So , you see , it was no better than any other cracked earthen pitcher . '' `` What a pity ! '' cried all the children at once . The respectable dog Ben had accompanied the party , as did likewise a half-grown Newfoundland puppy , who went by the name of Bruin , because he was just as black as a bear . Ben , being elderly , and of very circumspect habits , was respectfully requested , by Cousin Eustace , to stay behind with the four little children , in order to keep them out of mischief . As for black Bruin , who was himself nothing but a child , the student thought it best to take him along , lest , in his rude play with the other children , he should trip them up , and send them rolling and tumbling down the bill . TANGLEWOOD PLAY-ROOM . The golden days of October passed away , as so many other Octobers have , and brown November likewise , and the greater part of chill December , too . At last came merry Christmas , and Eustace Bright along with it , making it all the merrier by his presence . And , the day after his arrival from college , there came a mighty snow-storm . Up to this time , the winter had held back , and had given us a good many mild days , which were like smiles upon its wrinkled visage . The grass had kept itself green , in sheltered places , such as the nooks of southern hill-slopes , and along the lee of the stone fences . It was but a week or two ago , and since the beginning of the month , that the children had found a dandelion in bloom , on the margin of Shadow Brook , where it glides out of the dell . But no more green grass and dandelions now . This was such a snow-storm ! Twenty miles of it might have been visible at once , between the windows of Tanglewood and the dome of Taconic , had it been possible to see so far , among the eddying drifts that whitened all the atmosphere . It seemed as if the hills were giants , and were flinging monstrous handfuls of snow at one another , in their enormous sport . So thick were the fluttering snow-flakes , that even the trees , midway down the valley , were hidden by them the greater part of the time . Sometimes , it is true , the little prisoners of Tanglewood could discern a dim outline of Monument Mountain , and the smooth whiteness of the frozen lake at its base , and the black or gray tracts of woodland in the nearer landscape . But these were merely peeps through the tempest .
Nevertheless , the children rejoiced greatly XXXXX the snowstorm .
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