ilent, looking out upon
the Laughing Valley. Then on a sudden his eyes twinkled, as stars do
on a still night, and grew merry and wide.

For at his feet the cowslips and daisies smiled on him in friendly
regard; the breeze whistled gaily as it passed by and fluttered the
locks on his forehead; the brook laughed joyously as it leaped over the
pebbles and swept around the green curves of its banks; the bees sang
sweet songs as they flew from dandelion to daffodil; the beetles
chirruped happily in the long grass, and the sunbeams glinted
pleasantly over all the scene.

"Here," cried Claus, stretching out his arms as if to embrace the
Valley, "will I make my home!"

That was many, many years ago. It has been his home ever since. It is
his home now.

MANHOOD

1. The Laughing Valley

When Claus came the Valley was empty save for the grass, the brook, the
wildflowers, the bees and the butterflies. If he would make his home
here and live after the fashion of men he must have a house. This
puzzled him at first, but while he stood smiling in the sunshine he
suddenly found beside him old Nelko, the servant of the Master
Woodsman. Nelko bore an ax, strong and broad, with blade that gleamed
like burnished silver. This he placed in the young man's hand, then
disappeared without a word.

Claus understood, and turning to the Forest's edge he selected a number
of fallen tree-trunks, which he began to clear of their dead branches.
He would not cut into a living tree. His life among the nymphs who
guarded the Forest had taught him that a live tree is sacred, being a
created thing endowed with feeling. But with the dead and fallen trees
it was different. They had fulfilled their destiny, as active members
of the Forest community, and now it was fitting that their remains
should minister to the needs of man.

The ax bit deep into the logs at every stroke. It seemed to have a
force of its own, and Claus had but to swing and guide it.

When shadows began creeping over the green hills to lie in the Valley
overnight, the young man had chopped many logs into equal lengths and
proper shapes for building a house such as he had seen the poorer
classes of men inhabit. Then, resolving to await another day before he
tried to fit the logs together, Claus ate some of the sweet roots he
well knew how to find, drank deeply from the laughing brook, and lay
down to sleep on the grass, first seeking a spot where no flowers