“One twilight, when Accadee was out hunting in the woods, he shot a snow white moose; and he took off its skin and wrapped it around him.  Then he went on through the woods in the starlight; and he felt so happy and light of heart that he sometimes frisked and capered about just as a real moose would do.  And he was doing this when Shuben, who was also out hunting, saw him from afar and thought he was a real moose.  She stole cautiously through the woods until she came to the brink of a little valley.  Below her stood the snow white moose.  She drew her arrow to her eye—­alas, she knew the art only too well!—­and took careful aim.  The next moment Accadee fell dead with her arrow in his heart.”

The Story Girl paused—­a dramatic pause.  It was quite dark in the fir wood.  We could see her face and eyes but dimly through the gloom.  A silvery moon was looking down on us over the granary.  The stars twinkled through the softly waving boughs.  Beyond the wood we caught a glimpse of a moonlit world lying in the sharp frost of the October evening.  The sky above it was chill and ethereal and mystical.

But all about us were shadows; and the weird little tale, told in a voice fraught with mystery and pathos, had peopled them for us with furtive folk in belt and wampum, and dark-tressed Indian maidens.

“What did Shuben do when she found out she had killed Accadee?” asked Felicity.

“She died of a broken heart before the spring, and she and Accadee were buried side by side on the bank of the river which has ever since borne their names—­the river Shubenacadie,” said the Story Girl.

The sharp wind blew around the granary and Cecily shivered.  We heard Aunt Janet’s voice calling “Children, children.”  Shaking off the spell of firs and moonlight and romantic tale, we scrambled to our feet and went homeward.

“I kind of wish I’d been born an Injun,” said Dan.  “It must have been a jolly life—­nothing to do but hunt and fight.”

“It wouldn’t be so nice if they caught you and tortured you at the stake,” said Felicity.

“No,” said Dan reluctantly.  “I suppose there’d be some drawback to everything, even being an Injun.”

“Isn’t it cold?” said Cecily, shivering again.  “It will soon be winter.  I wish summer could last forever.  Felicity likes the winter, and so does the Story Girl, but I don’t.  It always seems so long till spring.”

“Never mind, we’ve had a splendid summer,” I said, slipping my arm about her to comfort some childish sorrow that breathed in her plaintive voice.

Truly, we had had a delectable summer; and, having had it, it was ours forever.  “The gods themselves cannot recall their gifts.”  They may rob us of our future and embitter our present, but our past they may not touch.  With all its laughter and delight and glamour it is our eternal possession.

Nevertheless, we all felt a little of the sadness of the waning year.  There was a distinct weight on our spirits until Felicity took us into the pantry and stayed us with apple tarts and comforted us with cream.  Then we brightened up.  It was really a very decent world after all.