CHAMBERS'S ENGLISH READERS. BOOK IV. Invade', close in upon, attack. Experience, feel. Destina'tion, place he is going to. | Lair, a place where wild beasts lie. 1. Many hundreds of years ago, when England was much wilder than it is now, and was in great part covered with forests, January was called the 'wolf month,' because the numerous wolves which then lived in the country used at this time to leave the shelter of the woods to see if they could find anything to eat. Now-a-days the traveller who is going home for his Christmas holidays, takes his seat comfortably in a train, and is speedily set down at his destination in perfect safety. At the time of which we speak, however, any person who wished to go from one place to another at this time of the year was obliged either to ride or walk, to face the bitter cold as best he might, and to run a very good chance of being eaten by the wolves, or plundered by robbers. 2. January is the first month of the year, and it begins ten days after the shortest day. It is called the last month of winter; but in this country it is generally the coldest month of the year, and there is often little real winter before the beginning or even the middle or the end of January. As the old saying tells us—'When the days begin to lengthen, the frost begins to strengthen.' 3. The farmers, however, like to see a really cold January, with hard frost and deep snow. Buried beneath the soft white mantle of the snow, plants are protected against the extremity of the frost, and are kept warm and dry; and much more injury is done to vegetation by frost alone than ever happens if snow falls before it begins to freeze. Boys, too, like a good cold January, when they can enjoy themselves skating, sliding, and snow-balling. 4. Upon the whole, then, there is no doubt that it is best for us to have a proper snowy and frosty January, such as suits the time of year in this country. At the same time we must not forget that cold weather has its dark side as well as its bright one. We may enjoy the fine sunny frosty day, and gaze with delight upon the pure white snow or the gleaming sheet of ice; but we should remember that there are very many who are too poor to buy thick warm clothes or fuel to keep their houses warm, so that a cold January causes a good deal of suffering among such people. 5. Even the wild animals often suffer much from cold, if the season be a severe one, though they are protected by their own natural coating of fur and feathers. They often find it very hard, also, to obtain food for themselves; and every one knows that cold is much worse to bear if you are hungry than if you have had a good meal. In the winter of 1716, the frost was so intense that all the brooks and small rivers in the country were frozen to the bottom; on the Thames a fair was held, and an ox roasted upon the ice; the trunks of stout trees were split; birds dropped dead from their perches; and hundreds of hares and rabbits were found lying stiff and stark in the woods. 6. Pressed by hunger, even the most timid animals to some extent forget their fear of man, and come forth from their native retreats to see what they can find to eat. The fox, the stoat, and the polecat now boldly invade the poultryyard, and carry off some fat fowl to their lair; and we may think ourselves fortunate that we have not at the same time to dread the attacks of bears and wolves, to which the inhabitants of many other countries are liable. 7. Hares, which are supposed to be the most cowardly of animals, make their way into gardens, and spend the hours of darkness in banqueting upon the cabbages; whilst rabbits betake themselves to plantations of young trees, where they industriously gnaw off the bark from all round the bottom of the saplings, and thus do an incalculable amount of damage. Great flocks of birds leave their accustomed haunts, and approach for a time the habitations of men. 8. The farm-yards are crowded with sparrows, chaffinches, and other small birds, which pick up a scanty livelihood amidst endless twitterings and not a few pitched battles over any more than usually |