danced up and down merrily, as if nothing could ever pull it off. And so
it grew all summer long, till October.

And when the bright days of autumn came the little leaf saw all the
leaves around becoming very beautiful. Some were yellow and some
scarlet, and some striped with both colors. Then it asked the tree what
it meant. And the tree said: "All these leaves are getting ready to fly
away, and they have put on these beautiful colors because of joy."

Then the little leaf began to want to go, too, and grew very beautiful
in thinking of it, and when it was very gay in color it saw that the
branches of the tree had no bright color in them, and so the leaf said:
"O branches! why are you lead-color and we golden?"

"We must keep on our work-clothes, for our life is not done; but your
clothes are for holiday, because your tasks are over," said the
branches.

Just then a little puff of wind came, and the leaf let go, without
thinking of it, and the wind took it up and turned it over and over, and
whirled it like a spark of fire in the air, and then it dropped gently
down under the edge of the fence, among hundreds of leaves, and fell
into a dream, and it never waked up to tell what it dreamed about.




COMING AND GOING