As the girls approached the beautiful, slender tree, Miss Gordon told them that at every season the red maple had distinguishing characteristics.
“Even during winter, the twigs shine as if covered with red varnish,” the teacher explained.
Each leaf, she added, had from three to five points, often with red stems.
“I’m going to gather some of the leaves for my notebook,” declared Eileen. “I want to find one that is changing color.”
Although frost had not yet come, the weather had turned somewhat chilly. The Brownies noticed that many of the trees were beginning to shed their leaves. Others were turning yellow, gold and rusty brown.
In the act of picking up an especially pretty leaf from the ground, Eileen chanced to glance at the tag tacked to the tree trunk.
“Say! This isn’t a maple tree!” she exclaimed.
“Go on!” Sunny retorted. “Don’t try to kid us!”
“Read the tag for yourself if you don’t believe me.”
The other Brownies clustered about Sunny. In amazement they read that the tree was a white ash.