,
"Only the young are happy to-day."
VIII
THE TURN OF THE YEAR
A fortnight later, the dress-maker was called in haste to Barly Farm,
to sew coarse and fine linen, and a dress for Anna to be married in.
But it all had to be done within the week, towels, sheets,
pillow-cases, table-cloths, and aprons. "More than a body could sew in
a month," she declared. For Anna was going to have a baby.
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