It had been a beautiful one . We had known the sweetness of common joys , the delight of dawns , the dream and glamour of noontides , the long , purple peace of carefree nights . We had had the pleasure of bird song , of silver rain on greening fields , of storm among the trees , of blossoming meadows , and of the converse of whispering leaves . We had had brotherhood with wind and star , with books and tales , and hearth fires of autumn . Ours had been the little , loving tasks of every day , blithe companionship , shared thoughts , and adventuring . Rich were we in the memory of those opulent months that had gone from us -- richer than we then knew or suspected . And before us was the dream of spring . It is always safe to dream of spring . For it is sure to come ; and if it be not just as we have pictured it , it will be infinitely sweeter . DING-DONG ! Ding-dong ! Ding-dong ! The town crier has rung his bell , at a distant corner , and little Annie stands on her father 's doorsteps , trying to hear what the man with the loud voice is talking about . Let me listen too . O , he is telling the people that an elephant , and a lion , and a royal tiger , and a horse with horns , and other strange beasts from foreign countries , have come to town , and will receive all visitors who choose to wait upon them ! Perhaps little Annie would like to go . Yes ; and I can see that the pretty child is weary of this wide and pleasant street , with the green trees flinging their shade across the quiet sunshine , and the pavements and the sidewalks all as clean as if the housemaid had just swept them with her broom . She feels that impulse to go strolling away -- that longing after the mystery of the great world -- which many children feel , and which I felt in my childhood . Little Annie shall take a ramble with me . See !
I do but hold out my hand , and , like some bright bird in the sunny air , with her blue silk frock fluttering upwards XXXXX her white pantalets , she comes bounding on tiptoe across the street .
For across from if in of on than that with