finally placing a stout suit of wool clothing on the stool by the bedside.

When Claus awoke he rubbed his eyes again, and laughed, and spoke
aloud his thanks to the Fairies and the Master Woodsman who had sent
them. With eager joy he examined all his new possessions, wondering
what some might be used for. But, in the days when he had clung to
the girdle of the great Ak and visited the cities of men, his eyes
had been quick to note all the manners and customs of the race to
which he belonged; so he guessed from the gifts brought by the
Fairies that the Master expected him hereafter to live in the fashion
of his fellow-creatures.

"Which means that I must plow the earth and plant corn," he reflected;
"so that when winter comes I shall have garnered food in plenty."

But, as he stood in the grassy Valley, he saw that to turn up the
earth in furrows would be to destroy hundreds of pretty, helpless
flowers, as well as thousands of the tender blades of grass. And this
he could not bear to do.

Therefore he stretched out his arms and uttered a peculiar whistle he
had learned in the Forest, afterward crying:

"Ryls of the Field Flowers--come to me!"

Instantly a dozen of the queer little Ryls were squatting upon the
ground before him, and they nodded to him in cheerful greeting.

Claus gazed upon them earnestly.