“Violets are your concern, Brother May. Cannot you help the poor little thing?” he asked. “She will be frozen to death otherwise, for to-night ’twill be colder than ever.”
“To be sure I will,” said Brother May, laying a gentle hand on Clare’s fair hair; and taking the staff from the white-haired man, he poked the fire.
This was the signal for a most marvellous change in the forest. Ice and snow disappeared, and the air became soft and balmy. Birds sang in the branches overhead, and flowers sprang up as if by magic round the path which Clare had trodden. She filled her hands with fragrant violets, and thanked the brothers for their help.
“You are welcome, dear child,” they cried; and the old man took back his staff again, and in his turn poked the fire. Once more it was winter, and Clare hastened home to the cottage as quickly as she could.
Both Laura and her mother were surprised to see her, for they had made sure that she would lose her way. Laura snatched at the violets, only to toss them aside, and was so unkind for the rest of the day that Clare sobbed herself to sleep.
Next morning she was again sent out in the snow. This time it was to seek wild strawberries in the forest, and her sister’s look was so full of meaning as she said, “Do not come home without them!” that the poor little maiden trembled with fear as well as with cold as she entered the gloomy wood. The same friendly robin fluttered across her path, and following the direction in which he flew, to her great delight she saw again the ruddy glow of the fire. The twelve strange men were still seated round it, and Brother January took her by the hand.
“Why are you here again, poor child?” he asked her gently. “It would surely be wiser for you to stay at home while King Frost reigns over the land, for you are young and tender, and his grip is very cruel.”
“I had to come, sir,” Clare explained. “My sister said she must have strawberries. We gathered some in June last year.”
Brother January turned to a companion dressed in flowing yellow.
“Strawberries are your concern, Brother June,” he said. “It is for you now to come to the aid of our little friend.”