h your kind
permission, I'll take another forty winks.

_And now his eyes close, then his nose and mouth disappear, and in a
moment he is sound asleep again._

Lazy old fellow! _exclaims_ JACK FROST. Well, I must get to work if
we are to have a real old-fashioned storm before morning. And first for
some wind. Where are those Wind Fairies, I wonder? They ought to be here
by now. _He puts his hands beside his mouth, and calls in a high
voice:_ Hoo--oo! Hoo--oo!

THE WIND FAIRIES _are heard from far, far away, calling in answer:_
Hoo-oo! Hoo-oo!

JACK FROST, _as soon as he hears them, says joyfully:_ There they
are. They'll be here in a second.

_And now you can hear the Wind Fairies coming gradually nearer, making
the wind-noise as the come, like this:_

z--z--z z--z--z z--Z--Z--Z--z--z--z
z--z--z z--z--z z--Z--Z--Z--z--z--z

_This grows louder and louder, till suddenly in come the Wind Fairies,
running. They are all in gray; they have on gray peaked caps, gray capes
which comes down to their knees, and long gray stockings; and they have
gray masks over the upper parts of their faces. The Fairies stop short
before Jack Frost, and make him a low bow. Then they sing their song,
which is called_

THE SONG OF THE WIND FAIRIES[1]

Do you hear us blow, in our coats of gray?
Do you hear us blow, till the trees rock and sway?
Do you hear us blow--for from far, far away
We have come with a storm for your Christmas.

REFRAIN

Oh, the sound of the wind is strange for to hear;
And the breath of the wind, it is cold and clear;
You'll hear us blow, as we fly thro' the air,
And we've brought you a storm for your Christmas.

You can hear us sigh at the window-pane;
And we moan and cry in the snow and the rain.
Then away we fly, for we may not remain,
But we leave you a storm for your Christmas.

REFRAIN

Oh, the sound of the wind is strange for to hear;
And the breath of the wind, it is cold and clear;
You'll hear us blow, as we fly thro' the air,
And we've brought you a storm for your Christmas.

[Footnote 1: To the tune "_D' ye ken John Peel?_"]

_As soon as the song is over, off run the Wind Fairies, making the
wind-noise as they go, which grows fainter and fainter as they get
further and further away, like this_

Z--Z--Z--z--z--z z--z--z z--z--z
Z--Z--Z--z--z--z z--z--z z--z--z

_When the sound of the wind has quite died away_, THE CHIMNEY
_opens on