.

Jolly chased him for a long time, until at last Jasper Jay swerved to
one side and turned toward home.

But Jolly Robin followed him no longer. He kept straight on, and on,
and on. And he flew so fast and so far before he stopped that he
overtook the party that had started a whole day ahead of him.

So he travelled to his winter home in the old-fashioned way, after
all. And though Jolly Robin laughed when he told his friends about
Jasper Jay's new style of travelling, there was one thing over which
he could not smile, even then.

You see, "'fraid-cat" was a name he couldn't abide.

X

THE WHITE GIANT

It was a raw March day when Jolly Robin returned to Pleasant Valley
one spring. There had just been a heavy fall of snow--big, wet flakes
which Farmer Green called "sugar-snow," though it was no sweeter than
any other. Johnnie Green liked that kind of snow because it made the
best snowballs. And he had had a fine time playing in the orchard near
the farmhouse, not long before Jolly Robin appeared there.

Now, the orchard was the place where Jolly Robin and his wife had had
their nest the summer before. So it was natural that he should want
to go there at once and look about a bit.

He perched himself on a bare limb, where he sang "_Cheerily-cheerup_"
a few times, in spite of the snow and the cold, whistling wind. He
knew that the weather would grow warmer soon; and he was glad to be in
Pleasant Valley once more, though he had to confess to himself that he
liked the orchard better when the grass was green and the trees were
gay with apple-blossoms.

"It's really a beautiful place for a home," he told himself. "I don't
wonder that Farmer Green likes to live near the orchard. And now I'll
just go over to the house and see if I can't get a peep at him and his
wife and his boy, Johnnie--and the hired-man, too."

So Jolly Robin jumped off the bough and started through the frosty air
toward the farmhouse. But all at once he saw a sight that sent him
darting into a tree. He hid there for a while and something made him
shiver--something besides the cold wind.

Yes! Jolly Robin was the least bit frightened. For he had caught a
glimpse of a strange man. It was neither Farmer Green nor his
hired-man, for this was a giant. He had big, black eyes and a great
lump of a nose, which stuck out queerly from his pale moon-face. He
was dressed all in white, except for a battered, old, black hat, which
he wore tipped