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LESSON 2
country groves losing sugar freezes
1. Johnny Reed was a little boy who never had seen a snowstorm till he was six years old. Before this, he had lived in a warm country, where the sun shines down on beautiful orange groves, and fields always sweet with flowers.
2. But now he had come to visit his grandmother, who lived where the snow falls in winter. Johnny was standing at the window when the snow came down.
3. "O mamma!" he cried, joyfully, "do come quick, and see these little white birds flying down from heaven."
4. "They are not birds, Johnny," said mamma, smiling.
5. "Then maybe the little angels are losing their feathers! Oh! do tell me what it is; is it sugar? Let me taste it," said Johnny. But when he tasted it, he gave a little jump—it was so cold.
6. "That is only snow, Johnny," said his mother.
7. "What is snow, mother?"
8. "The snowflakes, Johnny, are little drops of water that fall from the clouds. But the air through which they pass is so cold it freezes them, and they come down turned into snow."
9. As she said this, she brought out an old black hat from the closet. "See, Johnny! I have caught a snowflake on this hat. Look quick through this glass, and you will see how beautiful it is."
10. Johnny looked through the glass. There lay the pure, feathery snowflake like a lovely little star.
11. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star!" he cried in delight. "Oh! please show me more snow-flakes, mother."
12. So his mother caught several more, and they were all beautiful.
13. The next day Johnny had a fine play in the snow, and when he came in, he said, "I love snow; and I think snowballs are a great deal prettier than oranges."